Nearly a quarter of young Brits would ban the Bible if they felt its pages contained 'hate speech', according to a poll.

Last month, polling group Whitestone Insights asked 2,088 UK adults if they agreed with the following statement: "Unless the offending parts can be edited out, books containing what some perceive as hate speech should be banned from general sale, including if necessary religious texts such as the Bible." 

Young people aged 18 to 34 were the most likely to agree with this statement (23%), followed by 35 to 54 year olds (17%). Over-55s were least likely to agree (13%). 

Lois McLatchie, of the Alliance Defending Freedom UK, expressed concern about the results in an appearance on GBNews. 

She said the UK only needed to look to Finland to see the consequences of "shutting down Christians". Former Minister of the Interior, Päivi Räsänen, was last month acquitted of hate speech charges for the second time after a four-year legal battle. She was criminally charged after tweeting a Bible verse on marriage and sexuality. 

"We may no longer be a majority Christian population here in Britain. That's even more reason to protect freedom of speech and belief for all," said McLatchie.

She said that worrying steps towards censorship had already been taken under the Conservative government, including the arrest of street preachers for quoting the Bible in public and pro-life campaigners being taken to court for praying silently in their heads near abortion clinics. 

"Censoring one type of belief because it fails to fit with the dominant orthodoxy of our day is no better than imposing the illiberal blasphemy laws of the Middle Ages.

"We need a robust defence of religious freedom from those who craft our legislation and we need to educate the 'be kind' generation on the truly hateful consequences of censorship before this type of thinking creeps further into reality."