New draft guidelines issued by the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, will prioritise freedom of speech over taking offence in non-crime hate incidents if they pass Parliament.
The guidance, which will go before Parliament on Monday, aims to prevent police from “wrongly getting involved in lawful debate”.
Under the guidelines, police will only record non-crime hate incidents when it is “absolutely necessary and proportionate” and not “simply because someone is offended”.
Personal data will only be recorded for incidents “motivated by intentional hostility” and where there is a “real risk of significant harm”. Officers must have freedom of expression “at the forefront of their minds”.
Braverman expressed concern over reports of police wrongly getting involved in lawful debate in the country.
She said, “The new code will ensure the police are prioritising their efforts where it’s really needed and focusing on tackling serious crimes such as burglary, violent offences, rape and other sexual offences.”
The guidelines also state that the police will only record hate incidents that meet a “clear threshold”.
The Home Office released the guidelines under a section entitled “necessary considerations – proportionality, common-sense approach, and least intrusive method”, which references the case of ex-police officer Harry Miller.
Miller was visited at work by an officer from Humberside Police in January 2019 after a member of the public complained about his allegedly “transphobic” tweets.
The force recorded the complaint as a “non-crime hate incident”. Miller challenged both Humberside Police’s actions and the College of Policing’s guidance at the High Court, and the Court of Appeal ultimately found that the guidance breached his freedom of expression rights.
The guidelines say the court concluded that additional safeguards were needed to protect freedom of expression.
Crime, policing, and fire minister Chris Philp said that the guidelines create a “clear threshold” that must be met for hate incidents to be recorded.
Labour shadow policing minister Sarah Jones said that the Home Secretary is “trying to pick fights” instead of “providing serious solutions”.
She added, “The irony of the Government choosing this moment to emphasise freedom of expression will not be lost on anyone.”
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