Labour’s backwards steps on free speech

Free speech advocates like me need to stop talking about the meagre gains we made under the last government because the present one seems to be listening carefully, taking notes, then gleefully reversing each one. First it torpedoed the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act. Then it threatened to put the ‘legal but harmful’ stuff back into the Online Safety Act. Now, Yvette Cooper has said trying to get the police to record fewer ‘non-crime hate incidents’ (NCHIs) was a dreadful mistake.

A non-crime hate incident was recorded against a man for whistling the Bob the Builder tune

To grasp just how potty this is, you need to understand what an NCHI is. Dreamt up by the College of Policing in 2014, it’s defined as an aggressive act that’s perceived by the victim or any other person to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards them because of their disability, race, religion, sexual orientation or transgender identity (or because the perpetrator imagines them to have one of these protected characteristics), but which isn’t a criminal offence. According to the College, such acts should always be recorded as NCHIs, even if there’s zero evidence that the perp was in fact motivated by hatred. The perception of the victim, or indeed a third party, is all that matters.

Presumably, the College’s rationale for saying no evidence of hatred is required is because there’s no risk that the aggressor is going to be prosecuted – it’s a ‘non-crime’ after all. But having an NCHI recorded against your name has serious consequences, because it can show up in an enhanced criminal record check and prevent you getting a job as a teacher or a carer.