Bible verse on pastor’s campervan could be considered hate speech

A church leader has been approached by the police to warn him that Bible verses printed on his campervan “could be seen as hate speech”.

Mick Fleming runs an independent church and charity, and works with homeless people, addicts, and the poor in Burnley. He has given up his belongings to live in the campervan and minister to those who ‘are hurting most’. The van has the words of John 3:16 printed on the back.

Mr Fleming was approached by a police officer on 27th October. “I was in the petrol station and a policeman came and tapped me on the shoulder,” Mr Fleming recalled.

“He was a really nice guy, wasn’t nasty or anything, and he said ‘a bit of advice – the writing could be seen as hate speech in the wrong context. I am just giving you a heads up’. He wasn’t there to arrest me: it was just advisory. He said if someone reported it police would investigate, and I could end up in trouble.”

“Where have we moved to as a country,” asked Mr Fleming in a post on his YouTube channel, “where a bit of Christian scripture on the back of a van can be seen as hateful or spiteful?"

“Maybe society is moving to a place where they don’t want faith-based people sat around a table in discussion with them”.

Lancashire Police have said that they have no record of the incident and commented: “We would not consider this to be hate speech and would ask the person in question to speak to us directly so that we could look into the matter.”

Mr Fleming has said that he is not going to change the verse on the back of his van, adding “for me it’s an integral message of how real change is possible.”