Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill

My Lords, in the light of what the noble Earl, Lord Onslow, has said, perhaps I may attempt to give a definition of ““blasphemy”” provided in Stephen's Digest of the Criminal Law and adopted by Lord Scarman in a 1979 case which states: "““Every publication is said to be blasphemous which contains any contemptuous, reviling, scurrilous or ludicrous matter relating to God, Jesus Christ, or the Bible, or the formularies of the Church of England as by law established””." Jesus Christ and the Bible, I submit, are for all Christians and not just for the Church of England. He continued: "““It is not blasphemous to speak or publish opinions hostile to the Christian religion or to deny the existence of God, if the publication is couched in decent and temperate language. The test to be applied is as to the manner in which the doctrines are advocated and not as to the substance of the doctrines themselves””." There is little doubt that such a definition is unworkable. On that, at least, there should be common agreement. It is more difficult to reach for an understanding that replaces the common law of blasphemy with a law that essentially provides for a protection not exclusively of the Christian faith but of the fabric of society, as the case in December decided. In the letter to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury and I said that it is not our intention to oppose abolition now, as the Government propose, provided—and it is a big proviso—that we can be assured that provisions are in place to afford the necessary protection to individuals and society. The offences against incitement to religious hatred are new on the statute book and have yet to be tested in the courts. So we are not quite sure, and we are still in uncharted waters. It is extraordinary that at a time when religion and religious identity have come to dominate global and domestic concerns, parliamentarians seek to stick their heads in the sand by attempting to relegate considerations of religion and faith from matters of public policy to the private sphere. The mover of the motion in the other place seems to assume that religion no longer matters and as such there is no need for the law of blasphemy in a society which he believes is very secular. I want to ask this: where is the spirit of magnanimity which shaped this nation? Perhaps I may employ another analogy. This is akin to saying that because a child is consistently late for school, there is no need to have a clock. Persistent lack of punctuality does not do away with the need for time. The place of Christianity in the constitutional framework of this country as governed by the Queen in Parliament under God is not in question, but some Members of the other place seem to question that reality. The relationship between the church and the state, reaffirmed by the Government in July in The Governance of Britain, will not continue to provide a context in which people of all faiths and of none can live together in mutual respect in this part of the realm, where again the governance is by the Queen in Parliament under God. However, it is apparent from the debate in the Commons on 9 January that a number of those calling for the repeal of these offences misunderstand both what the existing law is intended to achieve and the extent to which, in doing so, it protects society against civil strife. That is what it is all about. A recent High Court decision made it clear again that the law works against civil strife. Finally, I am compelled to comment on the inherent link between the "““damage to the fabric of society””," mentioned in the recent judgment, and the nature of that fabric, which has been formed through the operation of the Christian faith in this land. Of late, the Government and others have concerned themselves in trying to discover what it means to be British and what the essential elements of Britishness might be. While we may agree that virtues such as fair play, kindness and decency are part of the nation’s make-up, do they qualify as those things which make us quintessentially British? It is my belief that such virtues and those associated with them which form the fabric of our society have been woven through a period of more than 1,500 years of the Christian faith operating in and upon our society. The Christian faith has woven the very fabric of our society just as the oceans around this island have shaped the contours of our geographical identity. While it is of course true to say that the virtues of kindness to our neighbours, fair play and common decency are not unique to the Christian faith, just as they are not unique to Britain, it is equally true to say that these virtues have become embedded into our social fabric and heritage as a result of the Christian faith and its influence on society. Without wishing to appear syncretistic, I say that these virtues are found in all other faiths, but the background against which they have been shaped has been quintessentially a very Christian understanding. It was the Venerable Bede in his Ecclesiastical History of England who wrote of the way in which the Christian faith played a major socialising and civilising role by uniting the English and conferring nationhood on them, turning this land from a nation of warring tribes into one of united purpose. That is why it is particularly important that the Government should provide clarity over precisely why the common law offences are being abolished and what the implications of their removal are for the position of the Christian religion as by law and statute established. We may go on to a lot more conversation and discussion on this, but I come to my concluding remarks. The common law offence of blasphemy could be said to serve the four following ends: the protection of society in the sense that it is important that religion, or at least the Christian religion, be treated with respect; the protection of public order; the protection of the bonds that hold society together in a more general sense; and signalling the fact that the Christian religion holds a special place within the social and constitutional fabric of the nation. Were the current offence to be abolished, no other single offence could clearly achieve all these ends. What are the Government doing to ensure that they protect them? I finish by saying that the protection of society is achieved by ensuring that the Christian religion is treated with respect and by signalling the fact that the Christian religion holds a special place in the social and constitutional fabric of the nation governed by the Queen in Parliament under God as understood by the Church of England by law established. How are we going to guard this? I shall listen eagerly to the Minister to see whether we are given further assurances. I greatly respect the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, because he has been a trenchant defender of human rights, but, nevertheless, I hope we shall see off his amendment. Like a gigantic Christmas tree it has attracted discordant baubles—that is, other offences—that have nothing to do with the law of blasphemy. If nothing else, your Lordships’ House must resist it for the sake of keeping in play the issue of protection of places of worship raised by Section 2 of the Ecclesiastical Courts Jurisdiction Act 1860. Social strife must be avoided.