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Originally Posted by Shasown

Its not illegal to voice any opinion.

Its illegal to do it in a way that offends or insults others. By offending or insulting you are provoking or inciting and thats the key point of the law.

They could have had their own little march on a different day etc. not a problem. They could have quietly stood there brandishing placards with Troops out slogans etc again not a problem. Instead they choose to chant during the two minutes silence and burn poppies.

However they wanted to offend in order to generate maximum publicity for themselves and their cause. And in all fairness probably would have been more than happy if some sort of fight or violence occured, just so they play the martyrs.

If they want so much to play the martyrs etc why dont they sod off in a little gang and protest on street corners over there. Lets see how long their heads remain attached to their bodies.

Guess you missed my edit, what about when the EDL march through a heavily populated Muslim area calling for no more Mosques and carrying signs saying "Ban the Burkha"? Surely that is unnecessarily increasing the offence that people are inevitably going to feel. There was also that case in America where some pastor was planning to burn the Qur'an, I dont think he went through with it but as far as I know there wasnt going to be legal action taken against him. I know we have incitement laws but I still dont agree with making people criminals because others are offended at the message they are promoting. It's a bit odd that one of the protestors has now been fined considering they were staging an authorised demonstration which was even given a police guard.

I know my position on this isnt exactly a popular one, but I do believe that freedom of expression is absolute (as far as possible_ and shouldnt be subject to limitations and restrictions so long as you do not harm others, that they are causing offence is not a good reason to prosecute them in my opinion. Such behaviour should be condemned, discredited and not be given a platform but I wouldnt have it made illegal