London, England - Controversial legislation to outlaw incitement to religious hatred in Britain was adopted in principle by parliament with a vote of 303-247.
The Racial and Religious Hatred Bill was opposed by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, who warned that the legislation might curtail freedom of expression and worsen community relations.
Their argument was supported by many in the artistic community, including comedian Rowan "Mr Bean" Atkinson, who alleged that Prime Minister
Tony Blair's government was using "a sledgehammer to crack a nut".
But Home Secretary Charles Clarke told the House of Commons that artistic freedom to poke fun at religions will not be curbed by the new offence of incitement to religious hatred.
"This bill is about hatred and incitement to hatred," he said late Tuesday.
"It is about the nasty and extreme behaviour which drives people to hate others -- and sometimes as the recent desecration of Jewish cemeteries shows -- to turn that hatred against people and property."
"What this bill isn't about is stopping anybody telling jokes about religion, stopping anybody ridiculing religions or engaging in robust debate about religion. It won't stop people from proselytizing and it will not curb artistic freedom."
Blair's Labour government, re-elected in May to a third term, has tried twice before to outlaw incitement to religious hatred, but ran out of time in the teeth of fierce opposition.
Opponents of the bill included a handful of Labour backbenchers. Some backed an amendment to the race-hate laws to make clear that they cover attacks on religious beliefs if they are a "proxy" for racial attacks.
The Conservatives' home affairs critic David Davis said the bill was "too general, too wide, too vague, too dangerous".
His Liberal Democrat counterpart Alistair Carmichael accused the government of "playing fast and loose" with freedom of religion and freedom of expression.