London (CNSNews.com) - A proposed European Union law against racism could ban some children's stories and even the Old Testament, a British legislator said Wednesday.

Lord Richard Scott told colleagues that a suggested harmonization of European anti-racism laws would "almost certainly" ban children's stories such as the Biggles series, a popular set of British adventure novels.

Based on a fictional World War I pilot, the books were written by Capt. W. E. Johns starting in the 1930s. Main characters in the novels refer to "natives," "coons," "half-castes" and "half-breeds" and use nationality-specific slurs such as "Huns" and "Japs."

The EU proposal could also censor religious texts, Lord Scott said.

"It would probably cover the distribution of the Old Testament as well," he said. "I don't know what the government's reaction to this particular proposal will be. I imagine it will be a mixture of horror and laughter."

As an independent Law Lord, Scott is part of a special subgroup of Britain's upper chamber of Parliament with expertise on legal matters. The Law Lords also serve as a final court of appeal for certain judicial cases.

Lord Scott was speaking during a debate on proposals for a Europe-wide arrest warrant. He said that offenses of racism and xenophobia under the EU law needed to be made "much more specific."

"If any member state creates offences on these lines ... we in this country would be expected to extradite the accused under a (universal) European arrest warrant," he said.

Home Office minister Lord Rooker of the ruling Labor Party said a bill in line with the EU proposals would be introduced in Parliament before the legislature's summer recess begins in August.

The EU legislation, introduced in the wake of Sept. 11, would outlaw "public incitement to violence or hatred for racist or xenophobic reasons and directing, supporting or participating in the activities of a racist or xenophobic group." Racism and xenophobia is defined as hatred based on "race, colour, descent, religion or belief, national or ethnic origin."

The proposals will also clamp down on racist web sites, outlawing "public dissemination of racist material by any means, including the Internet."

Conservatives, civil liberties groups and several legal scholars criticized the measure as ill-thought out.