ABSTRACT
Criminal offences relating to stirring up religious hatred were created by the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006. This Act has a complex and controversial history. The government’s first attempt to create an offence of stirring up religious hatred was in Pt 5 of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Bill 2001, but that proposal was defeated in the House of Lords. Another attempt was made in 2002 in the private member’s Religious Offences Bill and the proposal was reintroduced by the government in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill 2004. All of these attempts ran into serious opposition, particularly in the House of Lords, and each time the proposals were withdrawn by the government in order to get the rest of the Bill passed.
