Max Thompson is Campaigns Officer, for the The Free Speech Union.
If the Crown Prosecution Service gets their way, we could very well be living in a country with an Islamic blasphemy law.
Last February, Hamit Coskun burned a Quran outside the Turkish consulate in Knightsbridge in a one-man protest against what he perceives as the Islamification of his home country, Turkey. As he shouted, “Islam is the religion of terrorism”, a religious fanatic, Moussa Kadri, violently attacked him. He spat at him, kicked him and slashed at him with a blade.
Naturally, one would assume that of the two men, the individual wielding a knife on the streets of London would face the full force of the law. Instead, the attacker avoided jail time, while Hamit — a man who had fled persecution in Turkey — was convicted of a religiously aggravated public order offence. Little has been said about the Deliveroo rider who reportedly joined in the assault.
Burning a holy scripture — any holy scripture — is undoubtedly controversial. But it is not illegal.
Just because something offends polite society does not make it a crime. This case goes to the heart of freedom of expression and protest — and to the proper limits of the criminal law.
Parliament abolished blasphemy laws in England and Wales 18 years ago, under the last Labour government. Scotland followed suit in 2021 through the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act. The last execution for blasphemy in Britain took place in 1697. We rightly regarded such laws as relics of a less tolerant age.
It is also worth remembering that Britain’s historic blasphemy laws protected Christianity alone. Yet we now stand on the cusp of something altogether different: a de facto Islamic blasphemy code that would silence criticism of Islam and its practices. And it is emerging not through Parliament, but through the combined and intentioned actions of the Labour government and the Crown Prosecution Service.
In October, it appeared that some rare common sense had prevailed. Mr Justice Bennathan overturned Hamit’s conviction, recognising that while his actions may have been deeply upsetting to Muslims, freedom of expression “must include the right to express views that offend, shock or disturb.”
The Crown Prosecution Service was not prepared to leave it there.
The CPS has sought to overturn that ruling on appeal. The stakes could not be higher. If the Crown succeeds, it will effectively revive Britain’s blasphemy laws. It will send a message that criticism of Islam, even in the context of political protest, may be treated as criminal if it causes offence. Most concerningly of all, it will signal to religious fanatics that should they wish to violently enforce the Islamic blasphemy code, they can do so with the nod of the CPS.
It is inconceivable that someone would be prosecuted in Starmer’s Britain for setting a copy of the Bible alight – a point that the then Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick articulated last year when he questioned whether the CPS would even bat an eyelid should someone have burnt a Torah scroll outside the Israeli embassy or a Bible outside the Apostolic Nunciature. The principle must be consistent. The law cannot operate on different standards depending on the religion concerned.
In what may be the most damning indictment of all, senior figures in the Trump administration have indicated they would consider granting Hamit Coskun political asylum should his conviction ultimately stand. The notion that Britain — the birthplace of free speech— could produce its first free speech refugee is a damning indictment of Keir Starmer’s government .
Hamit himself has said that if he loses, he will have no choice but to flee once again — this time across the Atlantic. If he wins, it will set an important precedent affirming that freedom of expression in this country still means something.
But even if the CPS loses, the broader direction of travel remains troubling.
A blasphemy law may yet arrive in another form — through the Government’s proposed official definition of “anti-Muslim hostility”, formerly branded as Islamophobia. This ever-expanding definition is expected to include concepts such as racialisation and prejudicial stereotyping. However well-intentioned, such elastic language risks having a chilling effect on free speech and silencing legitimate debate on issues ranging from Islamist extremism to the grooming gang scandal.
Perhaps most alarming of all is the composition of the working group tasked by Angela Rayner with drafting this definition. An investigative briefing by the Free Speech Union found that all five members appointed to the group have had connections to Islamist-linked organisations, including the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) and Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND). That alone warrants serious scrutiny.
Britain abolished its blasphemy laws because they were incompatible with a free society. We understood that beliefs — religious or otherwise — are not entitled to protection from insult, however distasteful.
If the CPS appeal succeeds, we will have taken a decisive step backwards.
Max Thompson is Campaigns Officer, for the The Free Speech Union.
If the Crown Prosecution Service gets their way, we could very well be living in a country with an Islamic blasphemy law.
Last February, Hamit Coskun burned a Quran outside the Turkish consulate in Knightsbridge in a one-man protest against what he perceives as the Islamification of his home country, Turkey. As he shouted, “Islam is the religion of terrorism”, a religious fanatic, Moussa Kadri, violently attacked him. He spat at him, kicked him and slashed at him with a blade.
Naturally, one would assume that of the two men, the individual wielding a knife on the streets of London would face the full force of the law. Instead, the attacker avoided jail time, while Hamit — a man who had fled persecution in Turkey — was convicted of a religiously aggravated public order offence. Little has been said about the Deliveroo rider who reportedly joined in the assault.
Burning a holy scripture — any holy scripture — is undoubtedly controversial. But it is not illegal.
Just because something offends polite society does not make it a crime. This case goes to the heart of freedom of expression and protest — and to the proper limits of the criminal law.
Parliament abolished blasphemy laws in England and Wales 18 years ago, under the last Labour government. Scotland followed suit in 2021 through the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act. The last execution for blasphemy in Britain took place in 1697. We rightly regarded such laws as relics of a less tolerant age.
It is also worth remembering that Britain’s historic blasphemy laws protected Christianity alone. Yet we now stand on the cusp of something altogether different: a de facto Islamic blasphemy code that would silence criticism of Islam and its practices. And it is emerging not through Parliament, but through the combined and intentioned actions of the Labour government and the Crown Prosecution Service.
In October, it appeared that some rare common sense had prevailed. Mr Justice Bennathan overturned Hamit’s conviction, recognising that while his actions may have been deeply upsetting to Muslims, freedom of expression “must include the right to express views that offend, shock or disturb.”
The Crown Prosecution Service was not prepared to leave it there.
The CPS has sought to overturn that ruling on appeal. The stakes could not be higher. If the Crown succeeds, it will effectively revive Britain’s blasphemy laws. It will send a message that criticism of Islam, even in the context of political protest, may be treated as criminal if it causes offence. Most concerningly of all, it will signal to religious fanatics that should they wish to violently enforce the Islamic blasphemy code, they can do so with the nod of the CPS.
It is inconceivable that someone would be prosecuted in Starmer’s Britain for setting a copy of the Bible alight – a point that the then Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick articulated last year when he questioned whether the CPS would even bat an eyelid should someone have burnt a Torah scroll outside the Israeli embassy or a Bible outside the Apostolic Nunciature. The principle must be consistent. The law cannot operate on different standards depending on the religion concerned.
In what may be the most damning indictment of all, senior figures in the Trump administration have indicated they would consider granting Hamit Coskun political asylum should his conviction ultimately stand. The notion that Britain — the birthplace of free speech— could produce its first free speech refugee is a damning indictment of Keir Starmer’s government .
Hamit himself has said that if he loses, he will have no choice but to flee once again — this time across the Atlantic. If he wins, it will set an important precedent affirming that freedom of expression in this country still means something.
But even if the CPS loses, the broader direction of travel remains troubling.
A blasphemy law may yet arrive in another form — through the Government’s proposed official definition of “anti-Muslim hostility”, formerly branded as Islamophobia. This ever-expanding definition is expected to include concepts such as racialisation and prejudicial stereotyping. However well-intentioned, such elastic language risks having a chilling effect on free speech and silencing legitimate debate on issues ranging from Islamist extremism to the grooming gang scandal.
Perhaps most alarming of all is the composition of the working group tasked by Angela Rayner with drafting this definition. An investigative briefing by the Free Speech Union found that all five members appointed to the group have had connections to Islamist-linked organisations, including the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) and Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND). That alone warrants serious scrutiny.
Britain abolished its blasphemy laws because they were incompatible with a free society. We understood that beliefs — religious or otherwise — are not entitled to protection from insult, however distasteful.
If the CPS appeal succeeds, we will have taken a decisive step backwards.