At a time when speech and opinion is as restricted and threatened by the masses as arguably it’s ever been, news out today from Europe’s highest human rights court will come as a relief to many. The court dismissed an attempt to re-open an eight-year legal battle focused on whether small business owners can be forced into saying things that go against their religious convictions. The Strasbourg-based court has decided it won’t rule for or against the UK’s interpretation of the law.

For the UK’s most famous Christian bakers, the final victory will taste sweet.

If you cast your mind back a few years, you might remember that a gay man, Mr Lee, brought a case against the owners of a family-run bakery in Northern Ireland by the name of “Ashers”. When Mr Lee requested that a cake with the slogan “Support Gay Marriage” be designed under the bespoke “build-a-cake” service, Daniel and Amy McArthur kindly apologised and said they had to decline the business. They explained that writing the icing slogan for Lee’s Bert and Ernie themed cake would go against their Christian belief that marriage was for one man and one woman. This was an outrage to Mr Lee. He took the Belfast bakers to court, accusing them of discriminating against him because he was gay.”

Continue reading “The sweet taste of freedom” by Elizabeth Francis (The Critic).