First Minister Humza Yousaf clashed with Conservative leader Douglas Ross.
By Bill Heaney
Police officers are furious that they will be given only a couple of hours training on how to implement one of the most controversial laws to be approved by the Scottish Parliament.
The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 will come into effect from 1 April.
Scottish Conservatives voted against that law and still oppose it as presenting a serious risk to free speech. However, in just 11 days’ time, the police will have to enforce it.
Dismayed David Kennedy, the general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, has said that officers are “only receiving a two-hour online training package”.
Conservative Party leader Douglas Ross, whose wife is a serving police officer, asked First Minister Humza Yousaf: “Is that really enough training on such a complex and controversial piece of legislation?”
Humza Yousaf told MSPs: “A lot of disinformation about the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 has been spread on social media, in inaccurate media reporting and by our political opponents. I hope that this exchange will shed more light than heat on what is in the act, as opposed to what is being said about it.”
He added: “Because decisions on training for the police are an operational matter, I leave it to the chief constable [Jo Farrel, pictured below] to determine what training is appropriate.
“Just this week, Police Scotland put out a statement to challenge—in its words—’inaccurate media reporting’ about the act. I have absolute confidence that Police Scotland will ensure that appropriate training is in place.
“Stirring-up offences are not new in Scotland. As a person of colour, I have been protected from people stirring up hatred against me because of my race virtually all my life, since 1986. In fact, all of us are protected by the provision against stirring up hatred.
“The question is this: if I have protection against people stirring up hatred because of my race, as has been the case since 1986, why on earth should such protection not exist for people based on their sexuality, disability or religion?
“The fact is, as we know, that there is a very high threshold for a new stirring-up offence to be committed—it is even higher than the threshold for a racial stirring-up offence.
“It is incredibly important that we all unite in standing up to and opposing hatred in all its forms. A strong legislative framework to protect people is incredibly important.
“I urge the Conservatives and Douglas Ross to realise that it would be far better for him to put more effort into tackling hatred than into opposing the hate crime act.”
Douglas Ross told MSPs: “We opposed the legislation at the time that it was passed, and we still oppose it, because of the impact that it has on free speech for people across this country. I am merely reiterating points that have been made by the Scottish Police Federation, which is the representative body of our police officers across Scotland.
“Humza Yousaf has reduced officer numbers to the lowest level since Police Scotland was formed. Now, officers are being told not to investigate actual crimes but will instead have to look for the hate monster or to police free speech.
“Criminals will be let off while innocent people are prosecuted. Is Humza Yousaf not setting the police up for failure and undermining public trust in policing?”
The First Minister hit back: “With that contribution, it is Douglas Ross who is undermining the fight against hatred in Scotland. He is undermining it completely, utterly and entirely through giving so much disinformation. I do not even know where to begin.
“Douglas Ross made an incorrect claim about police officer numbers under the Scottish National Party Government. Under the SNP Government, numbers of police officers have increased and will continue to increase, given what we have heard recently from the chief constable, backed by a record budget from the Scottish Government. There are more police officers per head of population in Scotland than there are in England—where, of course, Douglas Ross’s party is in charge.
“Douglas Ross raised about the act and freedom of expression. I remember, because I was the Cabinet Secretary for Justice who took the bill through Parliament, making sure that I engaged with Opposition members on the issue of freedom of expression. There is a triple lock on freedom of expression in the act; protection of freedom of expression is explicitly embedded in it.
“There is also a defence available of a person’s behaviour being ‘reasonable’, which safeguards people’s rights. The act is compatible with the European convention on human rights, including article 10, which includes and protects everybody’s right to freedom.
“When it comes to stirring up hatred, stirring-up offences are so pervasive, so damaging and so dangerous in our society. Lord Bracadale reported on his independent review of hate crime, which led to development of the legislation, said: “The stirring up of hatred can contribute to a social atmosphere in which prejudice and discrimination are accepted as normal.”
“In any society, the freedom to criticise, to insult and to offend exists and should be treasured, but there cannot be freedom to engage in behaviour that is threatening or abusive, or which is intended to stir up hatred. Everybody in the chamber engages with and talks often about our commitment to tackling hatred. People who experience hatred tell me that they want from their politicians not just warm words, but action. That is exactly what the act intends to provide.”
Douglas Ross would not be swayed by that however. He told MSPs: “People want action that is enforceable, and the Scottish Police Federation says that it has serious concerns. Its officers are receiving a two-hour online training module on the legislation.
“Days before the law comes into force, it is unclear how complaints will be dealt with by the police. People such as [Harry Potter author] J K Rowling could have the police at their door every day for making perfectly reasonable statements.
“That could lead to huge numbers of members of the public being monitored or even criminalised by the police when they have done nothing wrong. Is Humza Yousaf not putting front-line officers in an impossible position by forcing them to police free speech?”
The First Minister was unimpressed: “No. We know that police officers themselves are, unfortunately, often the victims of hatred; they often face hatred in the course of their duties.
” Douglas Ross said that he has no idea how a stirring-up offence could possibly be enforceable. I am making the point that a stirring-up offence in relation to racial hatred has existed since 1986, with virtually zero controversy.
“I have absolute faith in Police Scotland’s ability to police and enforce the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 in an appropriate way.
“On the points that Roddy Dunlop—whom, of course, I respect greatly—made, the police are very well attuned and adept, and they have the ability to deal with vexatious complaints right across the legal framework within which they operate.
“I cannot say whether there will be vexatious complaints—that will, of course, depend on people’s actions.
“We all purport to be concerned about the increases in hate crime that we have seen in our society over the years, but only some parties in the chamber are willing to take the necessary action to tackle hate crime. The bill was, of course, debated thoroughly in the chamber. It is unfortunate that the only party that opposed it was—of course—the Conservative Party.”
Douglas Ross then played the democracy card. He said: “In a democracy, we have scrutiny. We have Opposition parties to look at legislation that is brought forward. There have been, and there continues to be, serious reservations about the act that was passed and how it will be implemented. Let us remember that Humza Yousaf introduced the unworkable and dangerous law when he was Cabinet Secretary for Justice.
“He is now bringing it into force as First Minister, with there being little training and not enough support for the officers who will have to enforce it.”
“A professor of law at the University of Glasgow, Alistair Bonnington, has said: ‘Like many of the SNP’s attempts at law making, this act will be set aside when it is properly examined in a serious court.”
“The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 looks like another SNP law that will have to be discarded, just like the proposed named person legislation and the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012.
“We have said from the outset that the Government’s hate crime law was a disaster in the making. It criminalises free speech and it puts at risk a fundamental right. It is overreach by the SNP into people’s homes. It could result in the public being criminalised for no good reason.
“The act is set to be a shambles from day one, which is in just 11 days’ time. Will Humza Yousaf finally accept that he has created another bad SNP law that will quickly descend into chaos?”
The First Minister replied: “What is dangerous is not the law; what is dangerous is hate crime in our society. The Conservative Party is the party of go-home vans, the party of the hostile environment, the party of Windrush and the party whose leader, Boris Johnson, called Muslim women ‘bank robbers’.
“The Conservative Party is a party that, from Suella Braverman to Lee Anderson, indulges in Islamophobic smears. Instead of fighting against the 2021 act, would not it be better if the Conservatives got their own house in order?