Rejected petition The UK does NOT need a blasphemy law

We urge the UK Government to reject any proposals to reintroduce blasphemy laws. These laws restrict free speech, privilege specific religions, and harm social cohesion. Existing hate speech laws already protect individuals from harm without curbing the right to question or criticise beliefs.

More details

Reintroducing blasphemy laws would undermine free speech, a cornerstone of democracy, by penalising the critique of religious beliefs. Such laws historically caused inequality, privileging some faiths while marginalising others. They would also create fear, stifling debate, art, and academia. Existing hate speech laws ensure protections without limiting expression. The UK must champion open dialogue and equality, not regress to laws that threaten liberty and fairness.

This petition was rejected

Why was this petition rejected?

It’s not clear what the petition is asking the UK Government or Parliament to do.

The Government have said that they are not going to introduce blasphemy laws:
https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2024-12-18/debates/ba455fa1-fb15-4e1b-b4c9-884dfdaeb83e/CommonsChamber#contribution-83E4227E-B766-4980-9AFC-A77C90D20A59

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.

Date submitted 30 November 2024
Get petition data (json format)

About petition data

The data shows the number of people who have signed the petition by country as well as in the constituency of each Member of Parliament. This data is available for all petitions on the site. It is not a list of people who have signed the petition. The only name that is shared on the site is that of the petition creator.