Koran burning case: CPS tried to create a ‘backdoor blasphemy law’ | David Shipley

This week, Sir Joel Bennathan KC overturned the conviction of Hamit Coskun — a Turkish ex-Muslim prosecuted for burning a Quran outside the Turkish consulate.The judge reminded the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of a fundamental principle: there is no offence of blasphemy in English law. The CPS had attempted to use public order legislation to punish Coskun for “offending religious feelings” — a move journalist David Shipley describes as an attempt to create a “backdoor blasphemy law.”Shipley joins Josh Howie to discuss why this case is a pivotal moment for free speech in Britain, how CPS lawyers effectively invented a charge, and why this issue won’t end here unless politicians hold the CPS to account. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'The time for politeness and fear has passed. A free speech nation only matters is you use it.'Josh Howie calls for British Jews to speak out and condemn 'Muslim racism against Jewish people', saying 'politeness hasn’t protected us'. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'The cause is always there, but the justifications for introducing it seem to change depending on whatever problem we want to use as an excuse.'UCL’s Dr Melanie Garson and Academy of Ideas’ Alastair Donald debate digital ID and its impact on our freedom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'We've been dominated by elites since the Second World War who have prevented us from speaking our mind and being proud of our country'.Jake Wallis Simons says Western leaders are trying to prevent people from standing with Israel because 'it represents our older values'. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beat the system with TallyMoney. Gold you can spend. Discover more here: https://click.tallymoney.com/A64P/df08xa5e #adA man was arrested for chanting “We love bacon” outside the site of a planned mosque in the Lake District. Writer and broadcaster Andrew Doyle joins Josh Howie to discuss what this case says about the state of free speech in Britain.Doyle argues that “offensive” is not the same as illegal, and slams the Public Order Act and UK hate speech laws for allowing the state to police feelings rather than actions. He calls for a full rethink — from police training to the role of activist bodies like the College of Policing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'If the user and company aren't breaking the law, why is it the government's business?! It's very mafia-style politics...'Big Brother Watch's Matthew Feeney discusses an apparent Whitehall 'spy unit' monitoring social media, flagging content discussing social issues such as immigration. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'The idea that random adults would take children to the toilets... It's insane!'Women's Rights Activist Kellie-Jay Keen shares her outrage at a BBC star's ally badge scheme which has sparked controversy around the safeguarding of children. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author and women’s rights advocate Julia Long clashes with athlete Glenique Frank in a fiery debate over new government guidance that will see pupils in England taught the legal distinctions between biological sex and gender identity. The discussion raises deep questions about education, safeguarding, and ideology in the classroom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Irish student Jamie O’Mahony sits down to discuss the viral moment he was assaulted and removed from a public event in Limerick for holding up an Israeli flag.He explains how Ireland’s state-backed anti-Israel rhetoric, media bias, and academic activism have created a hostile environment where peaceful dissent is met with mob aggression — even from former family friends.From being stripped of student positions to confronting violent double standards, Jamie shares a powerful personal testimony about the erosion of free speech, rising antisemitism, and Ireland’s troubling alignment with terrorist-linked movements. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'This is the death knell for the good old British pub.'Director of the Free Speech Union, Lord Toby young says the Government's Employment Rights Bill will 'destroy' the hospitality sector. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.