Humza Yousaf might be gone as Scotland’s first minister, but the Hate Crime and Public Order Act which was introduced during his short stint in office is still very much in place.
The Scottish National Party’ hate crime law created a new crime of “stirring up hatred” against a range of protected groups, not including women.
In the month that has now passed since the law came into force, Police Scotland has been hit with more than 10,000 hate crime complaints (a good proportion of them directed at Yousaf himself), distracting officers from real crime.
But while this figure continues to go up, the level of public support for the hate crime law shows no sign of improving.
Polling this week suggested that 49% of Scots don’t just disagree with the current scope of the Act but actually want to see it scrapped altogether. Even 39% of Scottish National Party (SNP) voters—whose hard-left leaders introduced the law—believe that it should be repealed. Just 36% of all Scots think the law should remain in place, according to the polling, which new SNP leader John Swinney is unlikely to brag about.
Support for the legislation, which has been a calamity since the get-go, is guaranteed to be lower among police officers, who are now finding it more difficult to focus on real crime.
David Kennedy, who is general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, representing rank-and-file officers, this week complained that the implementation of the law has been a “disaster.” He said:
Officers are being overwhelmed by a deluge of complaints. While the vast majority end up being deemed for no further action, each has to be checked and assessed, using resources which could be used elsewhere.
Reports claim that around 90% of the 10,000 hate crime complaints have not been regarded as crimes, with Jo Farrell, the head of Police Scotland, highlighting that the way the law has been designed has allowed it to be “hijacked” by people wanting to cause “mischief.”
As reports emerged on low levels of support for the hate crime Act, Scottish Conservative Pam Gosal urged Swinney to “scrap this hated law and get back to Scotland’s real priorities.”
But it appears that the SNP leader is continuing to hold tight—for now, at least.
