Following the implementation of Scotland's new hate speech laws on April 1, a significant controversy has arisen involving First Minister Humza Yousaf. The legislation, which has been compared to something out of a dystopian novel, has led to a flood of hate crime reports against Yousaf himself, with police receiving over 7,000 reports yet only recording 30 as non-crime hate incidents. In response, Scottish police have been provided with a script to defend Yousaf when handling these calls, suggesting complaints do not meet the threshold to be recorded as hate incidents, a stance that contradicts Police Scotland's own policy. Critics have calculated that, had the legislation been retroactive, Yousaf could have faced up to 81 years in prison. The situation has sparked debate over the politicization of Police Scotland and the effectiveness of the new hate crime law.
So the immediate consequence of the Hate Law passed by the Numpty Nursery (aka Scottish Parliament) is to generate a year’s worth of hate crime reporting in one week. Yip. One week. Well done, chaps. https://t.co/9g2yehJ3wD
Police Scotland staff have been given a script defending Humza Yousaf after he faced a deluge of hate crime reports. https://t.co/warfuZJo2S
Hate Crime call handlers given script defending First Minister Humza Yousaf https://t.co/3trh9LSulF
Scots are using Humza’s legislation against him so fiercely that the powers that be had to give an “it’s different” script to police. https://t.co/3Xdk9UJNq9
If Police Scotland have received over 7,000 hate crime reports, but only recorded 30 of them as non-crime hate incidents, they have clearly abandoned their own guidance. So what is Police Scotland's new policy when it comes to NCHIs? https://t.co/hLtIEVKHHv
It’s a measure of how farcical Humza Yousaf’s hate crime law is that police officers have effectively been given a script on how to respond to the flood of complaints made against the First Minister under the very legislation that he piloted and introduced. https://t.co/nZaQRyoP5j
Another twist in the ‘hate incident’ shambles: @PoliceScotland say complaints against @HumzaYousaf did not ‘meet threshold to be recorded as hate incidents’. But this contradicts their own policy. And different from approach in my case. https://t.co/mgW05ttCFv
Scottish police dealing with hate crime calls handed script to DEFEND Humza Yousaf https://t.co/HCzR72A5Ar
Immediately after Scotland's new "hate speech" laws went into effect on April 1, Humza Yousaf made sure the legislation wasn't retroactive. 🦹♂️ I added up the years in prison he'd be facing, it's around 81 🦹♂️ Unedited True Story https://t.co/kGjDTIhTNx
The politicisation of @PoliceScotland continues as those phoning in @HumzaYousaf's racist hate crime are met with a script. Phrases include it was his “own personal experience of racism” & “nothing said in the speech was threatening, abusive or insulting”, not forgetting he was… https://t.co/lRMVfFs7aL
Scotland’s new hate speech law is something Dolores Umbridge would have enforced at Hogwarts. Right, @jk_rowling? 🎥 : @brad_polumbo https://t.co/PlXJiW9Tfi