"Religious hatred" bill smacked down
Source: BBC NewsThe government has been heavily defeated in the Lords over plans to outlaw incitement to religious hatred.
Peers voted by a majority of 149 in favour of a cross-bench move to put freedom of speech safeguards into the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill.
Opponents say proposed legislation is drawn too widely and could outlaw criticisms of beliefs.
This is wonderful news in my opinion. While it's not quite as good as a complete dismissal of the bill, the news that it will now go forward in a significantly watered-down version is heartening. Rowan Atkinson are others are quite right in labelling the sort of measures proposed in the bill "draconian" - surely only in a police state could it be possible to have a situation were people are forbidden to criticise religion.
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