Downright mendacious, but should Holocaust denial be criminalised?

The President of Iran has renewed his Holocaust denial claims at an address to the UN, sparking walk-outs from several delegations. Should these gratuitously provocative and utterly mendacious claims be criminalised?

I believe that we are entitled to the right to free speech until it infringes other people's rights. Many people say that it the denials have a significant harm to society. The denial is anti-Semitic, which encourages hatred of Jews. These people often advocate the idea that there is somehow some sort of "Jewish conspiracy".

Further, Israel was founded in 1958 because there was a need for a Jewish homeland after all the persecution they had faced. Therefore, denial of this persecution, debases the reasons for the establishment of Israel. This is encouraging hatred and opposition.

However, although I agree Holocaust denial is morally wrong and unfair, it cannot be criminalised. The right to free speech is at the heart of British values. Not all cases of Holocaust denial incite racial hatred. If it does, there are separate laws to deal with racial hatred.

Besides, criminalisation may well stifle academic discussion and investigation for fear of drawing the wrong conclusion. David Irving, a historian, was put behind bars in Austria, because of his interpretations from the evidence he examined. If this was the case in Britain, historians will be frightened of interpreting history in the wrong way. That is not the situation where Britain needs to be.