Police Scotland has pledged to investigate every reported hate crime complaint, even if it lands comedians and stage performers in hot water.
The First Minister’s highly controversial Hate Crime & Public Order (Scotland) Act comes into force on April 1 - a date that’s synonymous with laughter and joking around, but this April Fool’s Day could well mark the start of a decline in laughter.
Police training materials obtained by Scottish daily newspaper, The Herald, shows officers are being advised to target stage performers and comedians, as content deemed “threatening and abusive” under the Hate Crime Act could arise “through public performance of a play”.
The new law intends to identify and criminalise behaviour that is seen to be based on prejudice at a time when discussions about gender ideology, anti-semitism and islamaphobia are commonplace.
Humza Yousaf's highly controversial Hate Crime & Public Order (Scotland) Act comes into force on April 1
PA
The law, which was engineered by the current First Minister during his time as the Cabinet Secretary for Justice in Scotland, has been labelled by critics as “dangerous”, with many concerned that the law will be weaponised in the name of gender ideology, while others have voiced their objections on the grounds of it infringing on the right to free speech.
Harry Potter Author JK Rowling, who primarily resides in Scotland, was recently reported to the police by transgender broadcaster and activist India Willoughby for misgendering Willoughby in posts made on social media platform X, saying Rowling “definitely committed a crime”.
Ahead of the Hate Crime & Public Order Act coming into force on April 1, Rowling responded to queries asking if she’d delete the aforementioned posts before the law comes into effect.
She replied: “If you genuinely imagine I’d delete posts calling a man a man, so as not to be prosecuted under this ludicrous law, stand by for the mother of all April Fools’ jokes.”
The writer’s comments were reviewed by Northumbria Police earlier this month.
Sharing their conclusion, the force wrote, “While we recognise the upset this may have caused, the post was reviewed and did not meet the criminal threshold.”
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The law was engineered by Yousaf during his time as the Cabinet Secretary for Justice in Scotland
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When considering whether or not to hand down charges, Police Scotland officers will need to consider the aggravators responsible for making an incident a crime: whether the alleged victim’s disability; race ; gender; or sexuality a component of the attack.
According to the latest figures from the Crown Office, Police Scotland lodged 5,738 hate crime charges in 2022-23, the greatest potion of which were racially motivated (3,145).
While any number greater than zero is damaging to society, last year’s racially motivated hate crimes were 31 per cent more than in 2011/12.
On March 7, Police Scotland announced that they no longer had the capacity to investigate every crime.
This followed on from a successful three-month trial in the North East of Scotland, which saw officers able to better allocate time and resources to priority caseloads.
Despite this, Police Scotland has since pledged to investigate every hate crime that is reported and critics, such as GB News Headliners host Leo Kearse thinks the bill could take its toll on comedy, even if he is in the clear.
The host told his followers on X: “When I warned about Humza's Hate Crime Bill affecting comedy, loads of Scottish comedians (dull regime apparatchiks who [adore] the SNP) said I was a bigot and it wouldn't affect comedy. I’ve moved to London. I’m going to enjoy this.”
Whatever the outlook for edgy comedy in Scotland, comedians may well get in the last laugh.
Accompanying the Hate Crime & Public Order Act on April Fool’s is ‘The Hate Monster’, an animated campaign portraying a pound-shop Elmo to help Scots identify hate crime.
The Hate Monster “weighs you down till you end up targeting someone, just because they look or act different to you”.
Critics have widely condemned the campaign, including former Police Scotland Superintendent Jo Farrell, who said it was a “disgraceful” attempt at “profiling” white men.