Rowan Atkinson is continuing to lead the battle against the Government Racial
And Religious Hatred Bill, as it heads back to the Commons on Tuesday.
The Government wants the legislation to cover religiously-offensive insults,
and with the Bill having legal consequences if it is denied or broken, comedians
fear censorship will start to curb their acts.
On the one hand, we at Funny.co.uk are against anti-religious jokes. But we
would much prefer that comedians themselves should decide whether or not to use
them, and be guided by the audience reaction to them, rather than the force of
UK Law.
Atkinson said "I am deeply concerned for all performers and entertainers,
because the climate in which we work will be very different if the government
gets its way."
The House of Lords has forced the reappraisal of the law by voting (with a
majority of 149) to restrict the bill to intentionally threatening words, rather
than merely abusive ones.