Islamic blasphemy laws have arrived in Europe. In Denmark, it is now illegal to burn the Koran. In the UK, the Labour government is planning a crackdown on ‘Islamophobia’, which has long been code for blasphemy. Pakistani journalist Kunwar Khuldune Shahid sat down with spiked’s deputy editor Fraser Myers to explain why this creeping censorship must be resisted – not just for the sake of the West but for dissenters in Muslim countries, too. What follows is an edited extract from their conversation. You can watch the whole thing here.

Fraser Myers: Do you foresee any dangers in the UK’s plans to draw up an official definition of Islamophobia?

Kunwar Khuldune Shahid: The term Islamophobia is duplicitous. I would even say it’s deceitful. Islamophobia means an irrational fear of Islam. But Islam is an ideology. It should be as open to critique as any other.

There are at least 12 Muslim-majority countries that impose the death penalty for blasphemy. Plenty more Islamic countries have harsh sentences for criticising Islam. For the UK to in any way limit criticism of Islam, and to hide behind the concept of human rights as the term Islamophobia does, is an insult to the many victims of Islam in those countries. I think it’s very concerning that many British Muslim groups have offered their full-throated support for Labour’s Islamophobia definition.