Labour has introduced an Islamic blasphemy law via the back door — and it is already having a chilling effect on free speech. The “anti-Muslim hostility” definition, formerly known as Islamophobia, is being adopted by police forces, prosecutors, courts and the NHS, as well as private-sector organisations and charities. It will make it even harder to discuss the fundamental challenges we face, like Islamist extremism, and national scandals such as the grooming gangs, with those who speak out fearful of being branded “Islamophobic”. As Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy says: “It’s a get-out-of-jail-free card for extremists.” Not only did the Government appoint a working group whose five members had troubling links to Islamist organisations; it also deleted every response to the Working Group’s consultation. It is now almost certain that extremists were able to influence the drafting of the definition. This is a major cover-up at the heart of government. Government departments are required to retain historical records of those who contributed to key consultations such as this for 20 years. Angela Rayner has serious questions to answer. The British public deserves to know who drafted Labour’s Islamic blasphemy law. A fantastic video from @NJ_Timothy 👇

Angela Rayner and her department have some serious questions to answer. It has been revealed through FOI requests submitted by Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy that the Communities Department deleted all responses submitted to the Working Group tasked by Rayner with drafting the official definition of Islamophobia — now repackaged as “anti-Muslim hostility”. Nick has accused the department of a “cover-up” and wants to establish whether extremist groups influenced the process. Since its publication, the definition has been used to silence legitimate criticism and debate about Islam. It has revived Britain’s blasphemy laws for Islam alone. Public, private and charitable bodies have been encouraged to adopt the new non-statutory definition — with some, such as South Wales Police, going even further. The Free Speech Union exposed at the start of the year that all five members of the Working Group had troubling links to Islamist organisations, including the Muslim Council of Britain and MEND — both of which successive governments have adopted a policy of non-engagement with since 2009 due to concerns about extremism. Nick Timothy has said: “Labour must come clean on whether extremist groups helped to draft their ‘Islamophobia’ definition. “Ministers have refused to answer whether these groups influenced the definition despite a no-contact policy, and we now know that the Government deleted every single response that the working group received. “This is clearly a cover-up under way, and the public have a right to know whether a definition the Government is asking the entire public and private sector to adopt was influenced by the views of extremists.” This is a truly astonishing admission. The Government introduced what amounts to a de facto Islamic blasphemy law in Britain, it could have been influenced by Islamist extremists, and it then deleted all the evidence submitted to the Working Group. Questions must be answered. Read more below 👇