We must keep arguing for a tolerant society

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Assa Samake-Roman: Moral panic over Hate Crime Act is doing Scotland no favours

A nicely argued case. Perhaps those of us who believe in Scotland and believe we can be better are naive, for we know there are dark undercurrents in our society and those who want to hate and oppose for its own sake or feel threatened by those who are not “like us”. But they are a small yet vociferous minority. However, we must be vigilant and keep arguing for a caring, decent, tolerant society.

Graham Hewitt

The haters want to be free to hate. That’s the core of this problem. They want free speech on their own terms. The reality is that we should not be free to disrespect others, to publicly humiliate them, on the basis of their race or gender. But some on the right still want golliwogs. Michael Lloyd

“It’s as if our main concern is finding ways to legally make life as unpleasant as possible for those with whom we disagree over their identity. Doesn’t that sound absurd?”

That about sums up the level of the debate on this. It’s noticeable that very few people are complaining about the same protections being applied on the basis of age, religion, disability and sexual orientation.

I cannot help feeling that the vast majority of people do not have a problem with the bill and it is just a very vociferous minority and a couple of political parties that seem to see it as a bandwagon they can jump on.

Alan Thompson

SNP demand recall of Parliament amid Israeli killing of Gaza aid workers

There has been a complete failure of moral leadership by the UK Government and by the leadership of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition. For moral leadership we look to Humza Yousaf and Stephen Flynn.

As the Westminster government pretends to speak for Scotland on the international stage, Westminster must be recalled.

More than 200 aid workers have been killed by Israeli forces since October. Targeting aid workers is prohibited under international law. Has Israel broken international law or not? The UK Government has questions to answer.

The Foreign Secretary has legal advice on Gaza he must share. His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition has a backbone to grow. The UK Government must be held to account for its suspension of vital funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

Irish minister for foreign affairs Micheal Martin said: “In Gaza, we are bearing witness to a humanitarian catastrophe. People are in dire need of the most basic lifesaving provisions, UNRWA is the backbone of the humanitarian response.”

He went on to call out what he described as “Israel’s disinformation campaign”

Is he wrong?

Thom Muir