A fine madness

In Birmingham, England, the going rate for urging Muslims to murder anyone who insults the Prophet is £85,000. 

According to Wikipedia, "2.7 million Muslims live in England and Wales where they form 5.0% of the population." Presumably there are also Muslims in Scotland, which is more populous that Wales. But if we stick to England and Wales, and assume that no Muslim will insult the founder of their socio-political system, then a potential 51 million of Her Majesty's subjects might in theory bad-mouth Mohammed. By implication they were all threatened.

A fine of £85,000 per possible Prophet insulter works out to, let's see, roughly 1.6 pence (slightly under US2.6 cents) per potential murder victim. Unless the British regulatory agency offers a volume discount.

Broadcasting regulator Ofcom said the statement aired live on Noor TV last May could have radicalised its young viewers and incited them to commit acts of violence.

No! Really?

Al Ehya Digital, which owns Noor TV, fired Nizami in May this year for promoting personal political opinions and supporting a violent act. In its statement Ofcom said Al Ehya Digital has not yet broadcast an apology or condemnation of Nizami’s remarks and appears not to have recognised the gravity of the comments made by Nizami.

Despite this, the regulator fined Al Ehya Digital only a fraction of the £250,000 it could have imposed – because it wanted to protect the station’s right to ‘freedom of expression’.

Presumably Ofcom expected that Al Ehya Digital would broadcast Road Runner cartoons dubbed into Arabic. Or it was saving its legal power to protect the BBC's freedom to suppress and distort news about the English Defence League.

When Barmy Prince Charlie comes into his own, he might as well just declare Britain a Muslim state and have done with it. Compared with the current farce, it would at least have the virtue of honesty.