by Stefan Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
LONDON (Worthy News) – British Christian leaders and politicians fear a new working group advising the government on “anti-Muslim hatred /Islamophobia” will lead to blasphemy legislation that would further limit freedom of expression.
In a statement obtained by Worthy News, Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, said that the “rise in anti-Muslim hate crime is unacceptable and has no place in our society. That’s why we’ve committed to defining Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia as a crucial step forward in tackling it and creating a society where everyone feels safe and welcome.”
However, David Alton, who chairs Britain’s Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, warned against pursuing any semblance of blasphemy laws in the country.
“The U.K. should tread very carefully before incorporating anything which resembles a blasphemy law into British Statute,” Alton said in published remarks.
“In jurisdictions which have such laws, I have personally seen how they can be misused against people of other beliefs or no belief – including death sentences and long-term imprisonment.”
It was a reference to countries such as Pakistan and Iran, where Christians and others have languished in prisons for years for alleged blasphemy against Islam while some have been killed.
Danny Webster, director of advocacy for the U.K. Evangelical Alliance, said Islamophobia should be set within the broader, legal understanding of the freedom to disagree with those of other faiths.
ANTI-MUSLIM HATRED
“Any definition of anti-Muslim hatred, or Islamophobia, has to safeguard the freedom of others to criticize religious belief and support the freedom for people to change their beliefs,” Webster stressed.
If a definition of Islamophobia means that views about perceived identity can be subjectively classed as “hatred,” then this would limit freedom of expression and religious belief, he stressed.
“It is vital that we encourage good relationships between people of different faiths, and this is fostered by accepting deep differences and allowing free expression, rather than either criminalizing disagreement or pretending it doesn’t exist,” Webster added.
The advisory group’s chair, Dominic Grieve KC, admitted in a statement seen by Worthy News that “Islamophobia is as challenging to define as its existence is undoubted.”
However, he stressed, “We need to balance addressing the lived experience of those who are victims of it and the right of British Muslims to feel heard and protected as equal citizens of our country.”
He added that these rights should be “with the unwavering requirement to maintain freedom of thought and expression under law for all. I welcome the government’s decision to bring forward this needed work. And I am hopeful that this commission will come up with principles in defining Islamophobia which are compatible with those requirements and can thus help support positive change in our country.”
The government suggested that the advisory group is needed as in the year ending March 2024, “there were 140,561 hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales,” although that was a “5 percent decrease compared with the previous year.”
Yet Alton called it a “ploy” to introduce blasphemy laws that Christians fear could lead to persecution of non-Muslims in Britain and beyond.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Three U.S. service members were killed and five seriously wounded in an Iranian counterattack as fighting between the United States and Iran intensified, officials confirmed Sunday.
A Christian sanitation worker employed by the legislature of Pakistan’s Punjab province was found shot dead late Friday at a government hostel in Lahore, police and Christian rights advocates confirmed early Saturday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy indicated that rapidly escalating tensions in the Middle East could postpone the next round of U.S.-brokered peace talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the United States, as Moscow condemned recent U.S.-Israeli strikes on its ally Iran.
The suspect in a deadly early-morning shooting in downtown Austin that left at least two people dead and 14 others wounded was wearing clothing bearing Islamic and Iranian imagery, according to multiple media reports, as federal authorities investigate a possible connection to terrorism.
Israel launched targeted strikes against Hezbollah positions in Lebanon on Monday after the Iranian-backed terror group fired projectiles into northern Israel, marking its first direct action against Israel’s northern regions since 2024 and formally widening the regional conflict.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Sunday night that it has dropped 2,000 bombs across Iran in the first two days of Operation Roaring Lion, marking one of the most intense aerial campaigns in Israel’s history.
In a striking turn of events with profound geopolitical consequences, The UK Sunday Times reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated a willingness — at least in diplomatic talks — to accept U.S.-backed security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a prospective post-war settlement. This development arrives at a moment of historic intensity, with the United States and Israel conducting major military operations against Iran’s regime in what U.S. leaders are calling a decisive strike against Tehran’s nuclear and missile threat.