We should all fear this Orwellian legislation

THE charge of ‘McCarthyism’ levelled at Scotland’s police force yesterday – by a Nationalist MP – is as grave as it is disturbing.

Joanna Cherry voiced her support for Tory MSP Murdo Fraser, who was the subject of a ‘hate incident’ reported to police by a trans activist. No crime was committed, but Mr Fraser had posted a critical tweet about SNP Government policy – and that was enough for officers to take the hate allegation seriously.

The scale of the backlash over Mr Fraser’s chilling experience demonstrates deep public unease over the police approach to tackling hate crime. Next week, draconian new legislation, spearheaded by Humza Yousaf when he was justice secretary, will come into force, which is likely to lead to many more such incidents being logged on the police database.

The force has undertaken to examine all of them – despite officer numbers plunging to their lowest level since 2008.

Predictably, Mr Yousaf has dismissed warnings from within his own party and beyond about the potentially terrifying repercussions of this Orwellian legislation.

Within days, cherished rights to freedom of speech, which only exist because previous generations fought to safeguard them, will be under threat – with even conversations in the family home potentially falling foul of the law. Mr Fraser, who writes in today’s Mail, says rightly that ‘politicians of all hues should be able to see that there’s something dangerous and insidious in people feeling unable to voice legitimate and reasoned opinions for fear of being reported to the police by those who disagree with them’.

This is not how a healthy modern democracy should operate – but it is the bleak reality in Scotland under the SNP.