© Reuters/Russell CheyneHumza Yousaf speaks at the Scottish National Party (SNP) conference in Glasgow, Scotland, October 10, 2017.
Scotland's proposed hate crime bill will penalize anyone whipping up hatred against "protected groups." That includes people making "insulting" remarks within their own home, Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf has revealed.
Quizzed on the bill by the Scottish Parliament's Justice Committee on Tuesday, Yousaf assured critics that the proposed legislation would protect the "right to be offensive." However, anyone "stirring up hatred" against others on the basis of religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, transgender identity or "variations in sexual characteristics" will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, he said.
That includes off-color dinner table conversations with friends and family. Asked whether people would be allowed to speak freely within their own homes, Yousaf said he disagreed "in terms of principle and policy" with the idea of keeping the law out of the living room.
"Let's just give an example, which is intentionally stirring up hatred against Muslims," he said. "Are we saying that that is justified because it is in the home?"
The bill's definition of hate speech is a broad one, and its text would criminalize anyone acting in "a threatening, abusive or insulting manner" towards one of its protected groups.
Yousaf did not speculate on how Scottish authorities would police conversations inside the home. However, the bill as it currently stands would not require an actual victim, just proof that the perpetrator was motivated by "malice" or "ill-will."
According to the bill, a report by a "single source" could be enough to secure a conviction.The justice secretary was roasted online for his Big Brother aspirations. Conservative MSP Alison Harris
accused Yousaf of "trying to force through dangerous attacks on our freedoms," while Harris' fellow Conservative Gordon Lindhurst
called Yousaf's suggestion "deeply concerning."
As commenters slammed Yousaf online on Wednesday, he doubled down and replied to his critics. "If you invite 10 mates round & it can be proven beyond reasonable doubt that you intentionally stirred up hatred against Jews, why should this not be prosecuted," the minister argued.Yousaf's bill, which amends the 1986 Public Order Act, was introduced in April. Though championed by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and her Scottish National Party (SNP), it has been fiercely criticized by academics, artists, the Scottish Catholic Church, police associations, and free speech activists for apparently squashing freedom of expression. The London-based Free Speech Union said this summer that it would "enable groups claiming to speak for people in these protected categories to lobby the authorities to prosecute anyone who challenges their ... identitarian dogma."
The 1986 Public Order Act covers a wide range of riot, harassment, drunkenness and harassment offences. Its prohibition of "abusive or insulting" speech, however, includes a "dwelling defence," which protects this speech inside private homes. Yousaf's bill would do away with this caveat.The bill is still some time away from becoming law. The Justice Committee currently aims to complete a review of its text by mid-December, though Conservative MSP Adam Tomkins told the BBC last month that the date could slip. "Given the importance of this legislation, and the strength of feeling it is generating, it is vital that sufficient time is allowed for scrutiny," he said.
Reader Comments
It seems Holyrood is now officially a swamp filled with abhorrent, disgusting swamp creatures. Thankfully there is no law (yet) protecting politicians from criticism. The SNP have entertained us long enough. It is time for them to go.
Braveheart?
Gnome Sayin?
Send forth the best ye breed—
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness
On fluttered folk and wild—
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half devil and half child.
Take up the White Man's burden—
In patience to abide,
To veil the threat of terror
And check the show of pride;
By open speech and simple,
An hundred times made plain.
To seek another's profit,
And work another's gain.
Take up the White Man's burden—
The savage wars of peace—
Fill full the mouth of Famine
And bid the sickness cease;
And when your goal is nearest
The end for others sought,
Watch Sloth and heathen Folly
Bring all your hopes to nought.
Take up the White Man's burden—
No tawdry rule of kings,
But toil of serf and sweeper—
The tale of common things.
The ports ye shall not enter,
The roads ye shall not tread,
Go make them with your living,
And mark them with your dead!
Take up the White Man's burden—
And reap his old reward:
The blame of those ye better,
The hate of those ye guard—
The cry of hosts ye humour
(Ah, slowly!) toward the light:—
"Why brought ye us from bondage,
Our loved Egyptian night?"
Take up the White Man's burden—
Ye dare not stoop to less—
Nor call too loud on Freedom
To cloak your weariness;
By all ye cry or whisper,
By all ye leave or do,
The silent, sullen peoples
Shall weigh your Gods and you.
Take up the White Man's burden—
Have done with childish days—
The lightly proffered laurel,
The easy, ungrudged praise.
Comes now, to search your manhood
Through all the thankless years,
Cold-edged with dear-bought wisdom,
The judgment of your peers!
Rudyard Kipling
Sloth and heathen Folly indeed.
RC
Go Humza You-saf!
R.C.
Hasn't taken the wokies long to start making laws, has it?
Ahh well, I've already been to Scotland anyways. Didn't enjoy it that much then, was pretty mediocre, despite some very nice people being the only plus. Now it's definitely off limits for me.
Guess what happened?
Promoted to justice minister!
what if there is only 9 people round at your house. Anyway sounds bit like 10 green bottles ditty.
song along
(10 friends sitting in my house - 10 friends siting in my house
and if 1 friend accidentally offends
i call the police (stazi)
then i have got only 9 friends sitting in my house left.
That is assuming the remaining 9 friends don't tell you to Go F--k yerself. Then it will be No freinds sitting in my house
what a lot tosse
worlds gone madd
I thought politicians was hired and paid to make life better for people. Obviously no longer
A: Hamed.
Q: What do you call a muslim with two lumps of pork on his head?
A: Mohamed.