Racial and Religious Hatred Act now in force

Here's a controversial and high-brow story to start the week off...

The Racial and Religious Hatred Act is now in force. Several comedians, led by Rowan Atkinson, have tried to prevent it becoming law for fear that it will curb free speech, and would prevent people from making jokes about religious beliefs.

Atkinson stated there was a "fundamental difference" between making jokes about someone's religion and being offensive about someone's race. He said, when the controversial act was drawn up: "The freedom to criticise ideas - any ideas even if they are sincerely held beliefs - is one of the fundamental freedoms of society. The law which attempts to say you can criticise or ridicule ideas as long as they are not religious ideas is a very peculiar law indeed. The right to offend is far more important than any right not to be offended."

The government claims that the law closes a loophole that deemed that only Jews and Sikhs were religious groups. Now the act protects Christians and Muslims. One minister claimed there was a "threshold" high enough to protect free speech.

Under the act, a person may receive seven years imprisonment for inciting religious hatred. The law is limited to threatening words and actions, and the prosecution must prove that intention was to stir up hatred.