In late March, the London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, said the legality of the public reading of the Bible should be left to a lawyer or ‘the police’ to decide upon, and was not just a matter of freedom of speech.
The worrying words (which miss the fact that the police enforce the law and don’t make the law) were spoken in the London Assembly building during a question time. The Mayor was quizzed by Christian Assembly member David Kurten following the de-arrest of street preacher Oluwole Llesanmi (reported in April’s en).
Legally illiterate
Khan would not answer direct questions about the case as the borough’s professional standards unit is reviewing the case. The police have since changed their story concerning where they drove Mr Llesanmi after establishing that he had not committed a crime by street preaching. They have now accused him of saying something ‘racist’ as they arrested him. It was filmed by a member of the public.
Freedom of speech
When asked if street preachers can read from any part of the Bible without fear of being arrested, Kahn said that, although we have a tradition of freedom of speech, ‘there is not an unlimited right to freedom of speech’. When pressed specifically on reading any part of the Bible, Kahn said: ‘I’ve not read all the Bible or all the versions, and I’m not sure. That’s a question for a lawyer, or the police, not me the mayor.’
