Paul Goggins, a Home Office minister, has said: “This will be a line in the sand which indicates to people a line beyond which they cannot go. Some 25 Labour MPs rebelled against a three-line whip to back the amendment in the last parliament.Graham Allen, a Labour MP and former whip, said he would oppose the measure. He said: “Bringing the law into play in areas of religion will turn our courts into the playground of religious extremists.” The Government argues that the legislation would be tightly drawn and not outlaw comedians’ jokes, criticism of religion or provocative commentary on religion. This is the third attempt to get the provisions on the statute book. With an increase in Islamophobic attacks since 11 September 2001, Mr Clarke insists the provision is essential to close a loophole that protects Jews and Sikhs, but not Muslims.Opponents argued that the legislation was so ambiguous it could have a wide-ranging, and unintended, effect on producers, writers and comics. They said Friedrich Schiller’s Don Carlos, staged in the West End this year, could have been vulnerable to prosecution.McEwan said anxiety over prosecution would make it much more difficult to raise funding for productions such as Jerry Springer: The Opera.Atkinson, who famously lampooned a bungling vicar in Four Weddings and a Funeral, said he had told jokes during his career that could have landed him in court. He added that comedians might also steer clear of sensitive religious subjects for fear of prosecution.He said: “The Government has prepared a weapon of disproportionate power which can be deployed on their behalf at any time, or at least act as a very forbidding deterrent.”Atkinson said the “most creepy and disturbing” aspect of the Bill was the power it gave Government over whether to launch prosecutions.

The Bill’s opponents are backing an amendment to the race-hate laws to make clear that they cover attacks on religious beliefs if they are a “proxy” for racial attacks.The Labour MP and QC Bob Marshall-Andrews said that there was growing pressure among his backbench colleagues for Tony Blair to grant a free vote on the Bill. Emily admits downloading 1,400 songs to her computer, including albums by her favourite bands Oasis and Coldplay. For her part, she insists she had no idea she what she was doing was illegal She said: “Everyone I know at school does it. I download songs from other people’s files but didn’t know it was wrong”..

The comedian Rowan Atkinson is leading a final attempt to scupper the Government’s “creepy and disturbing” plans to bring in legislation banning the incitement of religious hatred. I just pay the bills.”As in many families, the computer was primarily intended for her daughter’s homework, meaning Mrs Price was unable to carry out continual supervision as to what Emily was using the computer for, she said.After being made aware of the practice of filesharing through a television programme, Mrs Phillips confronted her daughter but she denied any knowledge. BPI’s law firm, Wiggin & Co, said that Emily had been breaking the law for two years. I arrived home from work to find this letter and I don’t know what to do I don’t even know how to use a computer I’ve never even switched one on. We have made great efforts to raise awareness of the dangers, but obviously, in some cases, that is not getting through.”If Mrs Price does not pay within two weeks, the £2,500 fee will rise to £4,000 She says she has no way of paying on time “I don’t know where I’m going to get the money from I’m worried.

As part of their latest effort to target those illegally downloading music, which the industry estimates costs £2.3bn a year in lost sales, the body has issued 90 such orders in the past few months, focusing on those considered the most prolific offenders.Almost all of those issued with a letter have been paid without challenge, Matt Phillips, a BPI spokesman, said adding he “strongly suspects” as many as a third of those who have settled so far have been parents paying on behalf of children.Comparing the illegal downloading of music, or illegal filesharing, to shoplifting, Mr Phillips said: “Parents have to be aware of the dangers of leaving children to do as they please on the internet unsupervised, and be aware that if they fileshare, they face potential litigation. A mother whose teenage daughter was caught illegally downloading thousands of music files to her computer is being sued after the family were targeted by lawyers acting for the music industry body, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). She says she had no idea her daughter, Emily, 14, had been downloading music, her confusion compounded by the fact that she is unfamiliar with computers.But the BPI maintain that, as the holder of the internet account, she is legally liable to pay the settlement. Is that really the way bosses should talk about their staff? We think Faria has a strong case.”The FA was determined not to be pressured by Ms Alam into settling before the tribunal, even though she is asking for £30,000 – compared to £600,000 awarded as a pay-off to Mr Palios. Former coaches David Platt and Les Reed are also involved in fights with the FA, which is determined to clamp down on a compensation culture..