Trans cat MSP cleared of non crime
Police have yet to apologise to Murdo Fraser MSP after recording him for a Non-Crime Hate Incident
No, it wasn’t an April Fool. A senior Scottish politician really was recorded by police as being guilty of a non-crime hate incident (NCHI) after he compared people who identify as non-binary with people who identify as a cat. After a lengthy review, the Police Investigation and Review Commissioner has finally agreed with Murdo Fraser MSP that it was unreasonable for Police Scotland to dismiss his complaint about their recording this “non-crime” against his name. Good.
But the Chief Constable of Scotland, Jo Farrell, has yet to apologise to the Tory MSP, nor has she given any assurances that the police will stop recording these abominable NCHIs against innocent citizens. They have become a kind of parallel universe of Orwellian non crime that can have devastating consequences for those who, er, didn’t commit them.
Let’s be absolutely clear: Mr Fraser did absolutely nothing wrong. His original tweet was a response to the publication of the Scottish Government’s Non-Binary Equality Action Plan in November 2023. He quote-tweeted: “Choosing to identify as ‘non-binary’ is as valid as choosing to identify as a cat. I’m not sure governments should be spending time on action plans for either.” An anonymous member of the public reported him to the police, after which Police Scotland logged the tweet as a non-crime hate incident (NCHI) against the former deputy leader of the Scottish Conservative Party without informing him.
But what were the police doing recording this at all? Mr Fraser had clearly said nothing illegal. The term, “non-binary”, according to groups like Stonewall, refers to a “gender identity that falls outside the traditional binary of male and female”. Mr Fraser, in common with gender-critical feminists like the author J.K. Rowling, does not believe there are more than two sexes. Consequently, declaring as non-binary could be declaring anything, even an animal. There are indeed people who do identify as animals. They define themselves as “furries” or “therians”, meaning they identify “spiritually, psychologically, and emotionally” as an animal.
But Mr Fraser was not talking about actual cats, lest the cat protection league get onto him, and was merely pointing up, as he has every right to do, the absurdity as he saw it of the Scottish government’s policy. The MSP’s belief in the binary nature of human sexuality is an eminently reasonable one, endorsed indeed by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. His tweet did not constitute threatening or abusive behaviour towards an individual or group. Yet police recorded a hate incident against his name.
Police Scotland describe these NCHIs as “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.” This means the “hate” in question is entirely in the mind of the accuser and requires no corroboration or evidence. It could mean literally anything.
Someone takes offence at a vote for Brexit. Hate crime. Someone else thinks white people should not attend a black music event. Microaggression. A journalist call a transgender woman a man. Transphobia. These may be “non crimes” but that begs the question of why the incident is recorded at all if it breaks no law. The police say they record NCHIs to give them an accurate picture of the state of community relations. However, by inviting people to make hate complaints against named individuals without having to furnish a scrap of evidence other than their own perception, the police are surely in danger of getting a distorted picture of the extent of racism, homophobia, and the like.
The police insist that there is no accusation of criminal behaviour, but the mere fact of these hate incidents being recorded could involve a penalty. NCHIs can be brought to light in background searches on candidates applying for jobs like teaching or social work, which involve working with young people or ethnic minorities.
In a free society, “non-crimes” should surely not be recorded at all, especially if they are appended to named individuals. The number of NCHIs recorded in Scotland has trebled in the years since the government launched the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021. According to research by the legal collective Murray Blackburn Mackenzie, around 7,000 hate incidents are recorded each year in Scotland alone. If so, we are surely living through an epidemic of non-crime.
It was only by happenstance that Mr Fraser discovered he had an NCHI recorded against his name. It emerged because the cat quip complainer approached the Ethical Standards Commissioner of the Scottish Parliament, complete with with the “crime reference number”, and called for the former deputy leader of the Conservative Party to be found guilty of breaching the MSP’s code of conduct for “a hateful act”. Nothing better illustrates the danger of having the police record these episodes.
When Fraser demanded that the police remove the NCHI, they refused. After a complaint to the Chief Constable, Jo Farrell, which received no response, Mr Fraser finally applied to the PIRC in November last year and received their verdict yesterday. “We have found that Police Scotland did not handle the complaints to a reasonable standard.”
“This is a devastating rebuff to Police Scotland,” said Fraser, “and a vindication of the stance I have taken in complaining about their policy on recording NCHIs.” However, the response from Police Scotland has been as evasive as ever. They have not responded directly and stated: “We will consider the recommendations and a full update will be provided to the complainer in due course.”
Police Scotland seem in no mind to end this deeply unjust practice of recording hate incidents without requiring evidence and without informing the person accused of this “non-crime”. Murray Blackburn Mackenzie believe that the police are as confused as everyone else about what non-crime hate incidents actually are. They seem to constitute a kind of Orwellian shadow crime: something which is not actually criminal but suggests extreme prejudice on the part of the person accused. But labelling someone as guilty of prejudice in this wa is not only defamatory, it is deeply unjust.
The process, as so often with administrative justice, is the punishment. The distress and reputational damage inflicted upon Mr Fraser has been considerable, and if he hasn’t sought financial redress, he certainly should. As for the rest of us, if you think you might have been labelled with an NCHI, apply now on any police website for a Subject Access Request (SAR) and find out if your name appears on police records. If so, it could damage your career.
The simple truth is that Police Scotland as a unitary 'authority' has been a gargantuan mistake. Edinburgh folk were always much better looked after by the Lothian and Borders mob. And the west coast folk had Strathclyde. Each to their own.
These ridiculous non crime hate incidents are the logical conclusion of a society - and I believe all of this started in the public services- that has elevated feelings and perceptions above reality or rational thought.
In the NHS - Sandra Peggie is now the best example- you disagree with someone and you are accused of bullying and if you don't back down you may lose your job. We live in a world where if you challenge a persons' opinion or belief system no matter now outlandish you find yourself in this hall of mirrors. For the simple reason that we seem to have raised a generation of young people who have never had to face a contrary opinion. They appear to have been basted from birth in unquestioning admiration with every whim and belief confirmed. This is aggravated I suspect by social medial where you can insulate yourself from troublesome people who do not share your world view.
This in turn leads to an unbearable dissonance in these people's minds when they are finally faced with someone who disagrees, or mocks them and refuses to back down.
It is compounded by the fact it's easier to call round to a nice middle class person's home and give them a good talking to than it is to deal with a shoplifter, or some unfortunate who is causing a public disturbance because they have a psychiatric illness.