If you’re a supporter of the FSU, we urge you to become a member now that the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 has been activated. You can also donate to our dedicated Scottish GoFundMe here.
No doubt you’ll have already heard about this draconian new law, whereby a person can be hauled in for questioning by the Scottish police if they’re accused of ‘stirring up hatred’ against a person or group of persons with one or more ‘protected’ characteristics, including ‘transgender identity’.
FSU Director Ben Jones joined GB News’s Tom Harwood recently to discuss the grave threat posed to free speech by Scotland’s hate crime laws.
Police Scotland have confirmed that playwrights, actors and performers of all kinds will be within scope of the new law, including stand-up comedians. So claiming that you’re reading out someone else’s ‘hate speech’ on stage – a line from the Merchant of Venice, for instance – or merely referencing a person’s ‘protected’ characteristics for the purposes of making a joke, e.g. ‘An Englishman, a Scotsman and an Irishman walked into a bar…’, may not be a watertight defence.
In addition, the new law has abolished the ‘dwelling defence’, whereby you couldn’t be prosecuted for ‘stirring up hatred’ in your own home. From 1st April, a child can accuse a parent of breaking the new law over the kitchen table.
If you think you’re safe because you live south of the border, don’t be so sure.
The courts in Scotland have been voracious in claiming jurisdiction when it comes to considering where something is published, and the Scots common law position seems to be that if something online is read in Scotland, the courts may deem it to be published in Scotland, which may considerably broaden the scope of the offences in the new act.
To provide FSU members with as much peace of mind as we can, we are putting an arrangement in place with a top firm of criminal lawyers in Scotland so we can assign a solicitor to members who are arrested or questioned under caution by Police Scotland because they’re suspected of committing a speech-related ‘hate crime’ (as defined in the new law), although whether we help you in this way, and whether we continue to help you after the first police interview, will be discretionary. We will also be publishing an FAQs on what to do if you are contacted by police shortly.
In light of all of the above, we hope you’ll consider becoming a member.
Even if you don’t think you are at risk of being questioned by Police Scotland, we would still urge you to join because it will be your membership dues that enable us to help those who are.
We also intend to fight the new law in the courts, arguing that it’s incompatible with the free speech protections in the European Convention on Human Rights.
One more thing.
Police Scotland have said they will automatically record every ‘hate crime’ report, however trivial or vexatious, as a ‘non crime hate incident’ (as they’ve done in the case of Murdo Fraser MSP, who was recorded as having committed a ‘non crime’ for challenging the SNP Government’s ‘Non-Binary Equality Action Plan’ on X). This can have a detrimental effect on a person’s career – for instance, a non-crime hate incident (NCHI) can show up on an enhanced criminal record check and may prevent you getting a job as a teacher or a carer, or being allowed to work for charities.
We expect tens of thousands of these Orwellian ‘non crimes’ to be recorded against people in the months following the activation of the new law, given that Police Scotland have created 411 ‘third party reporting centres’ where ‘hate crimes’ can be reported anonymously.
That might sound far-fetched, but the defining factor with a NCHI is only ever the complainant’s perception of what happened, even when there isn’t a shred of evidence to support the claim that the accused was motivated by hostility towards one or more protected characteristic. Perhaps unsurprisingly, in the first 48 hours following activation of the country’s new Hate Crime Act, 3,000 ‘hate incident’ complaints were made to Police Scotland.
One of the many benefits of joining the FSU is we can help you get a NCHI deleted, as we just did with Rachel Maclean, the deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, who had an NCHI recorded against her after tweeting about the Green Party candidate in her constituency, a trans woman.
It’s really important to fight this new law because if we don’t similar laws will almost certainly be introduced in the rest of the UK in the next 12 months. There are oven ready Hate Crime and Public Order Bills in both England and Wales (as drawn up by the Law Commission of England and Wales) and Northern Ireland (as drawn up by the Ministry of Justice). We have raised the alarm before and no doubt we’ll raise it again, but this really is crunch time for the future of free speech in the UK.
Donate to our dedicated Scottish GoFundMe here.
Our first priority with money generated by this fundraiser between now and 31st March 2025 will be to help Murdo Fraser take Police Scotland to court to force them to revise the national guidance it’s following, whereby every report of a ‘hate crime’, no matter how trivial or vexatious, is automatically recorded as an NCHI.
Any money generated by this fundraiser between now and 31st March 2025 that we don’t spend on Mr Fraser’s case will be spent on fighting cases related specifically to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act.
Any money left over in the fundraiser after 12 months will then be transferred to our general funds.
Thank you in advance for your donations. We think it’s really important to fight the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act because if we don’t similar bills will almost certainly be introduced in Westminster and Stormont. There are oven ready Hate Crime and Public Order Bills in both England and Wales (as drawn up by the Law Commission of England and Wales) and Northern Ireland (as drawn up by the Ministry of Justice).
You can also become a member of the FSU below.
