Think before you act.

In the aftermath of the murder of a soldier on the streets of London the other day, the Prime Minister has stated his intention to curb the activities of "religious leaders who promote violence".  Once again the knee-jerk reaction of being seen to "do something" is likely to make matters worse rather then better.  I've made the point before that freedom of speech necessarily includes the freedom to say unpleasant and unpopular things.  You're not going to stop the "hate clerics" peddling their stuff - you'll simply send it underground.  And why bother to try anyway?  The law already makes it an offence to encourage others to commit a crime and that quite clearly covers what these extremist preachers are doing - so why isn't it being used?  Let them have their say, and then prosecute them.