Police urged to reveal if non

Police Scotland have been accused of “political bias” after refusing to record a non-crime hate incident (NCHI) against Humza Yousaf despite logging one against a Tory MSP.

The force has thrown out a deluge of complaints under the SNP’s new hate crime laws against the First Minister and Harry Potter author JK Rowling, with sources claiming more were logged about him than her.

But Murdo Fraser, a Scottish Tory MSP, accused the police of double standards after they said neither Mr Yousaf nor Rowling would have an NCHI recorded against them.

Mr Fraser was reported by a member of the public in November 2023 after he shared a post on social media about the Scottish Government’s transgender policies.

He said that “choosing to identify as ‘non-binary’ is as valid as choosing to identify as a cat”. 

Police Scotland judged that the post was not a crime but it was still logged as a hate incident, without telling him.

After it was confirmed Mr Yousaf would not have an NCHI logged against him, the Tory accused the force of “making it up as they go along” and argued it had been “captured by the SNP policy agenda”.

Mr Fraser demanded that Jo Farrell, the chief constable, contact him with an apology, his NCHI be ripped up and the force’s policy of recording them overhauled. 

He won support from Rowling, who tweeted: “Again, I trust everyone will be treated the same way if they express themselves similarly. Nobody should have a ‘Hate Incident’ logged against them for accurately describing, or asserting the importance and reality, of biological sex. We must all be equal under the law.”

It is possible for NCHIs to be disclosed to employers.

Thousands of hate crime complaints have been lodged with Police Scotland since Mr Yousaf’s Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act was introduced on Monday. 

The force has pledged to investigate every one.
 

Only hours after its introduction, Rowling posted pictures of 10 high-profile trans people and ridiculed their claims to be women. She then challenged police to arrest her.

Most of the complaints against Mr Yousaf are understood to relate to a speech he gave in a 2020 Holyrood debate challenging racism in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in America in May that year.

Mr Yousaf said that “99 per cent of the time” he was “the only non-white person” in the room during government meetings. 

The footage has since been used to claim he is bigoted, which he has vigorously denied.

Mr Fraser told BBC Radio Scotland: “In line with their policy, the police now have to record each and every one of these complaints as a non-crime hate incident, both against JK Rowling and against the First Minister Humza Yousaf.

“Either the police are going to treat an opposition politician in Scotland like myself differently from the way they treat the SNP First Minister, which would be an absolute outrage, or the police in Scotland are going to say that Scotland’s First Minister is responsible for a hate incident.”