The Sketch: Insults are fine but abuse is out

As far as I can judge from the minister's account of it, the Religious Hatred Act allows us to be threatening as long as we're not abusive and insulting as well. Conversely, we can abuse and insult as long as we don't threaten. So the statement that "all Muslims should leave the country" will be legal under the new Act. That remark is merely offensive, it's not threatening or abusive. It might be insulting, but that, we were repeatedly assured by Paul Goggins, was entirely legitimate. On the other hand, that was the one statement which was definitely criminalised by the Bill.

So what's the point of it? The more it's explored the less sense we find. It has however produced a new and truly frightening legal precedent: "Evidence that hatred has been stirred up is not necessary for a conviction."

The last time I felt a comparable frisson in the House was when Hazel Blears said that control orders were not a punishment for doing something wrong but were to prevent people from doing something wrong.

We are seeing the evolution of a new form of jurisprudence. Under this Act you might be tried and convicted (and given seven years in jail) without any evidence that you had harmed anyone. The authorities might decide that you had been reckless in your disregard of the possibility of stirring up hatred and that some reasonable - or vulnerable - person somewhere would probably have been affected, had they been listening.

Dominic Grieve made the point he always makes (it improves with repetition). There is no offence that couldn't be dealt with under existing arrangements (thus, this is legislative therapy for a government sucking up to Muslims).

Rowan Atkinson has been publicly worrying that the Bill will stop comedians making jokes about Islam. Comedians don't make jokes about Islam. They make jokes about politicians and Jesus Christ and English vicars but we're just too frigging gutless to apply the same satirical intensity to Islam. The penalties, as Theo van Gogh found out, can be more severe than anything Mr Goggins is proposing.

simoncarr75@hotmail.com