Anas Sarwar criticised the "implementation" of the hate crime law Get the latest Scottish crime and courts news sent straight to your inbox with our daily Criminal Record newsletter More Newsletters Subscribe Please enter a valid email Something went wrong, please try again later. More Newsletters We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show me See Our Privacy Notice See Our Privacy Notice × Group 28 Get the latest Scottish crime and courts news sent straight to your inbox with our daily Criminal Record newsletter Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign Up No thanks, close We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info × Group 28 Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show Me No thanks, close See our Privacy Notice Anas Sarwar has said that misogyny should be included in the Scottish Government's new hate crime law. The Scottish
Labour leader said he would amend the Hate Crime Act but would not repeal it if he were first minister. Sarwar was speaking on a visit to mental health charity Men Matter
Scotland in the Drumchapel area of Glasgow on Monday morning. The hate crime bill , passed by MSPs in 2021, creates a new offence of stirring up hatred based on protected characteristics such as sexuality, disability and religion. But critics fear the legislation could see
police Scotland becoming deluged by vexatious complaints and have a chilling effect on free speech. Serious concerns exist about the police practice of recording hate "incidents" that fall below the threshold of a crime. Read More Related Articles Rishi Sunak's Tories facing Scottish wipeout in Westminster poll prediction Read More Related Articles The Tories and Labour have betrayed the WASPI
Women and denied them justice Asked whether he would repeal the Hate Crime Act if he were first minister, Sarwar replied: "The biggest flaw in the Hate Crime Act is that misogyny was not included. "That was an amendment that we had, sadly, an amendment that was voted down. "It was something that we maintained throughout every stage and then in our manifesto as well that we would include misogyny in the Hate Crime Act. "I think the biggest challenge is that what parliament intended, and what parliament passed is now flawed in terms of its implementation and its messaging. "I think the government has messed up the implementation, they've messed up the message, and they haven't adequately resourced our police officers." He added: "We would add misogyny [to the act]." When pushed on whether Labour would appeal the law, he said: "The point I'm making is that I don't think this is an issue of repeal. "We're in a place where... How do you correct the flaws or the missing pieces in the legislation? And how do you correct the implementation, the messaging and the resourcing of this legislation?" Scottish politics Health boards blow millions on taxis Labour conference braced for
protests SNP lost thousands of members in 2023 Matheson urged to reject pay-out He continued: "I think the biggest tragedy in all of this is [that] on a really important issue like hate crime... it feels as if the government is undermining goodwill from the public." Scottish Government community safety minister Siobhan Brown said misogyny had not been included because it would be part of another future bill. She told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: “We’ll be going further for the protection of women through our misogyny Bill, which will be laid down in Parliament.” To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here . Story Saved You can find this story in My Bookmarks. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Follow Daily Record
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