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.