Humza Yousaf has been urged to abandon “disastrous” new hate crime laws in Scotland after new figures showed a deluge of complaints in the first week.
Some 7,152 reports were made online to Police Scotland following the controversial legislation taking effect on April 1.
But just 240 were recorded as hate crimes – 3.3% of all reports – with a further 30 logged as non-crime hate incidents, meaning they did not meet the threshold for a criminal offence.
Scottish Conservative shadow justice spokesperson Sharon Dowey said: “These figures highlight the huge toll Humza Yousaf’s shambolic hate crime law is already having on Scotland’s overstretched police force.
“It beggars belief that the SNP have introduced this when one in five officers still haven’t received the paltry two-hour training that’s supposed to equip them to enforce the new law.
“On top of the deluge of complaints that Police Scotland are having to field every day, the fact that 240 in a week were deemed to have been crimes just adds to the intolerable strain on officers who have already been forced to not investigate certain other crimes due to SNP cuts.
“The Scottish Police Federation have warned that this is unsustainable, so Humza Yousaf should admit he’s got it badly wrong and bin this disastrous law.”
Nearly half of all the complaints made online were made on the first day, the figures showed, before the number of reports slowed later in the week.
The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act came under intense criticism when it came into effect last week, including from Harry Potter author JK Rowling.
While stirring up racial hatred was already a crime, the new laws extended this protection to other people on the grounds of age, disability, religion, sexual orientation and transgender identity.
Scottish Justice Secretary Angela Constance said the 240 hate crimes recorded have shown why the legislation is “required”.
A spokesperson for Police Scotland said: “This data highlights the substantial increase in the number of online hate reports being received since April 1.
“This significant demand continues to be managed within our contact centres and, so far, the impact on frontline policing, our ability to answer calls and respond to those who need our help in communities across Scotland has been minimal.
“All complaints received are reviewed by officers, supported by dedicated hate crime advisers, and dealt with appropriately, whether that is being progressed for further assessment, or closed as they do not meet the criteria under the legislation”.
