Now Humza’s facing threat of rebellion in ranks over hate law
HUMZA Yousaf faces the threat of a rebellion over his controversial hate crime law unless he agrees to overhaul it.
The First Minister is under pressure from within the SNP to make changes in response to widespread concerns about the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act.
It comes ahead of a Holyrood vote tomorrow on calls for the legislation, which came into force at the start of this month, to be repealed.
Senior legal figures and police officers are among those who have highlighted problems with implementing the law.
Lord Hope of Craighead, who was Scotland’s most senior judge as Lord Justice General and also Deputy President of the Supreme Court, last week said the hate crime law is ‘unworkable’ for the police, dismissing it as ‘gesture politics’.
Thousands of allegations of hate crime have been lodged by members of the public per day since the legislation came into force.
One Nationalist MSP said: ‘I am critical of the law and think that it needs to be reformed to take account of Lord Hope’s critique; the massive waste of police time on investigating every complaint when only a tiny fraction go anywhere; the recording on a person’s record, without their even knowing about it, of a non-crime hate incident; and a lack of inclusion of women as a protected group. All these require reform.’
The Act introduces new offences for threatening or abusive behaviour which is intended to stir up hatred, which previously only applied to race, and the new law can even be broken within private family homes.
Offences are considered to be ‘aggravated’ if they involve prejudice towards attributes including age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and variations in sex characteristics.
When the Bill was pushed through Holyrood by Mr Yousaf when he was justice secretary in 2021, two Nationalist MSPs – Joan McAlpine and Alex Neil – abstained in the final vote, although both subsequently stood down.
But it is understood there is disquiet about the implementation of the law within sections of the SNP, including the failure to include women among the protected characteristics.
The Scottish Conservatives will use opposition business time at Holyrood to force a vote on scrapping the legislation.
The party’s motion reads: ‘That the Scottish parliament believes that the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 should be repealed.’
If Justice Secretary Angela Constance fails to acknowledge the need to respond to calls for reforms during tomorrow’s debate, some Nationalist MSPs may decide to abstain or vote with their opponents.
Russell Findlay, justice spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives, said: ‘Humza Yousaf’s disastrous hate crime law has caused utter chaos in the fortnight since its introduction. It is proving every bit as unworkable as many critics warned, and must be repealed.
‘We now appeal to Labour and Lib Dem MSPs – and the more sensible Nationalists – to admit they made a huge mistake and back our call for its repeal.’
In the March 2021 vote at stage 3 of the Bill, it passed by 82 votes to 32.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar yesterday said implementation of the law had been ‘an absolute disaster’ but the issue was more complex than a ‘simple repeal’.
Mr Sarwar said the law should be updated urgently to include sex and misogyny.
The Scottish Government said the Hate Crime Act ‘does not prevent people expressing controversial, challenging or offensive views’, and the right to freedom of expression ‘is built into the Act’.
‘Admit they made a huge mistake’
FEW tears would be shed over the demise of Humza Yousaf’s hate crime legislation if it were to be rescinded – even within some sections of his own party.
There are indications of simmering rebellion over this basket-case law which has turned Scotland into a global laughing-stock.
A fortnight after it came into force, police have been inundated with thousands of complaints, most of them anonymous. And only a tiny fraction – one in 30 – are deemed to be crimes under the new law, reinforcing concern that it simply isn’t fit for purpose.
Not surprisingly, some of the First Minister’s own MSPs are angry that the legislation, masterminded by Mr Yousaf in a previous role, is in such a shambolic state.
One Nationalist MSP summed up the mounting unease within the SNP, saying that the law needs to be reformed to prevent a further waste of police time.
Former top judge Lord Hope, one of the finest legal minds of his generation, has dismissed the Hate Crime Act as ‘gesture politics’.
Senior police officers warn the force is being dragged into online spats – at a time when cash-strapped Police Scotland is refusing to fully investigate minor crimes.
Once again, hard-pressed officers are expected to enforce a law that is fatally flawed. Truly, it is a nightmare of the SNP’s own making – as well as a predictable (and entirely avoidable) disaster.
Tomorrow, MSPs will debate repealing the law. Holyrood will be asked to vote on a Conservative motion proposing that the legislation is scrapped following concerns that it is ‘unworkable’ and places too much pressure on the police.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross branded it an ‘unacceptable attempt to curtail free speech’ and a ‘bureaucratic nightmare’ for officers.
Now that there are some hopeful signs of the SNP breaking ranks against the legislation, we can only hope that it is one step closer to being consigned to the scrapheap of history.