Shadow of the Stasi

Nov 8, 2020 by Jill

by Henry Getley, The Conservative Woman:

WORRYING proposals to criminalise so-called hate speech in private homes in Scotland were highlighted on TCW last week by Dr Campbell Campbell-Jack.

Now there are moves to bring in similar legislation in England and Wales, meaning remarks about race, religion and other issues as part of conversation or argument could be deemed illegal.

Currently, the law protects you from prosecution for stirring up hatred if allegedly offensive words are spoken ‘within a dwelling’ and cannot be heard outside. Basically, when you close your front door, you’re free to do and say whatever you like as long as you’re not committing a crime.

But the Law Commission, the statutory body which keeps the law of England and Wales under review, is proposing that private homes should also be covered.

It denies that dinner table talk would be at risk, saying that the dwelling exception is ‘poorly targeted’. But it’s worth remembering that hate crime doesn’t need to have been committed by any objective standards before action is taken. Under guidelines in England, Scotland and Wales, it merely has to be perceived by the supposed victim or anyone else.

So it’s not hard to see the potential for someone to cry ‘hate crime’ when people are talking among themselves and swopping points of views that may turn heated and argumentative.

Under Human Rights law, we are all entitled to freedom of expression without interference from public authority and we have the right to a private and family life. But all this can be overridden if it is alleged a crime has been committed.

Read here

Christian homes need to beware of the hate police, by Dr Campbell Campbell-Jack, The Conservative Woman

Hate Crime Bill: SNP seeks to regulate dinner table conversation in the home, by Archbishop Cranmer

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