By making prayer illegal outside abortion centres, the government is criminalising Christianity

Recent moves to create buffer zones around abortion centres are an egregious assault on our freedom of speech, argues Paul Huxley

Last week, MPs voted to keep the ‘buffer zone’ amendment in the government’s Public Order Bill, criminalising any form of ‘influence’ outside of abortion facilities in England and Wales.

The amendment is a disgrace. Lord Jackson said it well in the House of Lords: “The clause will result in stigmatisation, hostility towards and, eventually, the criminalisation of one group of people: Christians. The clause is pernicious and a fundamental assault on freedom of speech and thought…It is stigmatising a small group of people who are not fashionable, and it will come back to haunt, in due course, all of us who care very deeply about freedom of speech.”