Britain’s new blasphemy laws imperil us all

A man was arrested for burning a Koran outside the Turkish consulate in central London .

Another man, who slashed at the Koran -burner with a knife, was also arrested.

The rationale seems to be that while the British state doesn’t recognise the divine authority of Allah, it has convinced itself that blaspheming against Islam or burning its holy book is essentially a form of racial harassment.

Cracking down on anti-Islamic blasphemy will not assuage the zealots, writes Tom Slater .

The new blasphemy laws need to go the way of the old blasphemy laws: abolition.

They risk pouring paraffin on the violent hysteria of Islamic hardliners.

Official appeasement only fuels their violent hysteria.