Left-wing Labor MP Tahir Ali used Parliamentary Questions to the Prime Minister to call for a ban on “blasphemy” of scripture and the Prophet, eliciting a positive response from Sir Keir Starmer.
Mr Tahir Ali on Wednesday urged the Prime Minister to introduce new rules banning “blasphemy” of religious texts and “prophets of the Abrahamic religions”, representing the interests of voters in the Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley constituency. asked. Notable calls to reintroduce blasphemy laws in the UK – this country already abolished The outdated legal ideas, enacted in 2008 and 2021, come amid pressures similar to those seen across Europe as hard-won standards of freedom of expression are rolled back.
Recently, Labor MPs apologize The prime minister was accused of blasphemy during Islamophobia Awareness Month over his accusation that Rishi Sunak had “the blood of thousands of innocent people on his hands” over the Palestinian issue. He said it was causing “hatred” in society.
Mr. Ali said in the chamber: “Last year, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution condemning the desecration of religious texts, including the Koran, despite the opposition of the previous government. It only incites hatred.
“Will the Prime Minister commit to introducing measures to ban blasphemy against all religious texts and prophets of the Abrahamic religions?”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer did not answer the question exactly, as is often the case during prime ministerial questions, but told Ali he accepted the basic premise of the speech. He replied: “Can we agree with him that blasphemy is terrible and should be condemned by the whole house? We are committed to tackling forms of hatred and division.”
Ali, from Birmingham, is one of several Labor MPs in “Muslim-majority areas” whose majority has been cut. In some cases, you may even lose your seat. — against a pro-Palestinian candidate who started an uprising. At Hall Green and Moseley, Ali was opposed by two people. independence group focused on Palestineamong which received a court order He was expelled from a local school for his anti-equality protests.
Both candidates together received more votes than Labour's Mr Ali, but Mr Ali fared better than other Labor MPs as they were competing against each other as well as incumbents. The pro-Gaza MPs who actually won against their Labor challengers and are now in parliament subsequently formed an organization. “Independent” group with former Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was expelled from the party in the aftermath of an anti-Semitism scandal.
Britain has already repealed its blasphemy laws, but this pressure to roll back progress is reflected in other parts of Europe, with governments frequently urging governments to enact protections for books such as the Koran. We are working on These calls have been heard loudest in European countries, where politicians and activists have painted images of the Prophet Muhammad and burned copies of the Koran in public.
Naturally, such actions are controversial. On the one hand, activists were associated with an aggressive state—and sometimes flat Deadly – Individual Muslims' reactions to these protests point to the fundamental point that Islam tends to be shallow in the face of criticism and quick to anger when perceived to be disrespected. It shows. On the other hand, some condemn such acts as provocative, insensitive and an attack on faith, and should therefore be outlawed.
Denmark, for example, abolished its 334-year-old blasphemy law in 2017 as part of Europe's centuries-old move toward liberal democracy, but a leftist government introduced the law. Back to 2023. A law was passed targeting the phenomenon of Quran burning, making it illegal to desecrate the holy book.
A government spokesperson speaking last year inadvertently criticized them when he said the ban was a matter of national security, harming the Danish state's interests abroad and increasing the threat of terrorism. It seemed like that. Former government minister Inger Storgeberg called the development a victory for “the unfree medieval forces of the Middle East.” She said: “In Denmark we have a government that bows to threats and pressure, so they now understand that they can decide how we live in Denmark.”
Sweden is under immense pressure to reinstate centuries-old blasphemy laws, which it abolished in the 1970s as it sought to join the NATO alliance. Turkey could veto accession. Rasmus Paludan, perhaps Europe's most famous or notorious Koran protester, was jailed in Sweden earlier this year in connection with a demonstration. This judgment is under appeal.
