Hansard

I recognise the work of the Parliament’s Justice Committee, and in particular its convener Adam Tomkins and those members who participated in consideration of amendments to the bill yesterday and over the past few months. Whatever their perspective on each of those amendments, how we test arguments is critical to how the Parliament makes good law. When we are considering fundamental principles of equality, human rights and freedom of expression, that process is crucial. I acknowledge that there is concern about aspects of the bill. I also acknowledge the steps that have been taken to address those and make improvements to it.

Scottish Labour believes that hate crime should be dealt with by using the full force of the law. In our manifesto, we made a promise to take a zero-tolerance approach to hate crime. We believe that the law can and should be strengthened, and we have been engaging with stakeholders and other parties to find agreement on how to do that. Crimes that are rooted in prejudice and hatred of another based on any of the protected characteristics should offend and alarm us all. Victims should feel confident that they can come forward and that their doing so will make a difference.

We know that there has been an increase in the number of hate crime charges in recent years and that there is a range of factors behind that. Further analysis is clearly essential, which is why we welcome the new reporting obligations.

Nevertheless, we know from evidence that a lack of clarity around hate crime legislation disadvantages the victim. It is important to remember what Lord Bracadale’s review found, which was that there was confusion about what a hate crime is, language that was difficult to understand and a lack of clarity on what sort of behaviour makes something a hate crime. In that context, it makes sense that we should seek to consolidate, modernise and reform Scotland’s hate crime laws.

We need the bill because hate crime has become more widespread, and society has become more polarised and divided. All of us can see how raw and unpleasant some aspects of political debate have become and how easily hate can rear its head. Although social media has given old hatreds a new platform, we must remember that, in truth, prejudice and hatred in this country never went away. Scotland is no different from the rest of the UK or from many other countries in that regard.

At times, it feels as though the more we have advocated tolerance, the less tolerance there has appeared to be. The bill is necessary to ensure that there is accountability and to prevent unacceptable ill will and malice. The corrosive idea that someone needs to be blamed for societal problems has resulted in the most excluded and underrepresented members of society being targeted and becoming victims of crime. That cannot be allowed to continue.

As we debated yesterday, Scottish Labour believes that the protected characteristic of sex should have been included as an aggravator in the bill. It is deeply regrettable that it has not been, because it is clear that women are subjected to hate because of their sex. We believe that the bill is flawed because of that, and we want that gap to be addressed as soon as possible. We note that the enabling legislation, along with a commitment from the cabinet secretary on timescales, will make sex a protected characteristic more quickly than would the introduction of a totally new piece of legislation, so we will follow the work of Baroness Kennedy’s working group closely.

The bill’s long journey to stage 3 has caused controversy. A bill that aimed to provide clarity has constantly had to be clarified. A bill to consolidate hate crime laws has at times consolidated opposition among the unlikeliest of partners. When it was originally introduced, the bill was deeply flawed but, as the cabinet secretary said, during its progress, Parliament has tackled many of those problems and strengthened its protections. We believe that there are still flaws in the bill—those flaws are on the Government—but we must recognise that, ultimately, the bill will give important protections to minorities, who will welcome it.

The Government has given assurances that it will make the enacted bill work, and we will hold it to those assurances through post-legislative scrutiny. Scottish Labour will vote for the bill as amended but, before we do, we must reflect on how much more must be done to tackle prejudice and hate in Scotland; they cannot be legislated out of existence. Any action that we take must be accompanied by wider societal change in our communities and our workplaces, and an agenda for inclusion in education that tackles the prejudice that we are united against today.