Meeting of the Parliament 17 April 2024
The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 will help us to target hate crime in Scotland and support those who are most affected by those crimes.
First, I will respond to some of the points that have just been made about the 2021 act. Over the past two weeks since its implementation, the Scottish Government has responded to numerous media statements in order to combat misinformation, which is still regularly regurgitated, including in this chamber. To dispel that misinformation, it would perhaps be beneficial for me to set out again what the 2021 act does. It is designed to consolidate existing legislative protections against offences that are aggravated by prejudice against the following five characteristics: disability, race, religion, sexual orientation and transgender identity. That is the exact same group of characteristics that are protected in England and Wales under the current hate crime legislation. This Parliament agreed to add the additional characteristic of age, which has been welcomed.
We know that the impact on those who suffer from hate crime can be traumatic and life changing, and we want to ensure that we can protect those who are affected. However, the Conservatives would have this Parliament remove those protections.
Hate crime, as set out under the act, is a behaviour that is both criminal and rooted in prejudice and where the offender’s action has been driven by hatred towards a particular group. However, the Conservatives would have this Parliament repeal the act.