7. Fiona Bruce (Congleton) (Con): What steps the Government are taking to tackle hate speech. [901487]
17. Kwasi Kwarteng (Spelthorne) (Con): What steps the Government are taking to tackle hate speech. [901497]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Karen Bradley): No one in this country should live in fear because of who they are. We have made progress in tackling hate crime, but we are determined to do more, including challenging those who spread extremist messages and seek to divide our society. We will therefore develop a new hate crime
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action plan, working in partnership with communities and across Government to ensure that we have strong measures to stop these deplorable crimes.
Fiona Bruce: Can my right hon. Friend reassure me that in tackling hate speech, the Government will continue to protect and cherish freedom of speech in this country, and, in particular, that Christian Ministers need have nothing to fear when preaching biblical principles in their own pulpits, as their predecessors have done for more than 1,000 years?
Karen Bradley: I assure my hon. Friend, who campaigns so much for the protection of religious freedoms, that we value the role of faith in society, and will protect everyone’s right to practise their faith. Freedom of speech is a fundamental value that binds our society together, and we will always protect that right. Nothing that we are doing, or planning to do, to tackle hate crime and extremism will stop the United Kingdom’s long tradition of preaching.
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