David Vance SubstackRead More
Well, we can’t really be that surprised that Labour would seek to restrict free speech and indeed make us censor our very thoughts lest we face “the full weight of the law”. It’s the SPEED they are doing this which surprise me.
It is reported that New Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is set to increase the burden on police officers to keep records of ‘hate incidents’ which are not criminal offences.
This reverses the previous Government’s policy, where former Home Secretary Suella Braverman told the police not to interfere with a person’s freedom of expression “simply because someone is offended”.
And her excuse?
Mrs Cooper now wishes to make it easier to record such incidents, saying it will help address antisemitism and islamophobia.
But that’s just her cover story. The pernicious “Non Crime Hate Incidents” can extend across a vast range of “characteristics”, including for example trans people, meaning that if ANY of them are offended about anything you say, then the Police will have an obligation to recort your commend and log it as a “Non Crime Hate Incident.” This could be the beginning of you getting a Police Record.
Now the term “hate” is doing a lot of heavy lifting here because it is just a useful umbrella term to MEAN anything someone doesn’t like. This farcical legislation came into being following the murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993 and then the 1999 report into it.
NCHI recording has since expanded to cover all the protected characteristics covered by hate crime laws in England and Wales: race, religion, disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity. This data is vital for helping the police to understand where they must target resources to prevent serious crimes which may later occur.
That’s how profoundly flawed this concept is and former Home Secretary Suella Braverman was right to tell the Police to stop sticking their nose into other people’s opinion. But we live in changed time and it’s clear that Yvette Cooper wants to potentially criminalise many more people who call out the regime of which she is a part. It the thing is not criminal, the Police have no business getting involved.
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