Scottish police receive 7,000 hate crime complaints in first week of new law

Scottish police received more than 7,000 hate crime complaints in the first week of April, a “substantial increase” since the contentious law challenged by author JK Rowling was enacted at the start of the month.

Police Scotland on Wednesday said 7,152 online hate reports had been filed, with 240 hate crimes recorded, or about 3 per cent. Some 30 “non-crime hate incidents”, which are perceived to be motivated by prejudice but do not cross the threshold of criminality, were registered.

Police also dealt with calls, emails and other incidents in which hate crimes were also suspected. The vast majority of reports were anonymous and no further action was taken, the force said, as it insisted that the “substantial increase” in complaints would not undermine its ability to deal with other crimes.

“So far the impact on frontline policing, our ability to answer calls . . . has been minimal,” Police Scotland said, adding that officers had been assessing complaints alongside dedicated hate crime advisers.

Angela Constance, Scotland’s justice secretary, said almost half of the reports had been made on April 1, when the legislation came into force, with the number of daily complaints falling by 90 per cent within the first week.

But the Scottish Conservatives called for the “disastrous law”, which extends the crime of “stirring up hatred” on grounds of race and ethnicity to other protected characteristics, to be scrapped.

“The fact that 240 in a week were deemed to have been crimes just adds to the intolerable strain on officers,” said Sharon Dowey MSP, deputy justice spokesperson.

The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act — proposed by the governing Scottish National party and passed by MSPs in 2021 — has also triggered intense criticism from those who fear it will hinder free speech.

Rowling and other feminists who seek to protect sex-based rights have tested the parameters of the act by describing transgender women as men. The law does not include biological sex as a protected characteristic, but the Scottish government has said it plans to introduce an act to tackle misogyny.

Police last week said they had received complaints about a series of social media comments made by Rowling but that they would not prosecute the Harry Potter creator.

Of 250 hate crime “aggravators” reported by Police Scotland, 120 related to race. Sexual orientation, disability and religion accounted for 42, 38 and 21 respectively. Eight related to gender. Aggravators describe the nature of a hate crime, and more than one can be attached to each hate crime report.

First minister Humza Yousaf has said the law is needed to shield people from a “rising tide of hatred”. He has said it protects freedom of expression and that the police are able to deal sensibly and effectively with any vexatious complaints.

Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross on Wednesday cited the legislation, which his party opposed, as he called on voters to back the Tories in the UK general election expected this year.

Meanwhile, a YouGov poll on Wednesday put Labour ahead of the SNP for the first time since the 2014 independence referendum, with 33 per cent of Scots saying they intended to vote Labour compared with 31 per cent for Yousaf’s party.

YouGov’s last poll in October put the SNP at 33 per cent compared with Labour on 32 per cent.