The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act is a threat to freedom of speech and thought and should be abolished. The act includes provision for individuals to be arrested and charged for comments made in the privacy of their own home, something that has never happened before and is a deeply authoritarian development. The act also helps to further undermine the idea of equality before the law by creating a variety of ‘protected characteristics’ of people who are treated differently, or unequally, before the law. By labelling millions of people as being part of a ‘vulnerable group’, the law helps to create a new caricature where certain individuals are treated in a stereotypical way, as vulnerable and different.

We believe that bigoted ideas need to be challenged with more freedom of speech, more debate and contestation, not less. Furthermore, we believe that this act does not represent the opinion of the Scottish people and as a reflection of democracy should be abolished.