Minister rejects Badenoch's claim that fine for man who set fire to Qur'an revives blasphemy laws
Date: 2025-06-03T08:28:39.000Z
Title: Kemi Badenoch
Content: Good morning. Public spending is still the dominant issue at Westminster, with the spending review taking place a week tomorrow, and debate still raging about how the government will fund its defence and welfare plans (although the debate is now not so much whether there will be tax rises, rather how big they will be). But the Conservatives are now trying to revive a culture war issue, accusing Labour of in effect using blasphemy legislation to protect legislation.
has been responding to the case of Hamit Coskun, who was found guilty and fined £240 yesterday for a religiously aggravated public order offence after he set fire to a Qur'an outside the Turkish consulate in London. Sammy Gescoyler has the story here.
As Sammy reports, the judge, John McGarva, said that Coskun's actions were 'highly provocative' and said he was 'motivated at least in part by a hatred of Muslims'.
But, in comments written up supportively by the Daily Mail in their splash, Badenoch said the case should go to appeal. She said:
De facto blasphemy laws will set this country on the road to ruin. This case should go to appeal.
Freedom of belief, and freedom not to believe, are inalienable rights in Britain. I'll defend those rights to my dying day.
Not for the first time, Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, has pushed this even further, telling the Daily Telegraph:
This decision is wrong. It revives a blasphemy law that parliament repealed.
Free speech is under threat. I have no confidence in Two-Tier Keir to defend the rights of the public to criticise all religions.
John Healey, the defence secretary, was on media round duty for the government this morning. Asked about the Tory claims by Sky News, Healey did not want to talk about the case itself, saying this was a matter for the courts. But he rejected the claim that blasphemy laws were coming back, telling Sky:
We don't have blasphemy laws. We don't have any plans to reintroduce blasphemy laws.
The National Secular Society is backing Coskun, and Humanists UK have also said they are concerned about yesterday's verdict.
But, in his ruling, the judge said that burning a religious book and making criticism of Islam or the Koran are 'not necessarily disorderly'. McGarva went on: 'What made [Coskun's] conduct disorderly was the timing and location of the conduct and that all this was accompanied by abusive language.'
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: Keir Starmer chairs cabinet.
10.15am: Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, gives evidence to the Treasury committee.
11.30am: Shabana Mahmood, justice secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
Noon: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
2.30pm: Yvette Cooper, home secretary, gives evidence to the Commons home affairs committee.
If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (normally between 10am and 3pm at the moment), or message me on social media. I can't read all the messages BTL, but if you put 'Andrew' in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.
I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can't promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
8 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Fury as SECOND council orders St George's flags to be removed from lampposts after being erected by 'Operation Raise the Colours' patriotism campaigners
A second council has pledged to remove English or British flags tied to lampposts by patriotic campaigners. Tower Hamlets Council in east London said any St George's Crosses or Union flags put up as part of an online campaign called 'Operation Raise the Colours' would be promptly taken down. It comes just days after Birmingham City Council was accused of 'bias and absurdity on top of utter incompetence' for ripping down national banners after saying they 'could put lives at risk'. In recent weeks, Operation Raise the Colours has spread to towns and cities like Swindon, Bradford, Newcastle and Norwich as part of a 'patriotic outpouring'. The campaign has now reached Tower Hamlets, with Operation Raise the Colours demonstrators filming themselves hanging St George's Crosses from lamposts in the area. The council, which is run by Lutfur Rahman of the pro-Gaza Aspire Party, has now vowed to remove any flags tied to council property. Tower Hamlets previously came under fire for allowing Palestinian flags to be displayed on council buildings and lampposts following the outbreak of the war in Gaza in 2023. Mr Rahman - who was previously found guilty of electoral fraud - finally ordered them to be removed after Jewish locals complained they were 'oppressive and intimidating' and made them feel unwelcome. Robert Jenrick, the Shadow Justice Secretary, said allowing the flag of another country to fly in London, but not the St George's Cross or Union flags, was an example of 'absurd national self-loathing'. 'Tower Hamlets council have allowed Palestinian flags to be publicly displayed on lampposts but not the flag of our country,' he told The Telegraph. 'This absurd national self-loathing must end. This is yet more two-tier bias against the British people. We must be one country united under the Union flag.' Mr Rahman, the mayor of Tower Hamlets, was kicked out of office in 2015 after an election court found him guilty of a series of charges, including electoral fraud and spiritual intimidation of voters. Approximately 39.9 per cent of people in the borough are Muslim, the largest proportion of any local authority area in the UK. Previous displays of Palestine flags across the borough prompted a legal challenge from legal campaign group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), which said they could ' intimidate Jewish people' and 'encourage violence against them '. Sue Reid for the Daily Mail revealed in a report last year how some local Jewish people were so frightened they were making plans to move. 'We feel they would like to see the back of us,' one successful Jewish woman in her 40s, who lives in the area, said. 'Anti-Semitism is being normalised here in Tower Hamlets. The majority seem to think this is perfectly all right.' One mother in her early 50s said: 'I am the mother of a boy who goes to primary school in the borough. We have lived here for four years but we are leaving, even to go abroad, before he goes to secondary.' Mr Rahman later announced he had made the 'difficult' decision to order the removal of the flags after they became the focus of 'media attacks'. He had previously rejected the suggestion they were symbols of division. Hundreds of St George's flags and Union Jacks were hung up around several areas in the south of Birmingham Birmingham City Council claimed the flags represent a danger to both motorists and pedestrians and ordered for them to be removed A number of St George's flags have been put up across Tower Hamlets in recent days. In response, a spokesman for the council vowed to remove them. 'We are aware members of the public have been putting up St George's flags on various structures,' the spokesman said. 'While we recognise people wish to express their views, we have a responsibility to monitor and maintain council infrastructure. 'Where flags are attached to council-owned infrastructure without permission, they may be removed as part of routine maintenance.' Operation Raise the Colours began on Facebook and has spread across the country. It appears to have its roots in Birmingham, where scores of British flags sprung up in the suburb of Northfield. Birmingham City Council quickly confirmed it would begin ripping them down and claimed they posed a safety risk despite flying high above the traffic. A backlash to the decision deepened further after officials privately admitted they were too scared to take down Palestine flags without extra security. In a leaked email obtained by the Mail, council cabinet member Majid Mahmood said of the Palestine flags hanging from lampposts in February: 'We are taking these down, but we need the support of the police due to issues that have cropped (up) when we first tried to take them down.' Critics also pointed out that the city's library was being lit up in the colours of the Pakistan flag to mark the anniversary of the country's independence, followed by the Indian flag. Government guidance published in 2021 states that flags 'are a very British way of expressing joy and pride ' and that they wanted to see 'more flags flown, 'particularly the Union flag'. An extract from the guidance reads: 'It is a symbol of national unity and pride. The government has recently issued guidance encouraging the flying of the Union Flag on all UK government buildings throughout the year, alongside other national and local flags. 'We are keen for local authorities and other local organisations to follow suit. We have made it easier for the Union Flag to be flown alongside other flags, so organisations can highlight their local identities, as well as their national identities, and celebrate special days or events which champion civic pride.' However, it also warns that flags must not 'obscure, or hinder the interpretation of official road, rail, waterway or aircraft signs, or otherwise make hazardous the use of these types of transport'.
Daily Mail
29 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Wayne Couzens' marital home - with hot-tub he built in the garden - hits the market: Three-bed house where killer cop lived with wife and kids is on sale for £280K
Wayne Couzens ' marital home has gone on the market for £280,000 - complete with a hot tub he built in the back garden, the Daily Mail can reveal. The shamed Met Police officer, 52, who is serving a whole life sentence for the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard in 2021, lived there with wife Olena for five years. The couple paid £200,000 for the three-bedroom terrace house in 2016, taking out a mortgage with Nat West Bank, records show. Couzens was arrested at the house in Deal, Kent, by police investigating the brutal killing of Sarah, 33, in a crime that shocked the nation – and left his wife and two children stunned. The disgraced former police officer had handcuffed and 'arrested' Sarah in fake Covid patrol in March 2021, as she walked home through Clapham Common after visiting a friend for dinner. He bundled her into a car, then raped and murdered her, eventually driving to remote woods near Ashford, where he burnt her body and dumped her remains in a pond, with police making the grim discovery six days later. The property is described by estate agents as an 'ideal terraced family house, spacious throughout with three double bedrooms and ample living space'. It goes on: 'The rear garden is a great size and overlooks fields behind. To the front there is a blocked paved driveway and garage. 'The property has been well cared for and has a modern kitchen bathroom and log burner.' The description makes no mention of the hot tub that Couzens built, but in pictures illustrating the house, the timber surround can clearly be seen in the back garden. Other images show a neat and tidy interior with books on shelves and a board game under the table, as well as magnets on the fridge door and a large telescope in the kitchen. The house was put up for sale earlier this year for £300,000 but the price was later reduced by £20,000 after failing to attract interest, despite being close to local amenities, schools and the train station. Ukrainian born Olena was often seen by neighbours walking the family's two pet French bulldogs Napoleon and Josephine and was described as 'warm and friendly' by locals, who added she 'kept a low profile'. Following Couzens arrest in 2021, Olena told the Daily Mail she had kept asking herself 'Why?' adding that it was 'not human behaviour'. She went on: 'If I had any idea what was going on in Wayne's head, then none of this would've happened but I didn't know anything. The kitchen shows magnets on the fridge door and a large telescope in the corner as well as family dining table 'He didn't appear to be acting strangely. I didn't notice anything was wrong. I'm working full time, most of the time I'm dropping the children off at school and picking them up, I have a really busy lifestyle. 'I can't comprehend it because he never once previously showed any glimpse of violence, he was never that way. I'm just as puzzled as everyone else. 'I saw nothing wrong. He had a beautiful family, a good house… what else did he need? I'm constantly asking myself "where I did miss the signs? How on earth could this have happened?' Couzens was jailed at the Old Baily in September 2021 and trial judge Lord Justice Fulford told him: 'Your wife and children, who on all the evidence, are entirely blameless, will have to live with the ignominy of your dreadful crimes for the rest of their lives.' Couzens drove to remote woods near Ashford (pictured), where he burnt her body and dumped her remains in a pond, with police making the grim discovery six days later Shortly after his arrest Olena visited him in prison where he was on remand and he cried and apologised to her and it is thought to be the last time she saw him, although it is not known if they have divorced. Couzens is serving his sentence at HMP Frankland and last month it emerged he had been taken to hospital for a back operation that cost tax payers £17,000.
Daily Mail
29 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
The migrant hotel flashpoint in the heart of London's banking district: How Canary Wharf has become an asylum seeker 'dumping ground' with 'terrified' locals scared to leave homes
Once hailed as a 'miniature Manhattan', Canary Wharf's new status as a migrant hotel flashpoint has been seized upon as evidence of its decline. The decision to house hundreds of illegal migrants in the heart of East London's banking district has prompted a furious reaction from locals, with some complaining of feeling too scared to leave their homes. Protests are taking place outside the four-star Britannia Hotel almost daily, with the recent arrest of one of its residents for walking into a woman's home doing nothing to ease tensions. In a bid to reassure the public, a Home Office spokesperson told Daily Mail that 'we will always do everything in our power' to ensure foreign nationals who commit crime in the UK face deportation once they have completed their sentence. Still, the latest incidents come at a difficult time for the finance hub, which has seen a series of major firms announce plans to leave amid a post-pandemic drive towards working from home. Susan Hall, the Conservative Assembly member and former London mayoral candidate, claimed the use of Canary Wharf as a 'dumping ground' for illegal migrants was evidence of its decline under London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan. 'I had a phone call with someone who lives nearby who said she won't go out without her husband because she doesn't feel safe,' she told the Daily Mail. 'This is a prestigious financial district, but clearly Sadiq Khan doesn't care where these people are put, the safety of women and children, or the chaos on our streets. 'It took 12 days to build a Nightingale Hospital - so why on earth can't they build a detention centre?' Anti-migrant protesters who gathered outside the hotel earlier this month shout at counter-protesters across the road The Britannia, which opened in 1992 at the height of Canary Wharf's emergence from an area of derelict dockland, boasts of 'superb views over the London skyline' and usually charges more than £400 a night for rooms. The hotel is also within walking distance of skyscraper One Canada Square, which was the UK's tallest building for more than 20 years until The Shard was unveiled in 2012. It has since become the focus of protests after Tower Hamlets Council confirmed it had been handed over to the Home Office to house asylum seekers. Another group of up to 50 migrants arrived at the hotel one morning last week before being hurried inside by guards. Residents living near the hotel have spoken of their concerns about having hundreds of bored young men now living on their doorstep. Tracey Calder, a 35-year-old receptionist, said she now tries to walk in a group for safety. 'We are forming a group of locals so we don't go out on our own. We are terrified,' she told the Daily Mail. Regular protests have been taken place outside the hotel for days Eleano Borisenko, 31, said: 'I don't feel safe. I've been here five years. We had no consultation. Nobody asked us any questions. 'They never said what would be happening and there was no discussion or debate. It was a huge shock.' Friends Roy Knott, 62, and Jo Avent, 55, live nearby and want the hotel to stop housing migrants. Mr Knott said: 'They get everything handed to them on a plate. It's serious. I don't feel safe and I know a lot of families who feel the same. 'The cost to the taxpayer must be huge as well. Can we afford this? There are police and security there all the time. 'People are so angry locally. I know people who simply don't want to live here anymore.' Canary Wharf has struggled in recent years after the shift towards working from home saw a dip in demand for office space. Many big employers have downsized their concrete footprint as a consequence. The Britannia, which opened in 1992 at the height of Canary Wharf's emergence from an area of derelict dockland, usually charges more than £400 a night for rooms HSBC said in 2023 that it planned to vacate its 45-floor Canary Wharf skyscraper - 8 Canada Square - in 2027, when the current lease expires. Law giant Clifford Chance is also leaving. It occupies 10 Upper Bank Street, a 32-storey one million square foot skyscraper. In 2028, it will move back to the City to occupy a new, much smaller office block. Major rival Allen & Overy has already left. US law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom moved to the City in 2024. And credit agency Moody's is also planning to leave. Despite the slate of high-profile departures, those in charge of the district would point to recent data that shows the valuation of some of its offices are rising for the first time in three years. The value of a £2billion portfolio that includes around half of Canary Wharf Group's office holdings increased by 0.6 per cent between March and June, according to data released by landlord CWG. Even so, many are adamant that the chaos surrounding the Britannia Hotel will do nothing to aid this recovery. Jules Durand, a French financial worker who joined the protests, told the Telegraph. 'I think it's crazy. I may move. Everyone in my building doesn't like it but they won't act and come down here because they don't want to be on camera. 'I don't oppose the hotel, but I just don't want them here. I'm against immigration all the way. My area of France has been completely overwhelmed.' Sharply dressed office workers commute to work during the morning rush hour in Canary Wharf, 2015 Barriers have been set up outside the hotel to keep protesters away from the entrance A security guard stands outside the hotel late last month On Friday, a crowd of anti-migrant protesters descended on the hotel to be met by counter demonstrators. Officers were seen pinning some activists on the ground, with two arrests made. One was an anti-migrant protester who was detained after a bottle was thrown at officers. The other was a member of the counter-protest group who was arrested for failing to remove their face covering. The main road outside the hotel was blocked by hundreds of demonstrators shouting 'save our kids'. Police had to rapidly mobilise to contain a group of 'anti-fascist' activists arriving at South Quay station to confront anti-migrant protesters as they held signs that said 'no human is illegal' and chanted: 'Refugees have the right - here to stay, here to fight.' More than a hundred police officers moved to kettle the group outside the tube station for breaching the peace. People then made their way into the town as the main road outside the hotel was closed. Dozens were carrying flags, leading chants of 'Keir Starmer is a w*****' and 'send them home'. It comes as police continue to quiz a man accused of bursting into a blind woman's flat has been arrested on suspicion of common assault. The suspect, aged in his 20s, was living at the Britannia, and was being held by police in Hackney, east London. He is said to have entered the house on Wednesday night after being followed by a group of men on the street and told to 'go back to the hotel' where anti-migrant protesters were gathered outside. The Met has now said he is no longer living there. A spokesperson for the police this morning said: 'Our investigation continued on Thursday, with officers carrying out extensive CCTV enquiries and speaking to witnesses. 'As a result of this, in the early hours of this morning - Friday, 15 August - we arrested a man in the Hackney area on suspicion of common assault. He is believed to be in his early 20s. 'We can confirm that this is the man who allegedly entered the flat. He is now in police custody.' A 22-year-old woman who was arrested on Wednesday evening and lives at the flat which was entered has since been charged with a number of offences. A Home Office spokesperson said: 'It is our longstanding policy not to comment on individual cases, but when foreign nationals commit serious crimes in our country, we will always do everything in our power to deport them after they have completed their sentence. 'This government has already deported almost 5,200 foreign national offenders in our first year in office, a 14 per cent increase on the previous year, and we will continue to do everything we can to remove these vile criminals from our streets.'
