The right to offend

"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion," says the Human Rights Act. This freedom includes "the right to manifest his (or her) religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance."

That's a fine aspiration but of course the Human Rights Act (HRA) isn't all it's cracked up to be by its supporters. Take the recent case of a 54-year-old nurse facing disciplinary action for wearing her confirmation cross, she was forced to accept an offer of redeployment to a non-nursing role at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital

..... One of the most disturbing cases I have heard of is the decision by the Crown Prosecution Service to bring a prosecution against a Christian couple that own hotel in Aintree, Liverpool

..... couldn't agree more. this case in particular has tipped the scales for me. in their effort not to offend the muslim community the authorities seem to agree the best way to do that is persecute everyone else. how the hell does this sort of overreaction help 'community cohesion' in fact it just makes things worse. madness. [Guardian Cif] Read more