Tom Bond

In Britain today, we have a de facto Islamic blasphemy law, ushered in by the Labour Government’s official “anti-Muslim hostility” definition. It is being enforced by the police, the courts and now the Government’s own counter-terrorism programme, Prevent. A programme tasked with stopping people becoming terrorists is being used by activists and extremists to silence legitimate criticism or mockery of Islam. In recent weeks, comedian @JohnCleese was referred to Prevent and faced calls from Muslim activists to have his Birmingham show cancelled over comments he made about Islam on social media. Reform UK Shadow Chancellor @RobertJenrick was reported to the Metropolitan Police and referred to Prevent after he called radical Islam the biggest threat to our country and called for the burqa to be banned on @danwootton’s show. Robert isn’t wrong, is he? Radical Islam is a threat. MI5 has said that Islamist terrorism is the biggest threat to Britain. Restore Britain leader @RupertLowe10 was reported to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards for linking Muslims and Pakistanis to the rape gangs, despite Baroness Casey’s report concluding that Muslim men of Pakistani heritage were disproportionately involved in these heinous crimes. Conservative Shadow Justice Secretary @NJ_Timothy was reported to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards by Labour MPs, branded “Islamophobic” and faced calls to resign from then Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer after criticising a mass Muslim prayer event in Trafalgar Square. Reform UK was reported to the Equality and Human Rights Commission by 28 Labour MPs over its comments criticising Islam and the same mass Muslim prayer event. It was the Islamist website 5Pillars that broke all these stories. A Home Office unit, RICU, has even labelled the group a “subject of Islamist extremist concern”. These activists know what they are doing. The sinister weaponisation of Prevent will undermine public trust in the programme. We must not let an Islamic blasphemy law take root in Britain. Watch FSU Campaigns Officer @MaxHThompson 👇

Prevent has become a complaints desk for the offended. There is now an Islamic blasphemy law in the UK. Prevent, the Government’s own counter-extremism programme, is the latest tool being weaponised to silence politicians and comedians who criticise or mock Islam. Reform UK’s Shadow Chancellor, @RobertJenrick, has been reported to both the Metropolitan Police and Prevent over comments he made about Islam on @danwootton’s Outspoken. Mr Jenrick said that radical Islam is a threat to everything we hold dear in this country and called for the burqa to be banned. He has every right to express those views, as a private citizen and a democratically elected MP in a country that abolished blasphemy laws in 2008. Accusing someone of extremism for expressing perfectly acceptable views wastes and abuses an important mechanism — one that should be dedicated to identifying people at risk of radicalisation and preventing terrorist attacks on our streets. A week before Mr Jenrick was referred to Prevent, the Islamic website 5Pillars reported that comedian and national treasure @JohnCleese had also been referred over his comments about Islam on social media. Prevent should be the last institution of the state to be corrupted by, and kowtow to, activists. But should we be surprised? In 2023, Sir William Shawcross’s independent review of Prevent found a “double standard” in its treatment of the two principal ideologies it addresses. Every hour Prevent spends assessing whether an MP’s television interview is a symptom of radicalisation is an hour not spent assessing people who pose a genuine threat. We know what that can cost: the Southport killer was referred to Prevent three times, and each time his case was closed. Weaponising Prevent does not merely chill speech; it undermines our counter-terrorism efforts and becomes a threat to public and national security in its own right. And it doesn’t stop with Prevent. The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner has also been weaponised by activists to silence MPs such as @NJ_Timothy, who criticised a mass Muslim prayer event in Trafalgar Square, and @RupertLowe10, who — like Baroness Casey in her report — has highlighted the links between people of Pakistani and Muslim heritage and the grooming-gangs scandal. We must not let an Islamic blasphemy law take root in Britain. Read more from FSU Campaigns Officer @MaxHThompson 👇