'Free speech victory!' Judge rules criticism of Islam counts as a protected belief under equalities law

Criticism of Islam qualifies as a protected belief under equalities law, a judge has ruled.

Patrick Lee, 61, has launched a belief discrimination claim against the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) after he was banned by the trade body and fined almost £23,000 last year over posts in which he criticised Islam.

The IFoA’s disciplinary body found Mr Lee guilty of misconduct, ruling that 42 of his posts were “either offensive or inflammatory or both”, with 29 said to be “designed to demean or insult Muslims”.

His posts included referring to the Prophet Mohammed as a “monster” and describing Islam as “morally bankrupt”, a “dangerous cult”, and a “1,300-year-old con trick”.

Criticism of Islam qualifies as a protected belief under equalities law, a judge has ruled

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At a preliminary hearing held via video link at the London Central Employment Tribunal, Judge David Khan ruled that Mr Lee had shown he genuinely held the belief he put forward, therefore meeting the definition of a “protected belief” under section 10(2) of the Equality Act 2010.

Judge Khan concluded: “I do not find that these tweets and the pleaded belief are mutually exclusive. Nor incompatible.

“I find that the claimant’s evidence in relation to these tweets, that he was inveighing against the offending doctrines and practices because they continued to be treated as authentic and officially sanctioned by Islamic leaders, was not inconsistent with the pleaded belief.”

The employment tribunal heard that Mr Lee, who identifies as an atheist, believes Islam “particularly in a traditional form - rather than a reformed, modernised, moderate and Westernised form - is problematic and deserving of criticism”.

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