From Scotland ...

[ProfessorSlocombe]

An update, from the Times

www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/scotland/humza-yousaf-says-hate-crime-bill-wont-criminalise-jk-rowling-k29qt0j5g

Critics of the proposed law, which would make it an offence to “stir up”
hatred, say that it could lead to criminal proceedings over comments
deemed unintentionally offensive.

Roddy Dunlop, QC, dean of the Faculty of Advocates, said last month that
this could mean comedians who tell a “Scotsman, Irishman and Englishman”
joke may face jail. The Scottish Police Federation, which represents
rank-and-file officers, complained the changes would shatter trust in
police.

However, Mr Yousaf [Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Scottish Parliament]
denied there would be a draconian crackdown on freedom of speech. “If you
were to say a trans man is not a real man or trans woman is not a real
woman, you would not be prosecuted under the bill that I am intending to
bring forward, so long as you didn’t do it in a threatening or abusive way
that is intended or likely to stir up hatred,” he told Holyrood magazine.

A spokesman for the Free to Disagree campaign, which opposes the hate
crime bill, said that Mr Yousaf “cannot simply magic away these
significant concerns” about the law.

“In addition, under the legislation no ‘intent’ is necessary for an
offence to be committed,” the spokesman said. “Rowling could conceivably
be guilty of a ‘stirring up’ offence without intending to stir up hatred,
or even being aware that her comments were unlawful.”

Nationalist voters have some wild ideas about what Scotland would be like in the event of independence. In the meantime, the country is being run into the ground by the bonkers SNP, with the help of the Greens, and voters are allowing it. At least the GRA was 'put back' till the next Parliament, but that is only next year and I'm praying it never sees the light of day again. As for Humza Yousef's 'hate crime' bill, well.....I hope that the SNP will recruit more police officers and beef up the legal system to cope with all the extra work it is likely to cause. I think it's going to mean a lot of wasted police time at the very least.

I've been in Scotland for 5 years now and, you know what, for all it's beauty, heritage, architecture etc, it's becoming a bloody awful place to live. It's sectarian and incredibly divided.

Yes did you know that Catholics only got economic parity with Protestants in 1986?

Cornton Vale is the only women's prison in Scotland and it has only 116 places... they need A MASSIVE prison building programme if this goes ahead. I can see myself sitting out the rest of this plague in prison.

If you point out crime committed by transwomen follows the male patern that would be hate. No doubt about it. You would not be able to point out the elephant in the room because they would say that was stirring up hate. Which is precisely what they hope to achieve.

In practice, what will happen is the prosecution services (I'm not that au fait with Scottish law) will use discretion over who to prosecute.

Ah, that would be the Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service - a Stonewall diversity champion member.

From what I hear the SNP rank and file are none too keen on the takeover of the party by carpetbagging no-marks from Stirling University.

Could be a schism in the party. I don't really care about the inner machinations of the SNP, though - if a party with such a huge majority can't openly and fairly resolve disputes then it's damaging to the country. And yes, that echoes Westminster situation.

Ah the mythical 'other parties' that we'll all vote for in an independent Scotland. Who are these parties? Not the Tories, obvs. Scottish Labour are a joke.

Is it going to be the magical post Indy 'new talent'? I personally would love it a lot if the huge talents we have here in Scotland could make themselves known now.

From what I've seen, Morris, in Scotland the Tories are second to the SNP (by a country mile, but still way ahead of Labour). I do feel like the other parties have pretty much abandoned Scotland to the SNP. Which is not a healthy democracy.

*which is not good for a healthy democracy

@ArabellaScott

From what I've seen, Morris, in Scotland the Tories are second to the SNP (by a country mile, but still way ahead of Labour). I do feel like the other parties have pretty much abandoned Scotland to the SNP. Which is not a healthy democracy.

From discussion with friends, they're currently acting as if the Union will remain, and so are wedded to what's best for England.

You really need a Scottish Tory party independent of Westminster (see also Labour, etc). After all, if Scotland is it's own country, it's hard to see what benefits voting in the English Tories brings. And that's not something that any amount of push from the English Tories can shift.

@MorrisZapp

Ah the mythical 'other parties' that we'll all vote for in an independent Scotland. Who are these parties? Not the Tories, obvs. Scottish Labour are a joke.

Is it going to be the magical post Indy 'new talent'? I personally would love it a lot if the huge talents we have here in Scotland could make themselves known now.

I agree. There seems to be a dearth of talent. It’s depressing.

During the IndyRef I made the joke that I didn't want to have the American Election coverage brought to me by Jacqui Bird. That won't happen they said, because Scotland has huge talent of it's own. It certainly does, but why would they work to serve a population smaller than Yorkshire when they can fk off to London for huge pay and international recognition?

Sorry, that's not remotely the point of the thread.