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Beware of the bishops
The repeal of the blasphemy laws could be a Pyrrhic victory if other laws are used to provide greater protection for religion, writes Padraig Reidy
Secularist groups greeted the first step in the repeal of the blasphemy laws with delight last week. Hanne Stinsen of the British Humanist Association suggested that the House of Lords’ vote indicated ‘a clear commitment from across the political and belief spectrums to abolish the outdated and discriminatory blasphemy laws’.
Quite so.
Over at the National Secular Society, Keith Porteous Wood said: ‘It is disgraceful that such a relic of religious savagery has survived into the 21st century.’
Indeed, Keith. Indeed.
Meanwhile, in free-speech land, Jonathan Heawood of English PEN was preparing the wake for a law he declared already ‘long dead’ (the last prosecution having been in 1977 — the infamous Gay News trial).
Hurray!