Blasphemy law for Islam by the Backdoor: Why is Starmer’s CPS Bent on Getting Special Protection for Muslims in Christian Britain?

In a pivotal hearing at the High Court today, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)—under the Labour government led by Sir Keir Starmer—argued vehemently that the conviction of Hamit Coskun for burning a copy of the Quran outside the Turkish consulate in London should be reinstated.

Coskun’s initial conviction for a religiously aggravated public order offence was rightly overturned on appeal by Mr Justice Bennathan, who ruled that freedom of expression must encompass the right to express views that offend, shock, or disturb.

The CPS, however, insists that such actions amount to disorderly behaviour by provoking violence among Muslims, thereby warranting criminal sanction. If successful, this appeal would effectively enshrine a de facto blasphemy law exclusively protecting Islam, as the Free Speech Union (FSU) has warned, creating a precedent that shields one religion above all others in the UK [1].

This pursuit exemplifies the British State’s ongoing campaign to confer special status, privileges, and protections upon Islam and Muslims alone—measures that are wholly unacceptable in Britain, a nation with a historically, constitutionally, and culturally Christian foundation. No equivalent safeguards are being extended to Christianity or other faiths; instead, these efforts appear tailored solely to Islam.

Consider the Government’s Working Group on Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia Definition, established in February 2025 and chaired by Dominic Grieve KC, but otherwise composed predominantly of Muslim representatives and individuals affiliated with Islamic organisations. Some of these entities have faced serious allegations of antisemitism and links to extremism, raising profound concerns about bias and the potential for any resulting definition to suppress free speech under the guise of combating ‘Islamophobia’—effectively acting as a blasphemy law targeted at protecting Islam [2]. Commentator Mahyar Tousi has exposed these issues on Tousi TV, highlighting how the group’s makeup could stifle legitimate debate and entrench selective privileges for Muslims [3].

This pattern is further evidenced by the institutional cover-up of the grooming gangs scandals, where perpetrators were overwhelmingly of Pakistani Muslim heritage, systematically abusing vulnerable white, working-class underage girls in towns such as Rotherham and Rochdale. Official reports, including the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham by Professor Alexis Jay, reveal that authorities frequently hesitated to act due to fears of being labelled racist, prioritising cultural sensitivities over justice and child protection—a clear instance of affording undue deference to Muslim communities at the expense of victims and the rule of law [4].

My own ongoing action with the Metropolitan Police underscores this disparity.

I lodged a complaint regarding Sadiq Khan’s defence of the chant ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ as non-antisemitic during Mayor’s Question Time on 10 October 2025.

This was registered as a non-crime hate incident (reference: 01/822592/25).

Yet, no investigation followed, and my Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request (reference: 01/FOI/25/049201/E) for the underlying legal advice has been met with protracted delays beyond the statutory 20-working-day limit, leading to a formal complaint (reference: PC/13271/25) [5].

This obfuscation by the Met—where Khan serves as Police and Crime Commissioner—appears designed to shield him from accountability. Such selective protections for prominent Muslim figures like Khan illustrate how these state-driven initiatives exclusively benefit Islam and Muslims, potentially insulating them from scrutiny that would apply to others, while eroding equality before the law in Christian Britain.

These developments pose a grave threat to British values of free expression, impartial justice, and religious equality. I invite constructive dialogue on safeguarding these principles without creating special privileges for Islam.

References:

[1] MSN article on the High Court hearing: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/man-s-conviction-for-burning-koran-should-have-been-upheld-high-court-told/ar-AA1WvIa7

[2] Free Speech Union on the Coskun case and Islamophobia definition concerns: https://freespeechunion.org/hamit-coskun-fundraiser.html; FSU LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/speechunion_the-free-speech-union-is-outside-the-royal-activity-7429471423460499457-_CEz

[3] Mahyar Tousi TV on Islamophobia and related issues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ELj267KcW4 (discussion on extremism and the use of ‘Islamophobia’ to shut down debate)

[4] Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham (Jay Report): https://www.rotherham.gov.uk/downloads/file/279/independent-inquiry-into-child-sexual-exploitation-in-rotherham; Wikipedia overview of the grooming gangs scandal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal

[5] My update on the complaint and FOIA delay: https://www.chanabraham-changingbritainforgood.com/post/update-complaint-foia-delay-why-is-the-metropolitan-police-shielding-sadiq-khan-s-from-the-riv; Initial report: https://www.chanabraham-changingbritainforgood.com/post/metropolitan-police-refuse-to-investigate-sadiq-khan-s-defence-of-from-the-river-to-the-sea-chant; Analysis: https://www.chanabraham-changingbritainforgood.com/post/when-the-mayor-says-from-the-river-to-the-sea-is-fine-but-the-police-won-t-tell-us-why

No Blasphemy Law by the Back Door - Free Speech Union