It’s three days since Scotland’s Hate Crime Act took effect and there is no sign of public outrage dissipating anytime soon. Within the first 24 hours of Humza Yousaf’s hate bill becoming law, over 3,000 complaints were submitted — with the First Minister on the receiving end of more complaints than JK Rowling. Mr S isn’t quite sure how much genuine hate crime has been reported but if there’s one thing the Act has done successfully, it’s stirring up a rather significant amount of hate for itself.
North of the border, the legislation is tearing the country apart. Murdo Fraser, the Scottish Tory MSP, continues to demand answers as to why he has a non-crime hate incident on his record but the First Minister — who has also had hate crime reports made against him — doesn’t. Meanwhile, the pro-independence party Alba has demanded that the Hate Crime Act be repealed, creating a tough job for its spinners who have, over the weekend, tried to convince the public that the party’s only MSP, Ash Regan, is now firmly opposed to the new law — despite being its formal supporter on the official record and voting in favour of it at the time.
But Mr S is particularly interested in the groups that have chosen to stay quiet on the issue — and wonders exactly why that might be…
Scottish Labour
A total of 15 Scottish Labour MSPs voted for Yousaf’s hate bill in 2021, which might explain why the party has kept a fairly low profile of late. Its current leader, Anas Sarwar, was a proponent of the bill at the time, voting in favour of it. But rather than explain why Scottish Labour’s politicians had supported such a controversial policy, a curious quiet from the Scottish Labour camp extended into Monday, the bill’s implementation date, before Sarwar broke his silence.
When questioned on his position now, the Scottish Labour leader didn’t u-turn quite as much as his Holyrood colleague Regan. However, while Sarwar says he wouldn’t repeal the bill if he was First Minister, he told journalists today that he would certainly amend it, primarily by including ‘sex’ as a protected characteristic to target misogyny and protect the voicing of gender critical views. Currently the protected characteristics include disability, race, religion, sexual orientation and transgender identity.
And could Sir Keir Starmer be facing more north-south splits over the policy? Shadow minister Pat McFadden said on Tuesday that the UK Labour party would not be introducing similar legislation in Westminster. Sarwar’s party insists that this stance is not at odds with its own, and that if Scottish Labour are concerned about anything, it’s about how the bill will work in practice. With senior police figures admitting that the force doesn’t have the capacity to cope with hate crime reports, its fears are well placed…
Scottish Liberal Democrats
All five Scottish Lib Dems voted in favour of the hate crime legislation in 2021, but the party has not managed to find its voice on the issue lately. Mr S has reached out to Alex Cole-Hamilton’s party to ask whether they still have faith in the new law given the level of national outrage demonstrated in recent days, but is yet to hear back. It appears that Cole-Hamilton’s party is, for now, content to let the SNP take the hit. Quelle surprise…
Liberty
Formerly the National Council for Civil Liberties, ‘Liberty’ appears to have forgotten its founding purpose and indeed the very meaning of its name. While the organisation’s slogan insists that it will ‘defend freedom’, Liberty has not put out a single comment or article about Scotland’s new Hate Crime Act which, er, is a cause for concern for anyone who is remotely interested in freedom of speech. Mr S has reached out to Liberty’s press office for comment but it has not yet replied.
Index on Censorship
Another prominent organisation that was set up to campaign for freedom of expression — by esteemed journalists no less — has been strangely quiet as Humza’s hate bill came into force. Back in February 2021, the Index published an open letter to MSPs about its ‘serious concerns’ about the Hate Crime Act. It criticised Yousaf’s decision to withdraw amendments that would have ensure further protections for free speech ahead of the second stage of the bill:
The Cabinet Secretary decided to withdraw amendments on freedom of expression at the eleventh hour… This move has, in our view, undermined the whole process of scrutiny to date… We strongly believe that producing workable provisions on the stirring up of hatred in this parliament is now entirely impracticable. These provisions could impact upon the most precious liberties in any democratic society: freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of conscience and religion. They must be handled with the utmost care.
Index on Censorship has also been active in the past for condemning Police Scotland for stifling ‘robust debate’ by focusing on ‘non-crime hate incidents’ at the start of last year — after it emerged the force had logged over 900 incidents of ‘malice and ill will’ without criminality in 2021. But despite the previous action taken by the Index, Mr S is a little baffled as to why the free speech organisation has kept so quiet of late.
Feel free to speak up any time guys…
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