Thinking twice will become national obsession for Scots
◆ I can’t let my last chance to stir up a kind of hate go by without saying something, writes Stephen Jardine
So much to do, so little time. This is my last chance to stir up hatred against people on the basis of age, disability, religion, sexual orientation or transgender identity before the new Hate Crime Act comes into force on Monday.
Except I wouldn’t do that because it would be offensive and you wouldn’t want to read it. Plus, the editor wouldn’t print it and the Independent Press Standards Organisation wouldn’t have it. And then we have the array of criminal justice and public order statutes that already exist to protect individuals based on their characteristics. So why do we need yet more legislation which seems to do little except sail perilously close to limiting free speech?
Defenders say it’s designed to make Scotland a kinder and more accepting country and that free speech is safe because it only becomes a problem “if a reasonable person would consider it to be threatening or abusive”.
Who is this reasonable person and where do we find them in a country increasingly divided over culture war issues? From Monday you can look for them in over 400 third-party reporting centres around the country where hate crime complaints can be lodged. They range from clubs and libraries to a caravan park. Police Scotland has said every single one will be looked at so responsibility then falls on individual officers who have had, according to their union, just a couple of hours training.
Based on all that, the vast majority of complaints will then end up recorded as non-crime hate incidents where no prosecution takes place but an administrative record remains, which can be accessed under enhanced disclosure if a person seeks certain jobs. According to Calum Steele, former general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, this mountain of data will quickly suggest Scotland is “one of the most hateful countries in the world”.
In reality, we know that is not the case. When you look around the world, you realise Scotland is a relatively successful, prosperous, safe and peaceful place, but that is not how it might soon look to outsiders if this controversial new legislation misfires. At best it is a sledgehammer to crack a nut. At worst it is a clype’s charter that will sour society and create more problems than it solves.
It also risks making us all more feart. This week the UK Government’s independent adviser on social cohesion revealed new research showing threequarters of people questioned held back from expressing personal views in fear of harassment. Dame Sara Khan said that is “creating a pervasively censorious culture antithetical to our democratic way of life”. And that was before the new Hate Crime Act.
Spare a thought for the comedians, playwrights, columnists or anyone else who wants to say something contentious. Thinking twice is about to become a national obsession. With that, I’ve run out of space to stir up hatred for a final time before Monday. Just enough words left to let you know next week’s column will be about cuddly spring lambs, painting Easter Eggs or something equally anodyne.
Or, it could be about women, since sex is the only protected characteristic within the Equality Act not included in the hate crime legislation. Tough luck for 51 per cent of the population.