Bad as that can be, and misinterpreted – not even “awful but lawful” is a thing in Scotland.
In Scotland, there is a concerted political and legislative effort from those currently in power to make “non crime hate incidents” happen.
But not everyone seems prepared to “go gently into that (dystopian) night” – that’s because Scottish Parliament Member (MSP) Murdo Fraser seems ready to take legal action against the police because his social media posts have been “cataloged” as just that – “non-crime hate incident.”
Fraser, a Scottish Conservative, “dared” share his thoughts about the government’s policy on transgenderism on X. And now, for posting in response to an article about Scotland’s “Non Binary Equality Action plan,” he is effectively being treated as “non-crime-committing-criminal.”
Now – how’s that for a brand new identity. /s
Fraser’s post, which put him in the police records, read, “Choosing to identify as ‘non-binary’ is as valid as choosing to identify as a cat. I’m not sure Governments should be spending time on action plans for either.”
But the case exemplifies the broader issue with the legal provisions, contained in Scotland’s Hate Crime Act.
Reports are saying that once the law is in effect, Police Scotland, by their own admission – and in a somewhat surreal turn of events as far as law enforcement is concerned – intend to give priority to “every hate speech crime complaint” over things like theft and other forms of criminal damage.
Can you make this up?
The Telegraph doesn’t seem to, since it’s quoting Police Scotland representatives as saying “the plan to stop investigating all crimes risks helping criminals.”
There has recently been a pilot of the new policy carried out in Aberdeen, and yet while for the first time “admitting” to the possibility, the police there said they would not reveal the details – so as not to give criminals “tactical advantage.”
The implication is that the law provides for that advantage, and it’s now simply up to criminals to find out how, and exploit it.
None of this – free speech, law enforcement, or any other concerns seem to have made a dent in Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf’s faith in the policy allowing (or forcing, if you like) the police making records of people “committing” non-crime hate incidents – at the expense of actually policing their communities.
“It’s important that they are recorded because what it does is it gives police an idea of where there might be spikes in hatred,” said Yousaf, adding, “That behavior might not be criminal but they can then see a pattern, be it in a particular geography or be it in particular parts of the country, and they can see any patterns that might be emerging.”
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