The Justice Secretary, Humza Yousaf is under growing pressure to amend the Scottish Government’s proposed Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill in the face of ongoing criticism.

In a submission to the finance and constitution committee, the Scottish Police Federation warned that Ministers have grossly underestimated the policing costs associated with the bill.

They said:

It went on to say that several police costs were unaccounted for in the memorandum, including the costs of investigating complaints against officers.

Last week, as she announced the Scottish Government’s programme for government, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she would listen to critics of the bill and that ‘freedom of speech and expression is fundamental in any democracy.”

In its submission to the Justice Committee on the bill, CARE for Scotland argued that the legislation was unnecessary because existing laws already protect groups from hate crimes.

Meanwhile, the Free to Disagree campaign group are calling for Part 2 of the bill to be scrapped.

Part 2 introduces the controversial new offence of ‘stirring up hatred’ which, as CARE pointed out, is incredibly hard to define and criminalise, opening the door to people unintentionally committing an offence, despite not meaning to.

A recent poll for the Free to Disagree Group showed huge public support for free speech and 69% of respondents agreeing that ‘For a criminal offence to be committed there must be a proven intention to stir up hatred’.