HATE speech in the home is set to be criminalised after a Tory attempt to stop it failed at Holyrood.
Critics fear it could lead to over-heated dinner table conversations being investigated by the police under the Scottish Government’s new Hate Crimes Bill. However MSPs on the justice committee agreed with Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf that there should be no exemption for hateful speech and conduct just because it was in a private dwelling.
He said the law often dealt with events in the home would mean someone who urged people in their house to attack a synagogue, but then did not take part, could not be punished for inciting the crime.
If followed Tory MSP Liam Kerr tabling an amendment to the Bill meaning it would not be a crime to stir up hatred if “words or behaviour are used by a person inside a private dwelling and are not heard or seen except by other persons in that or another dwelling”.
Read More: MSPs back criminalising hate speech at the dinner table
