Back door Sharia Law

England has not boasted blasphemy laws since their abolition in 2008. The closest I’ve ever come to encountering them was way back in the 1990’s as a public school sprog, when a classmate decided to adorn his Bible with swastikas in R.E. class, ‘because he was bored’. He received a double-detention for his trouble - 90% of which I am sure stemmed from his inveterate homework-dodging, rather than his artwork. Being a mere Bible however, that was the end of the matter. Had it been a Koran, I suspect the situation could have morphed into something unholy - and thanks to the farcical events unfolding in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, we now know that to be true.

Here is a brief summary of where we are: last Wednesday, four Year 10 pupils were suspended from Kettlethorpe High School in Wakefield, for damaging a copy of the Koran. The book was brought to school by one of the boys as a forfeit for losing a game of Call of Duty - it is noteworthy that the boy in question also happens to be autistic. The Koran was almost imperceptibly damaged, suffering a minor tear to the cover, and a smudge on one of the inside pages. While it would be naive to assume there were no high jinks involved, the book’s almost pristine condition suggests they were short-lived.

The school concluded there was no ‘malicious intent’ in the boys’ actions, but headteacher Tudor Griffiths, keen to scotch rumours circulating that the book had been kicked around the school, spat on and set on fire, agreed to attend a meeting at the local mosque organised by councillor Akef Akbar, with the Imam and Chief Constable Andy Thornton in attendance.

It was then that events began to escalate. Along with his suspension, the child at the centre of the row had now received death threats. Chief Constable (and clearly nodding-dog wannabe) Thornton showed a remarkable lack of interest in these, though possibly sensing the mosque’s desire for blood, had agreed to upgrade the matter to that lowest of police jokes - the ‘hate incident’. Councillor Akbar (who conveniently carries the second part of Islam’s favourite incendiary expression in his name, should he ever need to use it), dismissed the death threats as ‘passions flaring’. He was however, keen to highlight that the boy’s mother (hijab-ensconced naturally) was terrified; that he had personally ‘tested’ the boy on his knowledge of Islam, and that you must ‘put the Koran in a high place’ and ‘wash your hands’ before touching it.

Emboldened by the cowardly nods from the the supposed authority in the room (Chief Constable Thornton) the Imam went one further: ‘We will never tolerate disrespect of the holy Qur’an, never! We will sacrifice our lives for it. We won’t let this go’. So much for tolerance. The video of the meeting (available on social media) is shameful. If you didn’t know better, you’d swear it were an Iranian hostage video as the mother, headteacher and police chief take it in turns to grovel tremulously at the Muslims running the show.

To say that the official response has been timorous would be an understatement. The craven cowards at the Department for Education have astonishingly backed the school. While Home Secretary Suella Braverman, to her credit, has commented that she is ‘very concerned’ over the suspension of the boys. It remains to be seen whether she has any teeth for an intervention, or if ‘concerned’ is as far as she goes.

Slightly more encouragingly there was pushback from certain sections of the media, and groups such as Humanists UK, who claimed the school had allowed themselves to be ‘pressured into excessive disciplinary action by a religious group’. Meanwhile, bereft of any obvious sign the cavalry is coming over the hill, the boy’s mother has said her son is terrified for his life, unable to eat, and that going forward she will ensure ‘he does more research on Islam’. Of that we can be certain.

Britain is still a nominally-Christian country, with Christians accounting for 46% compared to Islam’s 6.5% according to the 2021 Census. Unlike the Islam which seeks to supplant it however, such Christianity is lapsed, which is why Allah’s disciples have not had to fight to acquire the upper-hand in our new two-tier society. A society which says no to the Bible and yes to the Koran; banishes church bells in favour of the Adhan; applauds the raciest Jesus jokes you can stand, but no Mohammad cartoons - not in this land.

As churches burn and priests are attacked across Europe, far from taking a stand, Britain’s Church of England is busy welcoming Islam in with open arms. After all, the church has bigger fish to fry, like bending to the ‘inevitable’ Sharia Law in Britain favoured by former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, or tampering with God’s pronouns, à la Justin Welby. In this instance however, it is not the church in the wrong - but the authorities. As is so often the case in Britain, those in loco parentis are not only guilty of connivance, but are actively fanning the flames of extremists by their cowardice: the school’s headteacher, the police, and ultimately the government should they continue to fail to act.

Here is what should have happened: once the story surfaced, the school should have been left alone to deal with the matter; that should have put an end to it. Having brought in the police, and with the police foolishly awarding the incident the status of ‘hate’, the Home Office should have smacked down such a decision immediately, as a show of backbone and common sense. When Chief Constable Thornton ignored the blatant death threats, Braverman herself should have stepped in and dismissed him from his post. Last, and most crucially the children themselves should have been defended. Those issuing death threats should have been prosecuted, with the mosque instructed in no uncertain terms to get their worshippers in-line, or face closure.

None of this has the remotest chance of occurring of course, because as we have so often observed with a teacher still in hiding in Batley, with the scandal of the Muslim rape gangs, and the alleged incidents in Dover - the authorities are much more at home labelling the public ‘far-right’ whenever they notice something they shouldn’t, rather than punishing the restive Islamic extremists within our midst.

We no longer have blasphemy laws in the UK, but if anything’s going to revive them it’s Islam. To avoid a public protest however, it appears the authorities are aiding and abetting their de facto resurrection via the backdoor. Shame on those in power for not only turning a blind eye to Islamic intimidation, but for actively encouraging it. As for the high jinks lads, next time bring a Bible to school and urinate on it. Not only are the police unlikely to be called, it could open up all sorts of doors for you.