“It is right and the state has a right to put some boundaries on free speech,” said UK Home Office minister Fiona Mactaggart on 7 February 2005. This was in defence of the new legislation being planned under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill, which will make it a crime to use words or behaviour 'with the intention or likelihood' that they will stir up hatred against people based on their religious beliefs. This could stifle remarks by writers and performers criticising religious doctrines and comedians making jokes about religion or its believers.
In reaction to this attempt to create a new kind of thought crime, writers and performers have come together under the banner 'Offence', organised by English PEN, to protest and lobby. Even though the government has changed the wording slightly it looks as if the legislation will go ahead outlawing any criticism or joke about religion that can be deemed to be in any way offensive. This strikes at the heart of free speech. We have already seen that in Queensland legislation has crept on to outlaw criticism of certain laws and their application, even to the point of criminalizing attempts to highlight possible miscarriages of justice.
The 'Offence' campaign has compiled a list of great writers whose work was deemed highly offensive at the time. One real possibility now is that our victim culture will encourage anyone with hurt feelings to demand censorship and redress.
