Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 11 March 2021
As Neil Bibby and Liam McArthur have said, hate crime is, unfortunately, on the rise in Scotland. From that point of view, robust laws to tackle it are welcome.
It is important to examine the advent of the bill, the process that it has gone through, and why we have ended up, even at this stage, with people contesting some of its elements.
The Bracadale review was the route to the bill. When that was published, everyone across the parties agreed that there was a need for hate crime legislation that brings together all hate crime law into one place to make it more efficient and operate better, and to give adequate protection to victims of hate crime. However, once the bill was published, we found that the drafting was, at best, clumsy and, at worst, incompetent. That resulted in a host of organisations being critical of part 2 in particular. The provisions on theatre performances had to be withdrawn, and there was a controversy about the use of the phrase
“it is likely that hatred will be stirred up”.
The lack of interpretation around that was widely criticised, and the phrase was taken out.
There have been amendments to withdraw things and improve the bill. However, in reflecting on the debate last night, which was a high-quality debate with strong speeches from around the chamber, I was struck that, in debating a number of the amendments, a lot of members were still unclear about the interpretation of the law, which suggests that issues remain.
When the bill is passed and cases go to court, the test will be whether sheriffs, legal practitioners and the police can adequately interpret the law so that it can be used properly in the courts. The Parliament will have a crucial post-legislative scrutiny role. A lot of the aspects of the bill will have to be looked at closely in operation. If the bill is not operating correctly, it will need to be revisited in the next session of Parliament. I hope that the Government and the cabinet secretary will accept that.
Johann Lamont was right to say, in a speech that was strong on principle and conviction, that legislation on its own is not enough and signals are not enough. A lot needs to be done in education, working in communities and changing culture to ensure that those who are currently the victims of hateful abuse get proper protection not just in law but in society in general. There is a big task there.
Scottish Labour will support the bill at decision time, but let us be clear: it is not perfect, and there is much work to be done not just to make the legislation work but to tackle hate crime robustly.
14:26