Atkinson's warning over new laws

Jokes about gay people could be made illegal under new government legislation, Rowan Atkinson has warned.

The Blackadder star, who successfully campaigned to water down legislation about religious hatred, says new moves to combat homophobic behaviour would have a similarly draconian effect on freedom of speech.

In a letter to the Times, he said that Labour ministers are so obsessed with outlawing rude comments they are not considering the ‘serious implications for freedom of speech, humour and creative expression’.

The Criminal Justice Bill, currently passing through Parliament, proposes jail sentences of up to seven years for those who stir up hatred against homosexuals. Atkinson also fears this could be the thin end of the wedge as the government is also considering extending the legislation to disabled or transgendered people.

He wrote: ‘I am sure that they [the disabled and transsexuals] could make a very good case, as indeed could all those who can claim that they cannot help being the way they are. Men, for example, or women. Or people with big ears.

‘The devil, as always, will be in the detail but the casual ease which some people move from finding something offensive to wishing to declare it criminal - and are then able to find factions within government to aid their ambitions - is truly depressing.’

However Ministers claim that jokes about gays would not fall under the new law, which would contain a clause to protect the right to freedom of speech. Justice Secretary Jack Straw has also said he will introduce an amendment to the Bill excluding comments that were ‘humorous, mocking or abusive’.

Published: 8 Nov 2007