The Scottish Parliament has voted through SNP legislation which creates a new criminal offence of “stirring up hatred”. This offence can be applied to conversations that take place in private homes as well as the public sphere.

IEA Head of Cultural Affairs Marc Glendening fiercely criticised the legislation saying: “The passing of the Scottish government’s Hate Crime Bill is a betrayal of the liberal ideals of the Scottish enlightenment”. Glendening remarked that “the Scottish government is entering legal territory that no other supposedly democratic state has ever entertained”.

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