An MSP (Murdo Fraser) threatening legal action against Police Scotland after his twitter/x post was logged as a hate incident

[StealthSpinach]

I couldn’t see another thread on this - just wondering if a male complaining about ‘hate incidents’ registered against him will produce a different result compared with all the female complaints that have been dismissed.


An MSP is threatening to take legal action against Police Scotland after a tweet he posted criticising the Scottish Government’s transgender policy was logged as a ‘hate incident’.
Veteran Conservative Murdo Fraser said the force had ‘behaved not just outrageously, but unlawfully’ after learning that his name appears in police files for expressing a political view.
A trans activist reported the post on X, formerly Twitter, to Police Scotland whose officers decided it did not amount to a crime but should be classed as a ‘hate incident’ which will remain on record – even though no law had been broken.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13233691/Scots-Torys-police-row-hate-tweet-claim.html

[ArabellaScott]

And so it begins.

[JL690]

The SNP's vision for an "independent" Scotland. Only the party line is permitted, no other thoughts allowed. The sooner we get rid of these fascists the better.

[Waitwhat23]

I do wonder if this will be the final overstep for GI. TRA's are openly, gleefully encouraging each other to report every 'hate incident' and I think the backlash around NCHI's being recorded, on the say so of someone with an agenda, without any evidence of a crime being committed is coming rapidly.

[StealthSpinach]

More:

Last night Mr Fraser told the Mail: ‘Police Scotland has behaved not just outrageously, but unlawfully according to the legal advice obtained by the FSU. This is Police Scotland attacking free speech but it is more sinister than that. My tweet wasn’t pointing a finger at an individual, it was critical of a Scottish Government policy. If police are now treating criticism of SNP policy as hate incidents, that is a really serious issue as it shows how Police Scotland has been captured by the SNP policy agenda.’

[ArabellaScott]

@JL690

The SNP's vision for an "independent" Scotland. Only the party line is permitted, no other thoughts allowed. The sooner we get rid of these fascists the better.

The word fascist is enormously overused.

In this instance it is unfortunately accurate.

[StealthSpinach]

A trans activist was responsible for reporting to the police.

A member of the public reported the post to Police Scotland, claiming it constituted hatred against non-binary or transgender persons.
The Mail is not disclosing the name of the complainant, who is a trans activist.
Mr Fraser said the officer who followed up determined that ‘although no crime had been committed and the police would conduct no further investigation, the perception of the complainant meant that my post would be recorded as a “hate incident”, and a reference number was provided to the complainant’.
The MSP only found out about the ‘hate incident’ because the same activist had complained to the ethical standards commissioner of the Scottish parliament about the tweet. The complaint was not taken forward but as a result of this process Mr Fraser was alerted to the police report.

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

I hope he keeps kicking up a fuss about this. Do we know if NCHIs are disclosed on a PVG?

[StealthSpinach]

Seems the TRAs have already been practicing their reporting of ‘hate’ - I wouldn’t be surprised if they had a list of gender critical names ready to go on 1st April.

[Hoardasurass]

@ItsAllGoingToBeFine

I hope he keeps kicking up a fuss about this. Do we know if NCHIs are disclosed on a PVG?

Yes they do, they also stay on your records for life and your not told that they are there unless you put in a subject access request.
As for Murdo taking this all the way having had many conversations with him about this and other tra issues (he's 1 of my MSPs) he won't let this drop.

[FrancescaContini]

@StealthSpinach

Seems the TRAs have already been practicing their reporting of ‘hate’ - I wouldn’t be surprised if they had a list of gender critical names ready to go on 1st April.

Can perceived “hate crimes” that pre-date April 1st be reported as such?? 😲

[ArabellaScott]

@FrancescaContini

Can perceived “hate crimes” that pre-date April 1st be reported as such?? 😲

This hasn't yet been made clear but in terms of Scottish law it seems likely given the way Internet 'publishing' is treated.

[FrancescaContini]

Well if it turns out to be the case, Police Scotland could find their time entirely taken up with going down Twitter rabbit holes instead of investigating real, old skool crimes - you know: drug dealing, burglaries, shoplifting, murder etc.

[Helleofabore]

I wish him well in this. Considering there is a cat gender, I am perplexed about what was offensive here. Was it offensive that he said the government shouldn’t be spending time on it.

Or does the reporting trans activist not support cat gender as a valid gender ?

[Crankywiddershins]

" his name appears in police files for expressing a political view."

A politician expressing a political view! How very dare he!

[midgetastic]

@FrancescaContini

Well if it turns out to be the case, Police Scotland could find their time entirely taken up with going down Twitter rabbit holes instead of investigating real, old skool crimes - you know: drug dealing, burglaries, shoplifting, murder etc.

Edited

But if it sounds east just to pop and name on the register rather than do anything like validate it was a hate incident - judge and jury springs to mind - so it's an easy way to get something off your to do list

[RainWithSunnySpells]

I'm sure that the TRAs would be quite happy if they could become some sort of Cheka or Stasi watching over us all and policing our speech.

[ArabellaScott]

This is an opposition politician having a NCHI recorded against his name for criticising government policy.

I hope the implications of that are crystal clear.

[teawamutu]

This is excellent news. Once the law starts inconveniencing men, it'll be much more of a problem/priority.

[HeartofSaturdayNight]

@ArabellaScott

This is an opposition politician having a NCHI recorded against his name for criticising government policy.

I hope the implications of that are crystal clear.

Yes and I'm sure the usual "this is a side issue" contributors will be along any minute now...

(Crickets)

[ÉowynsSword]

@ArabellaScott

This is an opposition politician having a NCHI recorded against his name for criticising government policy.

I hope the implications of that are crystal clear.

When you put it like that @ArabellaScott then it sounds really very sinister.

I'm really worried about this as well as angry. I'm scared of what our politicians have made law and what our police will do as they are jumping to their tune. I can't believe it; the Scottish government and the Scottish police are making it a crime and will be visiting and potentially arresting people who trust in scientific fact and reality. It's already begun and it's not 1st April yet.

[MrsWhattery]

Agree fascist is an accurate description of this horrendous thought crime policing. I really don’t get how so many politicians can’t see that.

I’m in Scotland and ready to leave as soon as family circumstances allow. However I am optimistic because things that make no sense do tend to come out in the wash. It’s just a question of how long it takes. Good on Murdo and many others who are taking this on.

Personally most people I know have little tolerance for this bullshit.

[Myalternate]

If a person has an NCHI registered against them would that show up on a criminal record check?

[lechiffre55]

How come the April Fools Thought Crime Law doesn't conflict with UK law in the same way that the Scottish gender law that got section 35ed did?
Surely it criminalises people in the UK outside of Scotland when they have committed no crime where they live. Isn't that anoher case of Scottish law conflicting with UK law? Why didn't it get section 35ed too?

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

I see the next elections for the Scottish Parliament have to happen by May 2026. Two and a bit years is a long time. Any chance it could happen earlier? My sense, which may just be wishful thinking, is that the SNP would take a pasting, but with the single transferable vote system they might still be able to cling on.

[AlisonDonut]

@RainWithSunnySpells

I'm sure that the TRAs would be quite happy if they could become some sort of Cheka or Stasi watching over us all and policing our speech.

What do you mean 'could'?

This thread shows us it has been happening for years.

And the thing is, you have to do a subject access request to even find out if there is one registered against you.