University staff face punishment if they breach Labour's Islamophobia definition
More than 30 peers have written to the working group responsible for the new definition to warn that the proposals risk having a 'chilling effect' on free speech.
The working group is understood to be proposing a 'non-statutory' definition that it hopes could become a template for the workplace policies of universities, governmental and other public sector bodies.
It is designed to counter a surge in anti-Muslim abuse but has raised fears that it could stifle legitimate criticism of Islam as a religion and act as a de facto blasphemy law.
Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general who is chairman of the group, told the peers that he hoped the new non-statutory definition of Islamophobia would be 'embedded in university speech codes and curb 'micro-aggressions''.
However, in a letter to Mr Grieve, seen by The Telegraph, the peers warn: 'This presumably would mean any member of a university that says or does something that falls foul of the definition would face potential penalties.'
They said it was also likely to cover staff at other organisations who would face similar sanctions if it was embedded in their workplace policies, including government departments, councils, courts, NHS trusts, museums, galleries, schools and regulators.
The peers cited the case of Sir Trevor Phillips, who was suspended by Labour for Islamophobia in 2020 after the party adopted a non-statutory definition drawn up by an all party parliamentary group jointly headed by Wes Streeting.
They said: 'The fact that your definition will be 'non-statutory' does not mean it will not have a chilling effect on free speech, particularly if it enjoys the stamp of government approval and various organisations feel obliged to embed it in their equity, diversity and inclusion policies, as well as workplace training course.
'Our principal concern is that if your Working Group comes up with a definition and it is taken up by the Government it will have a chilling effect on free speech and exacerbate community tensions.
'We respectfully urge you to advise the Government that it would be unwise for the state to adopt an official definition of 'Islamophobia/Anti-Muslim Hatred', an option you said your group was considering.'
Among the signatories of the letter are Lord Young, the director of the Free Speech Union; Lord Frost, the former cabinet minister; Baroness Hoey, the former Labour MP; and Baroness Deech, the chair of the Lords Appointments Commission.
The peers claimed that there was no evidence that creating a definition would reduce incidents of Islamophobia. They added that it could let the Government off taking more concrete action.
'Wholly inadequate'
They said: 'The lesson from the rise in anti-Semitism over the last 20 months is that embedding an official, government-approved definition of a particular form of racial or religious hatred in civic speech codes – and threatening people with penalties if they breach those codes – is a wholly inadequate way of tackling hatred and discrimination.
'Indeed, there is a risk that if the Government takes up your group's definition it will feel it has done something to address the problem when in fact it has not, and neglect other, more effective ways of tackling it.'
The peers also demanded that the working group should make its recommendations to ministers public.
They added: 'The definition, if it is taken up, will have wide-ranging implications for what people in public life, and those who work for public bodies, or attend schools or universities, are able to say about Muslims and the religion of Islam, with – inevitably – serious repercussions for those who fall foul of the definition, even if those repercussions fall short of criminal prosecution.
'Indeed, the Home Secretary has said she would like to see more 'Non-Crime Hate Incidents' (NCHIs) recorded against people guilty of 'Islamophobia' and, presumably, she will urge the police to operationalise your definition, once it's been taken up by the Government, as part of the NCHI regime.'
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