WE’VE all been at dinner parties or family gatherings where things have got a bit raucous and bawdy and someone has said something inappropriate or a little bit offensive.
It is normally forgotten about in the morning though, with the offender issuing an apology and it is laughed off as one of those things.
We are all adults, after all, and we know what is acceptable and what is not.
But under the latest wheeze by the Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf, they could now be criminal offences under the controversial Hate Crime bill.
Mr Yousaf wants to remove the “dwelling” defence from the new legislation which means that what you say or do in your own home can now be prosecuted.
Not only that, he wants family and friends to effectively snitch on the offenders by reporting them to the police. After all, police can’t investigate a crime unless someone brings it to their attention.
Now there are cans of worms, and then there is this.
Despite promising to water down certain aspects of the bill, it is clear Mr Yousaf is intent on finding hate crime in every nook and cranny of Scotland, including your own dining table.
Now, if you appear for Christmas lunch and your mother is dressed in full Gestapo gear, your father is in Klu Klux Klan garb and your siblings try to recruit you to Al Qaeda then you would be justifiable in feeling a little bit concerned.
But most of us would probably just make our excuses and leave or have a quiet word with them rather than call the police.
Grandparents in particular could now be at serious risk as they are more likely to say inappropriate things the younger generation may find distasteful.
They’ve earned that right after all, and as long as it’s not inciting violence then they should be allowed to say what they like in their own homes without fear of a knock at the door from the police.
Most folk will rightly ignore the law but somewhere in a leafy suburb, a weird, woke cousin will probably take offence at Great Aunt Betty’s remark about letting single sex couples partner on Strictly and all hell will break loose when she’s carted off into custody.
At a time when the Government is extending its vice-like grip on our freedoms and we are told to prepare for a state-sanctioned digital Christmas, this latest assault on our basic rights is the most sinister of all and should be dropped.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel