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Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Links - 16th April 2024 (3 - General Wokeness: Scotland Hate Crimes Bill)

SNP minister Siobhian Brown warns of hate crime 'hysteria' as Police Scotland receive 3,000 complaints - "An SNP minister has warned of "hysteria" gripping Scots over new hate crime laws after it emerged police received almost 4,000 complaints in just two days...   Police are said to be receiving more than 60 complaints per hour on average since the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act took effect... Complaints can be made online with no need to speak to an officer in person.  Brown said today: "I was surprised myself on Monday to receive a call from Police Scotland about my complaint - this was a fake complaint someone had done anonymously in my name, and gave my office number.  "I think this shows the publicity and misinformation that's out there about this Act, that people are making fake and vexatious complaints."   When told this was an issue the government was warned about, Brown told BBC Radio Scotland: "I think also, in the last couple of weeks, there has been a lot of misinformation and hysteria regarding this bill being introduced." There is a growing sense of frustration in the Scottish Government at the reaction to the new Hate Crime Act after celebs like JK Rowling and Ally McCoist spoke out against it.  The multi-millionaire author challenged police to arrest her and the Rangers legend described the legislation as "crazy"... McCoist claimed yesterday that 48,000 Rangers fans planning to attend this weekend's Old Firm match at Ibrox - including himself - could now find themselves breaking the law.  Referencing previous comments from the head of the Scottish Police Federation, the Ibrox legend added he believed the new law was unpopular with rank-and-file police officers because it was impossible to enforce.  He added: "That's exactly what the police think. The police spokesperson has come out and more or less said that,' he added.  "He obviously can't because he'll get himself in trouble. He has implied it, everybody with two brain cells in their head knows it's madness, crazy.""
Weird. We are told that people don't weaponise woke laws and that we must listen to victims. Of course, that only applies when it helps the left wing agenda

Meme - Happy Humza Yousaf: "Creating an online tool to report racism"
Upset Humza Yousaf: "Finding out you're the most reported person"

Meme - "The Indian Council of Scotland
Important Statement: First Minister Humza government have been reported to the Police for racism.
(Police Reporting number:
PS - 20240401-0595)
The Indian Council of Scotland/UK are surprised to read Scottish Government Police Scotland Hate Crime guidance highlighting White Men aged 18 to 30 yrs from socially excluded backgrounds (Working Class) in a negative manner, as this could create unfair bias against them. The Equality and Human Rights Commission of Scotland has a duty to ensure public bodies 'Foster good relations' between different Ethnic groups, and this information could incite. Neil Lal, Chairman and President of The Indian Council of Scotland/UK had stated "We are deeply concerned and offended for everyone who is affected with this Hate Crime guidance by the Scottish Scotland. This is racism to it's core in my opinion! We have taken the decision to report this to the Police authorities! We have asked to hold the First Minister Humza Yousaf/Scottish government accountable along with Police Scotland. Any form of racism is not acceptable". It will be interesting to see how Police Scotland will act and in this and if not then we shall be taking this further. We have asked for the First Minister to be questioned and be held accountable along with the Scottish government. Please find the link below and screenshot of our research."

Yousaf's laws have turned Scotland into a nation of snitches – Stalin would be proud - "It introduces offences for threatening or abusive behaviour which previously only applied to race, but is now extended to any “protected characteristic” including age, disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity. But not the female sex, funnily enough.   No less than 411 Third Party Reporting Centres for Hate Crime have been set up across the country where Scots can dob their fellow citizens in for alleged offences against liberal groupthink... We never thought we’d live to see a Western government imposing subjective political preferences that criminalise the wider, law-abiding population as the Scottish Parliament has done.   First Minister and SNP leader Humza Yousaf, a one-man protected characteristic, has simultaneously turned Scotland into a nation of snitches and effectively made any criticism of him or his religion illegal... The term Orwellian is overused, but I can’t think of any other that better fits this draconian scenario.   “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. His heart sank as he thought of the enormous power arrayed against him, the ease with which any Party intellectual would overthrow him in debate, the subtle arguments which he would not be able to understand, much less answer. And yet he was in the right! They were wrong and he was right. The obvious, the silly and the true had got to be defended… Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”  Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four was supposed to be a warning, not a kit for legislation in 2024. Yet, that is precisely what the woke zealots have imposed on poor Scotland, and what a Labour government may soon do to the rest of the United Kingdom if we don’t look out. As enlightenment gives way to authoritarian darkness, JK Rowling is using her vast wealth as a shield to fight on behalf of all those who would like to object but can’t afford the legal fees. A heroine as valiant as Hermione Granger using her wand to defeat Draco Malfoy, Rowling has offered herself up as a symbol of non-violent resistance to a crazy, unjust law. Covid-19 legislation apart, it is, I think, the greatest threat to freedom in these isles in modern history.  Another ray of hope has come from our old friend: the law of unintended consequences. In its guidance to the new Hate Crime Act, Police Scotland said, quite despicably, that the so-called “Hate Monster” which features in the Government’s infantile advertising campaign, “is most likely to lurk in young men with deep-rooted feelings of being socially and economically disadvantaged combined with ideas about white-male entitlement”. The great broadcaster Andrew Neil, who hails from a Scots working-class background, responded scathingly on X (Twitter): “This sounds to me quite hateful/insulting/abusive about a section of society which doesn’t have much going for it. Can I report Police Scotland to Police Scotland under the new Hate Crime Act?”   The Indian Council of Scotland did just that. Within 24 hours, it announced triumphantly: “Police Scotland have taken down the negative text about white working-class men”. Hang on, not so fast. Surely, we can still look forward to the delicious spectacle of Police Scotland being prosecuted by Police Scotland under Section 4 of the new Act for stirring up hatred between different ethnic groups? Or maybe Scotland’s First Minister and all those righteous Labour, Lib Dem and Green creeps who voted for it, don’t think that singling out young, white working-class men as racist villains is prejudiced?"

Scottish police are accused of 'failing to solve' shoplifting, theft and assaults - as chiefs warn they are being 'deluged' with hate crime complaints after 8,000 reports in first week of new law - "Scotland's police force has solved fewer shoplifting, theft and assault crimes in recent years, figures suggest - as frontline representatives say officers are being overwhelmed by reports made under the country's new hate crime law.  David Threadgold, chairman of the Scottish Police Federation (SPF), says Police Scotland's vow to investigate every report of hate crime has created a 'simply unmanageable' situation with around 8,000 filed in the first week... Mr Threadgold says the potential the law has to be 'weaponised' for personal gain or political reasons threatens to create real problems for staff in the long run if the rate of reporting keeps up... David Kennedy, general secretary of the SPF, has previously described the new law as a 'disaster', claiming less than one per cent of the complaints made were resulting in 'actual hate crime investigations'.  He has also warned that officers are being drafted in to do overtime shifts due to the overwhelming number of crimes being reported under the new act. And frontline officer representatives have previously warned that Police Scotland risks becoming a 'reactive force', capable of only responding to major crimes such as murder and terrorism rather than those affecting people on an everyday basis... Police Scotland said no crime had been committed in the case of both Rowling and Yousaf - prompting India Willoughby, one of those targeted in Rowling's tweets, to accuse the force of having 'stardust in its eyes'... The Scottish Government has continued to defend the new hate crime laws despite criticism from gender-critical campaigners, political opponents and frontline police representatives.  Speaking to the BBC's HardTalk programme, Humza Yousaf said he did not have any worries about the legislation's potential impact on freedom of speech.  'I see no evidence of people being silenced in terms of their gender critical views,' Mr Yousaf told the programme.  'Any cursory glance at any social media platform would suggest that those views are not being silenced.' He has previously labelled Rowling's tweets about trans women - including convicted sex offenders Isla Bryson and Katie Dolatowski - as 'offensive and upsetting', prompting the author to accuse him of 'bumbling incompetence and illiberal authoritarianism'...
it also applies to private homes, not just to comments or behaviour in public, raising the possibility that dinner party conversations could be criminalised.  Critics say this level of state intrusion is unjustifiable and Lord Bracadale, who carried out the review which led to the new law, was opposed to the move."
Left wing priorities!

MSP Murdo Fraser's legal threat to police over 'hate incident' - "Murdo Fraser likened identifying as non-binary to identifying "as a cat", in relation to Scottish government equality policies last November... He posted: "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." A member of the public made a complaint about the post. After considering the complaint, Police Scotland decided that he had not committed a crime.  But the post was recorded as a "hate incident", though this was not attached to Mr Fraser's name."
Hate crime Scotland: Murdo Fraser raises hate incident concerns with police authority amid ‘credibility’ fears - "The MSP at the centre of a hate incident row has warned the “credibility” of authorities is at risk if the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) continues its “radio silence”.  Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser has penned a letter to the SPA after Police Scotland failed to reassure him that his concerns had been taken seriously.  Mr Fraser threatened Police Scotland with legal action after the force confirmed a complaint it received over his online criticism of transgender policy had been logged as a “non-crime hate incident” (NCHI), despite no criminality being found. Police Scotland added to the confusion by stating the incident had been logged anonymously despite Mr Fraser being told the incident has been recorded against him. Complaints against Humza Yousaf and JK Rowling were not logged as NCHIs despite Mr Fraser being subject to one and a pledge to investigate every complaint."
Left wingers still claim that rising "hate" statistics show that there's an unprecedented wave of "hate". Clearly in the 1970s, saying that being non-binary is not valid was wrong too, so "hate" statistics across years are reliable

Woman claims police wouldn’t investigate Swastika complaint because she 'wasn’t Jewish' - "Police Scotland have been caught in a row over their new hate crime laws after a woman who reported an anti-Semitic Facebook post was ‘quizzed about her ethnicity’. The woman, a one-time officer in the force, reported a post showing a swastika in a Star of David, reading ‘Nazism = Zionism’. She claimed the image was posted by a close relative of an SNP government minister... General Secretary of Scotland’s Police Federation, David Kennedy, previously told the Sunday Times: ‘The number of complaints that translated into actual hate crime investigations is extremely small. ‘I believe that less than 1 per cent of these complaints are translating into actual hate crime investigations.’... one particular policy, an offence for ‘stirring up’ hatred, has proved controversial. ‘Stirring up’ means behaviour from someone that ‘that a reasonable person would consider to be threatening or abusive’ to incite hatred, the law states. Stirring up racial hatred has been in the books since 1986 but MSPs branched the definition out to also cover: age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and variations in sex characteristics."

Can the Edinburgh Fringe survive the Hate Crime Act? - "For those in my chosen trade, live comedy, Scotland’s Hate Crime Act is like a python that has already encircled us, slowly threatening to squeeze and throttle us for good.   As a law, the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 builds incrementally on the UK-wide Public Order Act 1986, although it makes that earlier illiberal statute seem almost quaint in comparison. The Public Order Act criminalises speech actually intended to stir up hatred, rather than merely ‘likely’ to, as is now the case in Scotland.   To the previously established protected categories (including race, religion and sexual orientation) against which hatred can be stirred, the new Hate Crime Act adds gender identity, chromosomal intersexuality and whatever else is waiting in the sidings to be shunted and coupled on to that ominous ‘+’ that now comes after LGBT.  Quite unspeakably, the Hate Crime Act also includes any such utterances made in one’s own home. An idea surely as anathema to traditional notions of the sovereign individual and the limits of state surveillance as could be imagined. Nineteen Eighty-Four is invoked so regularly that it is losing its power to shock. But for God’s sake, this bit is literally right there on page one. All that remains is to remind you to put the clocks forward so that they strike 13. How far Scotland has fallen. In the 18th century, during the Scottish Enlightenment, it made perhaps the greatest per-capita contribution to free inquiry in philosophy and the natural sciences of anywhere in the world. Edinburgh’s David Hume is still regarded by many as the greatest Anglophone philosopher in history. It was he, said Immanuel Kant, that ‘first… interrupted my dogmatic slumber’. Free speech – the right to challenge all orthodoxy – was the absolute sine qua non of all this.   Meanwhile, in the 21st century, it has fallen upon a bestselling children’s author to defend Scotland’s once great legacy... In August, the Edinburgh Fringe, the world’s biggest arts and comedy festival, will return to Scotland. The police have said they will not ‘target’ performers for arrest, but they will respond to every single complaint of ‘hate’, including against fictional representations on stage... How many comedians will take the risk of even the most harmless teasing of a protected group? Of, say, referring to Nicola Sturgeon – as I did last year – as ‘a perfectly nice chap’, or Humza Yousaf as ‘formerly Cat Stevens’?...   By criminalising hatred, Scotland risks setting ablaze a whole host of our cultural treasures. I fear not only for the postwar era of irreverent comedy, but also our whole canon of spite and scorn going back to Jonathan Swift and beyond. We are facing something akin to a modern-day burning of the Great Library of Alexandria.  One such important work is Shakespeare’s Hamlet, considered the greatest play in the English language by broadly common consent. Throughout his unequalled four hours on stage, Hamlet expresses hatred more uniformly than any other emotion. Hatred for his mother, for his former crush, for women in general. For his father’s brother, his treacherous friends and for his own inability to act.  In a scene that I would save from that burning library before almost every other in Shakespeare, Hamlet and the gravedigger trade contempt and mockery for pretty much every affectation of mankind. For high and low and their ridiculous, fragile airs. All end up ‘knocked about the sconce with a dirty shovel’. Presumably, this kind of public display of mockery and disdain is now illegal north of Hadrian’s Wall...   It is no coincidence that the image of Hamlet addressing the skull of Yorick, his former friend and father figure, is the single most iconic in world theatre. Harold Bloom asserted that, with Hamlet’s soliloquies, Shakespeare effectively ‘invented’ the human. When the SNP says that it wants to know what you are thinking when you are sitting at home alone, to purge every last bit of hate in your heart, it is your very humanity that is at stake."

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