Member

Importantly, my noble friend’s amendment would not remove offences involving imminent violence. On the contrary, it would leave the word “threatening” firmly in place. What it would remove are the words “abusive” and “insulting” and the offences based solely on causing some form of emotional response. This distinction matters. Threats create fear of violence and undermine public order; they rightly attract criminal sanction. Insults and offence, however unpleasant, are part of life in a free society, and to criminalise them is to invite the state into a realm of thought, belief and expression.