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.