Hansard

I pay tribute to Lord Bracadale—not just for his excellent report but for how he conducted his inquiries in compiling it. When I became Labour’s spokesperson for justice, I was told what a complex and varied brief it was, so it was somewhat intimidating that one of the first meetings that I had was with Lord Bracadale as part of those inquiries. I thank him for an excellent and very interesting conversation; it was considered, principled and very useful. The report very much reflects the considered and holistic approach that he has taken to this very important work.

These are incredibly important issues: we are discussing crimes that are driven by hatred that is directed at a victim’s identity. However, that begs a question: why should we treat crimes differently based on their motivation? One could hold that the severity of the crime, rather than what motivates it, should determine treatment of its perpetrator.

The report answers that question very well, in three distinct ways. The first answer concerns

“The harm which hate crime causes”.

Hate crime has profound effects on the victim, but it also harms the community group to which that person belongs: an attack on one is an attack on all. Further, such attacks damage society as a whole’s moral framework. They can sour community relations and breed tension in otherwise well integrated multicultural and multi-identity societies. Breaking those social bonds can have long-lasting impacts well beyond the individual act.

Secondly, hate crime legislation has a symbolic function. We in Parliament must remember that the power of the laws that we pass is not only in their operation, but is in the messages that they send. Nowhere is that more true than in criminal law, where a symbolic message is sent to the victim that he or she will be protected by society; to the perpetrator or potential perpetrator that he or she will be punished severely; to victim groups in the community that we stand with you against such attacks; and to wider society that prejudice and inequality will not be tolerated.

Thirdly, hate crime legislation has practical benefits. If we do not measure something, we cannot know whether the problem is growing or shrinking over time. That is how we know that crimes that are driven by race hate have fallen in recent years—although at over 3,000, such charges are still the most common, and represent two thirds of the charges, as Liam Kerr said. The legislation helps to measure the problem and to provide consistency in sentencing when cases of such crimes are heard in court.

I turn now to Lord Bracadale’s recommendations. Scottish Labour welcomes the positive recommendations that will help to improve the hate crime legislation landscape. Most fundamentally, Lord Bracadale recommends consolidation of the legislation that has been passed in both the United Kingdom and Scottish Parliaments over more than 30 years. That is not a small undertaking, but Lord Bracadale makes well the argument that consolidation will bring clarity, transparency and consistency to the law. It will also allow changes—for example, new protected identities—to be made more easily in the future if we provide flexibility and consistency when we consolidate.

The recommendation for consolidation is supplemented by proposals to ensure consistency between the various protected identities. Using statutory aggravations as the way to ensure that hate crimes are punished more severely seems to me to be a sensible and reliable approach to this area of law. The new test for hate crime becomes whether an existing offence was motivated by hostility towards someone based on their identity. The hostility by itself would not be a crime, which I believe strikes the balance. However, the recommendation includes new offences regarding stirring up of hatred, which is important because, as Lord Bracadale states, “stirring up hatred” towards groups based on their identity is “morally wrong”. Moreover, it causes harm both to the group and to society as a whole. It is therefore right that such offences should cover not just race hate but hatred of other identity groups.

The report also proposes a number of modernisations, most notably around the language for transgender people, which now looks very outdated, and the introduction of intersex as a stand-alone identity, which is welcome.

Perhaps the recommendations that have most consequences are the proposals to introduce new age and gender aggravations. Those are to be welcomed. I note that there are groups outside Parliament who have made a compelling case for specific laws to be introduced on misogynistic harassment. The case for that is well made; Scottish Labour will look closely at those arguments and will seek to have them robustly debated as the Scottish Government introduces proposals to put Lord Bracadale’s recommendations into law.

It will perhaps not surprise colleagues to learn that James Kelly will cover the aspects of the report which talk about the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012. I will leave it to him to cover that in more detail. However, I say to the Government that it is worth reflecting on how to take forward such legislation. With all the complexity and nuance in these debates, surely what we have today would have been a better starting point—an independent report, backed by wide consultation. Any legislation that comes out of this report will start from a position of strength and thoughtfulness, which is in marked contrast to the Government’s knee-jerk reactive legislation regarding sectarianism in the form of the 2012 act. I hope that ministers will reflect on that.

I would like to close by welcoming this important report. Its proposals are sensible and proportionate. Most important is that the report initiates an important debate and serves as an invaluable foundation and platform for us to have the debate that we need to have in Parliament.