Is this the beginning of the end for Humza Yousaf’s ‘unworkable’ Hate Crime Act?
by Michael Blackley, Daily Mail:
A bid to force Humza Yousaf to repeal his controversial hate crime legislation will be launched in the Scottish parliament this week.
MSPs will be asked to vote on a motion proposing that the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act, which came into force earlier this month, is scrapped following concerns it is ‘unworkable’ and is placing too much pressure on the police.
More than 1,000 allegations of hate crime have been lodged by the public per day since it came into force.
Now MSPs will be put on the spot over whether they still support the Act, or will back its repeal.
When the legislation passed in 2021, it was backed by most Labour and Liberal Democrat MSPs, as well as by the SNP and the Greens.
Mr Yousaf forced it through as justice secretary, despite major concerns about the impact it would have on freedom of speech, including in private homes.
But other concerns have been raised by the Scottish Police Federation about the failure to provide extra resources to Police Scotland to handle the influx of complaints since a £400,000 Scottish Government public information campaign urged people to report cases.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said yesterday: ‘Humza Yousaf’s hate crime law has proved to be as big a disaster as its numerous critics warned him it would be.
‘As well as being an unacceptable attempt to curtail free speech, it’s a bureaucratic nightmare for our overstretched police, who simply can’t cope with the deluge of complaints it’s led to.’
The Conservatives will use opposition business time on Wednesday to ask MSPs to vote on a motion which will state that the Act should be repealed.
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