The Free Speech Union's Scottish Fighting Fund

The Free Speech Union (FSU) is helping Murdo Fraser MSP to get Police Scotland to remove a ‘non-crime hate incident’ (NCHI) recorded against him for a tweet that criticised the SNP Government’s ‘Non-Binary Equality Action Plan’ and to change the national guidance it’s following whereby every report of a ‘hate crime’, no matter how trivial or vexatious, is automatically recorded as an NCHI.

This can have a detrimental effect on a person’s career – for instance, an NCHI can show up on an enhanced criminal record check and may prevent someone getting a job as a teacher or a carer.

In Mr Fraser’s case, the complainant, having failed to convince Police Scotland that his tweet was a ‘hate crime’, contacted the Ethical Standards Commissioner of the Scottish parliament and urged him to open an investigation into the MSP on the grounds that Mr Fraser had had an NCHI recorded against him. (You can read about this case in the Daily Mail here.)

If Police Scotland refuse to comply with Mr Fraser’s request, we will help him take them to court to force them to revise the current guidance, which we believe is unlawful. A similar challenge brought against the police in England and Wales by Harry Miller and backed by the FSU, first in the High Court and then in the Court of Appeal, was successful and resulted in the police changing their guidance on the recording and retention of NCHIs last year. The result is that NCHIs are now only recorded in England and Wales in exceptional circumstances.

This is an important case because the activation of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act on 1st April 2024, and the creation by Police Scotland of 411 ‘third party reporting centres’, where members of the public can report ‘hate crimes’ anonymously, will inevitably result in the police recording NCHIs against tens of thousands of people if the guidance isn’t revised.

Any money generated by this fundraiser between now and 31st March 2025 that we don’t spend on Mr Fraser’s case will be spent on fighting cases related specifically to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act. We have an arrangement in place with a top firm of criminal lawyers in Scotland so we can assign a solicitor to FSU members who are arrested or questioned under caution because they’re suspected of committing a speech-related ‘hate crime’ (as defined in the new law), although whether we help them in this way, and whether we continue to help them after the first police interview, will be discretionary.

Any money left over in the fundraiser after 12 months will be transferred to our general funds.

Thank you in advance for your donations. We think it’s really important to fight the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act because if we don’t similar bills will almost certainly be introduced in Westminster and Stormont. There are oven ready Hate Crime and Public Order Bills in both England and Wales (as drawn up by the Law Commission of England and Wales) and Northern Ireland (as drawn up by the Ministry of Justice).