Hagard

We were told you were set to appoint an “anti-Muslim hostility” tsar last week, @AngelaRayner. What happened? Have you seen sense and realised that the role would be an appalling decision that will further stifle free speech? Or are you waiting to be told who to appoint? Or did it take The Spectator to do your department’s due diligence and point out that Baroness Warsi would be a nightmare? These really aren’t difficult questions, Angela.

Andy Burnham needs to scrap the Conversion Practices Bill. It is a barefaced attack on free speech, religious freedom and parental rights. Should a parent go to prison for up to five years for questioning a child who has decided to self-identify as a cat? The Free Speech Union and the vast majority of sane people obviously do not think so — yet this Labour Government does. Of course, cruel practices that attempt to “cure” people of being gay should be illegal. That is why they already are. The trans-inclusive bill banning conversion practices is an expansive, illiberal, invasive and dangerous piece of legislation that will criminalise normal conversations between parents and their children. It is not the state’s role to dictate what a parent can and cannot discuss with their child around the dinner table. Baroness Falkner, the former chair of the EHRC, has warned in her new report for Policy Exchange that “parents could be sent to prison for up to five years for refusing to use a child’s preferred name, for refusing to fund gender reassignment, or seeking to dissuade a child from embarking on medical intervention that could lead to permanent sterility”. In what world is that acceptable? This bill needs to be axed before it causes real harm. Read more below 👇

Hey @AngelaRayner, can you confirm whether Islamist extremists helped shape the “anti-Muslim hostility” definition? If not, why did your department say it had deleted all responses to the Working Group’s consultation, only to later admit — after the Free Speech Union threatened legal action — that it still had them on record? The public deserves to know the truth and this stinks of a cover up.

🚨 “I feel like I’m still in Iraq” — this is how bad the situation is in the UK. Asylum seekers who fled religious persecution in Islamic countries for freedom in Britain are now considering claiming asylum elsewhere, because they continue to be persecuted here for criticising Islam. Dheyaa — a former Muslim who converted to Christianity — fled religious persecution in Iraq and came to Britain. Exercising what he thought was his new-found freedom, he burned a copy of the Koran in symbolic protest against the ideology that had persecuted him. Rather than protecting his right to free speech and protest, West Yorkshire Police swiftly arrested him on suspicion of inciting religious hatred. He was then handed Orwellian bail conditions banning him from discussing religion on social media. The Free Speech Union stepped in, defending Dheyaa’s right to free speech and helping him secure the removal of those bail conditions. Earlier this year, before the Government unveiled its Islamophobia definition, FSU Case Director @BenBarryJones asked Dheyaa what he made of the prospect. Dheyaa said he felt as though he was still in Iraq, and that he would look to flee the UK. Hamit Coskun, another asylum seeker who burned a copy of the Koran in protest against the persecution he faced in Turkey, also considered fleeing to the US after he was convicted of a public order offence. Shockingly, the CPS had originally charged him for harassing “the religious institution of Islam”, long before the Government had any state-approved definition of “Islamophobia”. With the FSU’s backing, Hamit’s conviction was overturned on appeal. The CPS then tried to reinstate it at the High Court, and lost again. The last thing Britain needs is a state-approved Islamic blasphemy code. One is already operating. Watch the full interview with Dheyaa on the FSU YouTube channel 👇

🚨 ISLAMIC BLASPHEMY LAW BY THE BACK DOOR 🚨 Kellie-Jay Keen (@ThePosieParker) has been charged with a criminal offence over posts criticising Islam, Muslim cultural practices and Islamism. The Free Speech Union is proud to be defending her. In a free society, no religion or cultural practice should be immune from criticism. Since Labour came to power, the number of FSU cases involving people penalised for criticising Islam has doubled. It is now the single biggest category in our casework. And now, with a state-approved definition of Islamophobia — rebranded as “anti-Muslim hostility” — things are only getting worse. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Communities Secretary Angela Rayner met Muslim community leaders in Downing Street. Burnham took a swipe at critics of Islam, saying “some of the language” opposition parties use “is unacceptable”, and told the leaders “we need to find ways with you to demonstrate that more and more”. We now await Rayner’s appointment of an “Islamophobia tsar” who will help enforce the definition. All five hand-picked members of the Working Group that drafted it have concerning links to Islamist organisations, as FSU Research and Policy Director @DavidRoseUK exposed in his report. We have little hope that the appointed tsar will be good news for free speech. Meanwhile, the Government is refusing to say who submitted responses to the Working Group, so we cannot know which groups shaped the definition. Islamists may well have had a hand in its drafting. Support the FSU’s campaign against an Islamic blasphemy law — and the people penalised under it 👇