Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 11 March 2021
I thank everyone who has got us to this point: Lord Bracadale; the cabinet secretary and his team; the convener of the Justice Committee, Adam Tomkins, whose leadership throughout has been helpful in steering us through important issues such as freedom of speech and the threshold to trigger the offence, which a previous speaker referred to as a safeguard; our committee witnesses; and, as ever, our staff.
In his review, Lord Bracadale stated:
“Hate crime is the term used to describe behaviour which is both criminal and rooted in prejudice.”
We know that hate crime is about people, not about statistics. Sadly, the public scrutiny of the bill has exposed deep-seated prejudice that simply cannot be allowed to prevail. One of the policy objectives of the bill was that it would be user friendly, perhaps not in the precise wording of the legislation but more in the public discourse about the purpose and effect of the bill.
Training is important, and I have confidence in our police and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service when it comes to that.
We cannot forget that the Tories did not just want to prevent the updating of the statutory response to hate crime; they wanted to turn the clock back and remove existing protections. The Tories wanted Scotland to have weaker laws in respect of stirring up racial hatred than there are in other jurisdictions of the United Kingdom.
We have also seen some shameful misrepresentations suggesting that the bill has zero regard for freedom of expression and that family meals would be ruined by a flurry of arrests by police officers—crass nonsense! We also saw amendments that expressed gross indifference to those who do not conform to narrow prejudices, and not just from the Tories.
There were amendments that would have shamefully airbrushed intersex people from existence and amendments that would have undermined the existing protections for transgender people, which have been in place since 2004. The bill, like others, is about balancing human rights. I think that the balance between freedom of expression and the right to private life has been struck in the bill, and countless organisations agree.
George W Bush Jnr once challenged the world, “You’re either with us or you’re with the terrorists.” That was the approach that was taken by many in this debate. I would like to lay out very clearly where the Scottish Green Party is on these issues. We are with those who respect freedom of expression and understand its limits. We are with those, across the globe, seeking to tackle rising hate crime. We are with those who have no one and who only want to be themselves. We are with those who want their community to be rid of the scourge of hate crime. We are with sound parliamentary scrutiny and making good laws—and we will not be bullied by those with mild-sounding social media names and poisonous agendas.
We will stand with those who are abused because of the colour of their skin or their disability. We will stand with those who are subjected to physical and hateful verbal attacks from whatever quarter. We will stand with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, knowing that they consider hate crime one of their biggest concerns.
The One Scotland website promotes a Scotland that
“believes in equality for all.”
It goes on to state:
“No one should be denied opportunities because of age, disability, gender, gender identity, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation.”
It is certainly my belief that the bill will play a part in the delivery of that entirely realistic goal. I hope that, after all that the bill has been through, it receives parliamentary backing. The Scottish Green Party will certainly support the bill at decision time tonight.