Reclaiming the Right to Speak Truth: A Catholic Defence of Nick Timothy’s Free Speech Bill
The freedom to proclaim truth—even when it offends—is not a liberal indulgence, but a natural right grounded in divine law. When Nick Timothy MP rose in Parliament on 17 July 2025 to introduce the Freedom of Expression (Religion or Belief System) Bill, he did something few have dared to do in recent decades: he spoke openly about Islam, without fear or flattery, and reaffirmed the moral necessity of equal treatment under the law¹.
“I do not believe that Mohammed was a Prophet sent by God,” he said, adding that he did not mind if Muhammad was “satirised, criticised or mocked.” He made clear that the same standard must apply to all religions, including Christianity². This was not relativism—it was moral clarity. In a truly Christian polity, the truth may be attacked, but it may never be legally shielded from scrutiny.
England abolished its blasphemy laws in 2008³, but as Timothy rightly noted, new ones have crept back in. Today, under sections 4 and 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 and other communications laws, people are arrested and prosecuted for “causing distress” to Muslims or “offending Islam.”⁴ Such prosecutions are neither neutral nor just. They reward intimidation and chill any public witness to the truth—especially the Gospel⁵.
Timothy’s Bill seeks to prevent these laws from being misused. It expands the existing free speech protections in section 29J of the Public Order Act to cover all public order and communication laws⁶. Crucially, it protects not only criticism of religion but also proselytism—the very act of calling others to repentance and conversion⁷. That is an act of charity, not hate⁸.
We must be clear: Christian evangelisation has always included the call to abandon false religion. When our Lord said, “Go therefore and teach all nations”⁹, He did not intend that His Church be silent in the name of public order. Nor can any Catholic accept a legal regime in which false religions are protected from contradiction, while the true Faith is subject to persecution.
The recent case of a man stabbed while burning a Qur’an in protest—and then himself fined for “offending Muslims”—reveals how deeply this injustice now runs¹⁰. The victim was criminalised not for inciting violence but for committing sacrilege against a book. This inversion of justice is not accidental. It is the fruit of a post-Christian state that has lost its nerve.
Timothy’s Bill does not aim to provoke Muslims, nor to undermine public order. Rather, it seeks to reassert a fundamental truth of Christian civilisation: no religion, no belief system, no creed may command obedience through fear. Truth must remain free to speak—and falsehood must remain subject to exposure.
As Traditional Catholics, we cannot remain neutral in this battle. We know that Our Lord is Truth incarnate¹¹, and that silence in the face of error is complicity. We must defend those who, even if imperfectly, defend the liberty to preach Christ without censorship, legal harassment, or intimidation.
Nick Timothy’s Bill may not be perfect, but it is a necessary stand in an age when cowardice too often masquerades as tolerance. It reminds us that Britain cannot be restored by compromise with error, but only by a courageous return to truth.
May more legislators have the moral clarity and courage to follow his example. And may the Church, once again, proclaim Christ crucified—not behind closed doors, but in the public square, without fear. 🔝
¹ Hansard, HC Deb, 17 July 2025, Vol. 749, col. 271.
² Ibid., col. 272.
³ Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, s.79.
⁴ Public Order Act 1986, ss.4–5; see also Communications Act 2003, s.127.
⁵ Hansard, HC Deb, 17 July 2025, col. 273.
⁶ Freedom of Expression (Religion or Belief System) Bill, Bill 257 [as introduced], Clause 1(2).
⁷ Ibid., protection includes “proselytising or urging adherents… to cease practising their religion.”
⁸ Cf. Pope Pius XI, Mortalium Animos (1928), §10: “Charity demands that the light of truth be shown to those in error.”
⁹ Matthew 28:19, Douay-Rheims.
¹⁰ Daily Mail, “Kurdish atheist fined for burning Qur’an,” 17 July 2025; Daily Record, “CPS confirms 2027 trial date for attacker,” 16 July 2025.
¹¹ John 14:6 – “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”
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