Ditch disastrous law

IT is completely unsustainable for police to continue to tackle hundreds of complaints every day under the new Hate Crime Act.

Yet new figures show the single force is being swamped with an average of more than 260 allegations a day. Each of them requires careful examination – which is a massive drain on police resources at a time when officer numbers are at a 16-year low.

This is the same cash-strapped police service which has announced it will no longer fully investigate thousands of minor crimes.

In the first week after the new hate crime law came into force on April 1, Police Scotland was bombarded with 7,152 online reports.

The latest figures released yesterday showed there were a further 1,832 online reports related to hate crime in the second week, from April 8-14, as well as 13 telephone calls and 39 emails.

Humza Yousaf was well warned that the thin blue line would be unable to cope – yet he stubbornly refuses to back down over his ill-thought-out law.

Today, MSPs will vote on a repeal of the shambolic legislation amid indications of a possible rebellion on the SNP’s backbenches.

Whether or not this backlash will materialise, or will be enough to force a U-turn, remains to be seen – but Labour’s position could prove critical.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has refused to say whether his party will back the Conservative motion on repeal.

But he is right that implementation of the Hate Crime Act (which Labour backed) has been ‘an absolute disaster’.

This is bad law – and should be wiped from the statute books without further delay.