Scotland’s under-pressure police force has been bombarded with an astonishing 10,000 hate crime complaints since the SNP’s law came into force.
The number of allegations has broken through the landmark figure in little over a month, The Mail on Sunday can disclose.
However, 90 per cent of the complaints – around 9,000 – were not regarded as crimes by police, confirming early fears that many claims under the new law would be vexatious.
The Hate Crime Act – introduced on April 1 – created a new offence of ‘stirring up hatred’ relating to age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or being intersex.
After it was introduced, police were hit with a flood of complaints – many anonymous.
Author JK Rowling is a high-profile critic of the hate crime law, claiming it harms free speech
By May 5, the number had reached 9,863 – and does not include complaints over the past week, including after yesterday’s Old Firm derby between Celtic and Rangers, which will be likely to have pushed the total above 10,000.
The number of ‘Recorded Hate Crimes’ in the 35-day period covered by the statistics was 1,062, or just 10 per cent of the calls and emails received.
The shocking figures come as the number of police officers in Scotland has fallen to its lowest level since 2008 amid savage cuts by the SNP government.
Police union leaders have branded the new law a ‘disaster’ as it has led to officers – already struggling with huge workloads – being ‘overwhelmed’.
After an initial surge of around 3,000 complaints in the first days of the law, reports have settled to a lower level but still range between 100 and 200 a week.
In total, ‘hate’ claims have been made once every five minutes on average over the 35-day period covered by the figures.
David Kennedy, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation – which represents rank-and-file officers – said: ‘There has been no extra funding from the Scottish Government, despite the extra work which has been created.
‘It is a disaster and officers are being overwhelmed by a deluge of complaints. While the vast majority end up being deemed for no further action, each has to be checked and assessed, using resources which could be used elsewhere.’
Author JK Rowling and billionaire businessman Elon Musk, who bought social media firm Twitter in 2022, are among the high-profile critics of the law, both claiming it harms free speech.
Opponents say that as well as creating a bureaucratic nightmare for police, the legislation adds a pointless layer of legal duplication as it creates offences which can already be prosecuted under ‘aggravations’ of the existing breach of the peace law.
Since April 1, so-called ‘Recorded Hate Crime Aggravators’ have included more than 580 cases involving race, around 200 for sexual orientation, 32 relating to transgender and one citing ‘variations in sex characteristics’.
A person commits an offence if they ‘communicate material, or behave in a manner’, ‘that a reasonable person would consider to be threatening or abusive’, with the ‘intention of stirring up hatred based on the identified characteristics’.
Meanwhile, the police data also shows around 2,000 officers, about one in eight of the total force, had not completed their hate crime training by the start of May.
Tory MSP Sharon Dowey said: ‘Everyone knew Humza Yousaf’s reckless hate crime law would lead to spurious complaints, putting even more pressure onto our overstretched officers.
‘With police numbers at their lowest level in 16 years, Police Scotland can ill-afford the time involved in wading through large numbers of online complaints.
‘John Swinney, as new First Minister, must realise this unworkable SNP law is a farce which threatens free speech, and finally make the decision to repeal it.’
Police Scotland said: ‘We have seen a significant reduction in online hate reports and these continue to be managed within our contact centres with minimal impact on frontline policing.’
The Scottish Government said: ‘The latest data shows a 98 per cent decrease in online reports since the first week of implementation. The new Act is protecting vulnerable groups within communities.’
