It’s time to ditch the flawed hate crime bill

The draconian proposed legislation is a social media snooper’s charter, writes John Mclellan

Just as lockdown was kicking in, in this column I reported the case of an acquaintance in his seventies who was the subject of an offensive behaviour complaint about a comment on social media, resulting in a visit by uniformed officers to his home with a request to report to the station for interview under caution.

The complaint centred on what was little more than a doubleentendre, something that maybe Frankie Howerd or Kenneth Williams might have said, and although I can’t prove motivation, it’s fair to assume the complainer expected a police investigation which would at least cause discomfort if not downright alarm.

It did indeed cause alarm, and although the officers themselves did their best to appear relaxed, it only served to make it worse. How could they be so laid back when dealing with something so potentially serious and worrying? All in a day’s work, sir.

Due to his age and lockdown rules he declined to attend but with restrictions eased there was no way to put off the interview and this week he duly reported for interview, accompanied by his lawyer. As before, the officers seemed slightly embarrassed at having to go through the process and to everyone’s relief concluded there was no case to answer. Thanks for attending, you are free to go. If you’re someone who is, shall we say, used to dealing with the police then you might wonder what the fuss is all about. If, like the vast majority, your closest encounter with the law is a parking ticket, the prospect of questioning in a bare police interview room would cause extreme anxiety. I know this lawabiding man has been worrying about it for months.

A happy ending, so what’s the problem? This all took place under existing offensive behaviour laws and the problem is the SNP has decided they aren’t anything like tough enough and under the Hate Crime and Public Order Bill wants to make it an offence to communicate threatening, abusive or insulting material relating to race, colour, nationality, age, disability, religion, and sexual orientation. which is likely to stir up hatred. “Material” includes posts on social media and the effect of “likely to” means intent does not have to be proved, and as the Scottish Police Federation has pointed out the result is the criminalisation of thought.

As argued here before, defences for freedom of expression might result in acquittals but won’t prevent criminal inquiries, and the offences are so wide-ranging and ill-defined they make vexatious complaints easy to launch which the police would be compelled to investigate. It would be impossible to prove if complaints were made maliciously, and it’s very hard to argue that apparently right-minded citizens shouldn’t be reporting crimes they believe have been committed. The bill is a social media snooper’s charter.

Now writers Val Mcdermid (pictured) and Alan Bissett and actress Elaine C Smith, all prominent independence supporters, have joined the phalanx of opposition and Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf is looking increasingly isolated andalthoughsheclearlyhas had other problems to tackle, the First Minister has not sprung to the defence of either her minister or his draconian legislation.

After the hand-brake turn performed this week on the Scottish exams moderation disaster to save education minister John Swinney’s hide, ordinarily it would be optimistic to expect the plug to be pulled by Nicola Sturgeon any time soon, but in the face of such widespread criticism pull the plug she must.

In fact, now is the ideal time to abandon this badly holed ship because with the SNP sitting at 57 per cent in the latest Yougov opinion poll, it’s not as if the electorate seems overly worried by one blunder after another, and there is nothing to be lost by dumping a law widely regarded across the legal and political spectrum as illiberal and ill-conceived.

Mood of the nation

Driving back North after a couple of days in Northumberland, disappointingly there was no sign of Sean Clerkin and his band of Scottish Resistance brothers with their “England get out of Scotland” banner at the border north of Berwick.

It strikes me that Mr Clerkin would fall foul of the new Hate Crime laws, but it would be a mistake to criminalise such protests. Apart from the principle of the freedom to protest, with 54 per cent of SNP supporters agreeing there should be a ban on English tourists just now, and 40 per cent of the electorate in total, on this occasion Mr Clerkin is not the voice of the lunatic fringe but the mainstream.

What we have lost

As the home of the Enlightenment and the Festivals, Edinburgh is a global symbol of free thought of which we can be justly proud, and against which the contents of the Hate Crime Bill badly jar. Section 4 puts actors, directors and producers firmly in the firing line and under its terms there would not be a stand -up comedian invulnerable to a complaint, and with the Fringe in full swing, police wouldn’t know where to start.

Of course with no shows, even if the laws were enacted tomorrow there would be nothing to police, and without the bustle and gaiety of the Festivals to brighten the mood and lift the spirits, these are gloomy days indeed in Edinburgh. Even this week’s torrential rain was, as everyone says these days, unprecedented.

Despite the new tourism campaign aimed at locals and Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s “Eat out to help out” scheme, I have yet to venture to a pub or restaurant, not out of any desire to avoid potential deadly infection, more out of force of a new habit. Maybe I just don’t have any mates.

Having the good fortune to have a garden by the canal, a pile of newspapers and magazines and a decent bottle of plonk has been enough to see me through so far and the prospect of messing about with masks, sanitisers, signing in and all the safetywarning rigmarole has just not made it seem worthwhile.

The pictures of the laser displays beaming from the Castle and Calton Hill were spectacular enough, but viewed from the garden they looked more like a frantic search for the Luftwaffe than the flames of art being kindled in the darkness. I suppose something needed to be done to remind people that the spirit of Edinburgh in August is not dead but only dormant, but it felt like a cruel reminder of what had been lost not of what will be in the future.