Former Labour MP Tom Harris on the SNP's Hate Crime bill.

There is a good article by Tom Harris, a former Labour MP, on the CAPX site about the SNP's "Hate Crime and Public Order" (Scotland) Bill which he calls "a triumph for the terminally woke."

Tom Harris writes that

"In a submission to the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee, which is examining the legislation, the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland warns the new bill “could render material such as the Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and other texts such as Bishops’ Conference of Scotland submissions inflammatory under the new provision”. Among the tenets of Catholicism that could fall foul of the new legislation, they note, is “the belief that sex and gender are not fluid and changeable, and that male and female are complementary and ordered towards the creation of new life”. 

It is unusual for the Roman Catholic Church, or any other church, to make common cause with the National Secular society, but that society has also opposed the bill, presumably out of a fear (which sadly I think is only too plausible) that it would be used against atheists by those who regard any disagreement with their religion as blasphemy.

Tom Harris continues

"This comes in the same week the Scottish Police Federation submitted its own response to the legislation, warning that the new law could “devastate the legitimacy of the police” and end up with officers policing people’s speech."

He goes on:

"Whatever the assurances given by ministers and Scottish government spokespersons, we can be sure that if this nasty piece of legislation makes it to the statute books – and given the eagerness with which the über-woke Scottish Green MSPs vote with the SNP whenever they’re asked, it could well do so – it will certainly be used as an excuse by certain individuals and organisations to at least try to shut their opponents up. 

And even if the safeguards which ministers insist are contained in the legislation are as robust as claimed, there can be little doubt that police officers’ time will be diverted from actual police work to taking lengthy statements from the professionally and permanently offended about how this or that person was a bit mean to them on Twitter. 

 It has even been suggested that JK Rowling’s comments about transgender issues would have made their author vulnerable to criminal action – which is surely one of the reasons why at least certain MSPs are enthusiastic about supporting the bill."

I think Tom Harris has a point. You can read his full article here.

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