Since the Paris Attacks, Islamophobia and anti-Muslim rhetoric has been prevalent among many political and journalistic figures. An example from the press is the anti-Islam Sun newspaper headline claiming that “1 in 5 British Muslims support Jihadists”. Politically, The right-wing French party National Front is set to make political gains in local elections in the country. But no other political figure has been more of a talking point than Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who,this week, called for the “complete shutdown of Muslim immigration into America”.
This statement has been condemned by politicians and the public across the board with even senior Republican figures condemning Trump for this statement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnn-N9_EDDo
One SNP MP, Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (who is Scotland’s first female muslim MP) has called on Home Secretary Teresa May to ban Trump from Britain under laws prohibiting hate preaching.
Citing examples where extremist hate preachers have been banned from the UK in the past, the MP implored the Home Secretary to consider doing the same thing for Mr Trump.
But could the presidential candidate be banned under hate speech laws?
The law:
Whether Trump could be banned or not would come under the Public Order Act 1986 which defines hate speech as:
“A person who uses threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or displays any written material which is threatening, abusive or insulting, is guilty of an offence if—
(a) he intends thereby to stir up racial hatred, or
(b) having regard to all the circumstances racial hatred is likely to be stirred up thereby.
An amendement to the act, the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 added:
A person who uses threatening words or behaviour, or displays any written material which is threatening, is guilty of an offence if he intends thereby to stir up religious hatred.”
However another section of the law does state that freedom of expression is protected.
So technically the UK could decide to ban Donald Trump from the UK if they believed that he was in breach of the Racial and Religious Act 2006.
Whether he is is contentious, although of course his comments are undoubtedly Islamaphobic. However the treatment of hate preachers from Islam and other religions could make a case for a serious case to keep Trump on his side of the Atlantic.
Photots by Thomas Hawk Video from Wotchit News, Greg Hengler