EMMA COWING: This law isn't an attack on hate... it's an attack on our very ... trends now
Back in the summer of 2020, when the world seemed febrile and unsettled, and the notion of any new laws that were not related to Covid seemed unthinkable, a group of artists, authors and campaigners wrote an open letter to the Scottish Government.
While the rest of us were focused on when we could eat in a restaurant with more than three others or set foot in an office again, the likes of Val McDermid, Rowan Atkinson and Elaine C Smith had one eye on the future.
In particular, the hate crime laws set to come into force this year. Concerned that the laws would impinge on free speech and artistic endeavour, they did not mince their words.
‘The arts play a key part in shaping Scotland’s identity in addition to being a significant economic contributor,’ they wrote.
Actor Rowan Atkinson spoke out against the hate crime laws in 2020
‘The right to critique ideas, philosophical, religious and other must be protected to allow an artistic and democratic society to flourish.’
These worries are now upon us, and the new laws are set to be enshrined, without a whisker of irony, on April 1. And while ministers insist that changes have been made to safeguard artistic freedom, many remain fearful about the possible repercussions for actors and stand-up comedians.
Last week, it was revealed that the National Theatre of Scotland (NTS) is to hold talks with the SNP government, and is understood to be concerned that plays and other productions may risk falling foul of the law.
Police Scotland says officers have even been trained to spot potential breaches, which may include material used by actors and comedians.
A somewhat alarming use of police time frankly, in a force that recently said it was, in effect, no longer investigating minor crimes such as some thefts and smashed windows.
A source close to the NTS told the Mail that ‘many people feel that actors should not be in the firing line because what they say is written by someone else, but there is a fear that stand-up comedians are more likely to fall foul of this’. I’ll bet there is. In fact, if I was a stand-up comedian whose act covered subjects that touched on anything other than sunshine and roses, I’d be hastily getting the red pen out right now.
Look, the basic concerns at the root of these laws are ones that every decent person can get behind. Prejudice on the basis of age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or variation in sex characteristics is clearly not OK.
That the legislation creates new offences of ‘stirring up hatred’ however – which previously applied only to race – and which can be broken in private homes, seems wrongheaded, and pushing the envelope way too far.
As Russell Findlay, Scottish Tory justice spokesman, said: ‘In what other western democracy would you find arts organisations fearful of the government in relation to artistic performance and expression?’ Quite.
This is the nub of the situation. What we have, once again, is a government which – not content with trying to stop us eating and drinking certain things and criminalising what we put in our bins – can now, quite literally, police what we say, and what our artists say. It is the
