In response to criticism of the award by some foreign nations, the British Government stated that Rushdie's honour recognises free speech and is part of their "desire to honour Muslims in the British community." British Home Secretary John Reid also defended the award, saying that the UK has "a set of values that accrues people honours for their contribution to literature even when they don't agree with our point of view. That's our way and that's what we stand by." Speaking about the reaction to "The Satanic Verses" Reid insisted that allowing such works was not a plot targeting Islam, saying "A lot of people were upset when John Cleese made "Life of Brian". Others had been offended by Mel Gibson's 2004 film, "The Passion of the Christ". ...have a right to express opinions and a tolerance of other people's point of view, and we don't apologise for that." In a similar light, John Sutherland, emeritus professor of literature and former Booker prize judge, noted that Islam was not the only institution held up for criticism by Rushdie in his most controversial book. He pointed out that "For the writer of "The Satanic Verses", which was extremely rude about England, it's certainly unusual [to be so honoured."