The Free Speech Union is launching a hotline for anyone arrested or contacted by the police under Scotland’s hate crime law.
The group, which campaigns for freedom of speech, said it had attracted 1,000 new Scottish members in recent weeks as the row over the new law intensifies.
The organisation has also signed a deal with the legal firm Levy & McRae to fund them to represent any free speech cases arising from the new legislation.
Neil Hay, of Levy & Macrae, said: “We are delighted to be appointed by the Free Speech Union to represent the interests of their members in this new and novel area of the law.”
The firm last year represented Joanna Cherry, the SNP MP, who was cancelled from performing at The Stand comedy club during the Edinburgh Fringe over her gender-critical views. The venue later apologised and reinstated her show.
NCHI’s are not part of the new Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act. Under Police Scotland’s hate crime national guidance, an NCHI is “any incident which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated (wholly or partly) by malice and ill-will towards a social group but which does not constitute a criminal offence (non-crime incident)”.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/scotland-jk-rowling-trans-humza-yousaf-hate-crime-law-hotline-xdrkn2gv6
The article is quite long and can be read in full at https://archive.ph/x5tsQ