Cameron disagrees with Pope Francis on ‘right to offend’

David Cameron made the remarks when he visited the US last week (PA)

The Prime Minister was speaking to the US news programme Face the Nation

David Cameron has contradicted Pope Francis’s comments following the Charlie Hebdo massacre.

Commenting on the terror attacks in Paris, Pope Francis told journalists on the plane to the Philippines last week: “While it is true that it is wrong to react with violence, if Mr [Albert] Gasbarri [organiser of papal trips], who is a friend, insults my mother, that’s asking for a punch.”

When asked about the Pope’s reaction on the US news programme Face the Nation on CBS, David Cameron said it was wrong to wreak revenge if someone insulted your faith. He said: “I think in a free society, there is a right to cause offence about someone’s religion. I’m a Christian; if someone says something offensive about Jesus, I might find that offensive, but in a free society I don’t have a right to wreak vengeance on them.

“We have to accept that newspapers, magazines, can publish things that are offensive to some, as long as it’s within the law. That is what we should defend.”

During his visit to the US, David Cameron met with Barack Obama at the White House where they discussed the threat of Islamic extremism and changes to cyber security in order to intercept future attacks.