FM’s ‘head in the sand over new hate law’
HUMZA Yousaf ‘has his head in the sand’ over widespread concerns about his ‘unworkable’ new hate crime laws, it was claimed yesterday.
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said the law has led to police officers being ‘pulled from other parts of the service’ to deal with complaints.
Almost 9,000 complaints were received by Police Scotland in the first two weeks of the Act’s operation, and Mr Ross said ‘40 officers a day have been brought in on overtime’ to deal with them.
During First Minister’s Questions yesterday, Mr Ross told Mr Yousaf: ‘When we opposed the Hate Crime Act, Scottish Conservatives warned the legislation would overburden our already overstretched police.’
The legislation has come under increasing fire from police officers and legal experts.
Mr Ross said: ‘Why does Humza Yousaf think that he’s right and legal experts are wrong? And public opinion is already against Humza Yousaf’s law. A recent poll found that over two-thirds of Scots thought his Act should be repealed. Why does Humza Yousaf think he’s right and the public are wrong?’
Mr Ross added: ‘Humza Yousaf has his head in the sand over his disastrous Hate Crime Act.
‘Despite the mounting evidence that this law is unworkable, Humza Yousaf is insisting everything is going well, just like he did with the ferries he couldn’t get to float, the trains he couldn’t get to run on time and the NHS waiting lists that grew on his watch.
‘Now the police, legal experts and the public are telling him that he has got this badly wrong. The only person in Scotland who seems to think this Act is working well is Humza Yousaf.’
Mr Yousaf replied by branding a Conservative motion earlier this week to repeal the Act a ‘reckless and frankly unforgiveable approach’ as he accused the party of being ‘more interested in gaining shoddy tabloid headlines than actually protecting people from hatred’.
It came as Kenny MacAskill, the former Justice Secretary, branded his former party ‘aloof, arrogant and stupid’ in a newspaper.