Nick Timothy, who jointly served as Theresa May’s Chief of Staff during her brief premiership, has called for the abolition of de facto Islamic blasphemy laws in Britain, after citing cases in which men were arrested for burning Qurans.
One man was arrested for burning a Quran outside a memorial to those killed by Islamists in the Manchester Arena bombing. He is currently awaiting trial.
In another case, a man was fined £240 with a statutory surcharge of £96 for burning a Quran and for insulting Islam outside of the Turkish embassy.
Speaking to Focus on Western Islamism (FWI), he said that the police were doing more to control his actions than to stop genuine violence by religiously motivated mobs.
“I have been struggling as an activist for 33 years. I have been in prison for years in Türkiye, I have been tortured. On February 16, after returning from London, I was attacked by two Iraqi Muslims in Derby, but the police released those attackers the same evening," he said.
He continued, “I am a humanist; I am against violence. But the Islamists are trying to kill me. They take their orders from the Qur’an. I am not afraid. I know they will try to kill me. There is a price for my struggle and I am ready to pay that price.”
Both men were charged under the Public Order Act, something Timothy, now an MP, hopes to change.
Speaking to FWI, Timothy said he had put forward a bill aimed at stopping the Public Order Act being used as a blasphemy law, something it was never intended for.
“My bill will put a stop to this and restore our freedom of speech — and our right to criticise any and all religions, including Islam," he said.
Timothy said he was warned not to mention the names of the two men who have recently fallen foul of the Public Order Act when speaking in Parliament on the issue.
He told Parliament: “I do not believe that Mohammed was a Prophet sent by God. I do not accept the instructions he said he received from the Archangel Gabriel. I do not accept that the Sunna, or body of Islamic laws, has any relevance to me. I respect the religious beliefs of others, but I do not mind if Muhammad is satirised, criticised or mocked. I am not a Muslim, and I choose not to live by the moral codes set out by Islam.
“I am a Christian, and I should make it clear that I do not think anybody should be prosecuted for satirising, criticising, or mocking Jesus either.”
