JK Rowling dares police to arrest her as Scotland’s new hate crime laws come into force
JK Rowling has dared police to arrest her as the Harry Potter author lashed out against new hate crime laws that have come into force in Scotland
The new measures aim to tackle the harm caused by hatred and prejudice, extending protections from abusive behaviour to people on grounds including age, disability, religion, sexual orientation and transgender identity.
A Holyrood minister, Siobhian Brown MSP, said on Monday people “could be investigated” for misgendering someone online.
Those who support the new laws insist they will make Scotland more tolerant. But critics such as Rowling say the legislation could stifle free speech – and fails to extend these protections to women.
Rowling put out a series of comments on X lashing out against transgender women, including double rapist Isla Bryson, who was jailed for eight years last year for raping two women.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling has criticised the law. Pic: PA
The attacks were carried out in 2016 and 2019 when Bryson, who was born Adam Graham, was living as a man.
A decision to initially house Bryson in an all-female jail sparked a backlash from the public and politicians – and Bryson was moved to the male estate within days.
Rowling said: “I’m currently out of the country, but if what I’ve written here qualifies as an offence under the terms of the new act, I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment.”
New laws ‘open to abuse’
She said the new legislation “is wide open to abuse by activists who wish to silence those of us speaking out about the dangers of eliminating women’s and girls’ single-sex spaces, the nonsense made of crime data if violent and sexual assaults committed by men are recorded as female crimes, the grotesque unfairness of allowing males to compete in female sports, the injustice of women’s jobs, honours and opportunities being taken by trans-identified men, and the reality and immutability of biological sex”.
Rowling has long been involved in a battle with the transgender community, who accuses her of being transphobic. The author denies the accusation, saying she wants to defend women’s rights.
On Monday she went on to say: “The re-definition of ‘woman’ to include every man who declares himself one has already had serious consequences for women’s and girls’ rights and safety in Scotland, with the strongest impact felt, as ever, by the most vulnerable, including female prisoners and rape survivors.
“It is impossible to accurately describe or tackle the reality of violence and sexual violence committed against women and girls, or address the current assault on women’s and girls’ rights, unless we are allowed to call a man a man. Freedom of speech and belief are at an end in Scotland if the accurate description of biological sex is deemed criminal.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Scotland’s hate crime laws explained
‘Too much hatred’
The Scottish Government has said separate laws will be brought in specifically to tackle misogyny.
First Minister Humza Yousaf has defended the legislation, saying there has been a “rising tide of hatred against people because of their protected characteristics” in recent years.
“I’m very proud of the hate crime act,” he said, adding it will “protect people from hatred, while at the same time protecting people in terms protecting people in terms of their freedom of expression”.
Equivalent ‘stirring up’ offences within the new act have existed for racial hatred since the 1980s and will be “policed sensibly”, he said.
Ms Brown, the minister for victims and community safety, added: “Nobody in our society should live in fear and we are committed to building safer communities that live free from hatred and prejudice.
“We know that the impact on those on the receiving end of physical, verbal or online attacks can be traumatic and life-changing. This legislation is an essential element of our wider approach to tackling that harm.
“Protections for freedom of expression are built into the legislation passed by parliament and these new offences have a higher threshold for criminality than the long-standing offence of stirring up racial hatred, which has been in place since 1986.”
‘I’m not here because of hate today’
Meanwhile, protesters staged a demonstration outside Holyrood against the new laws.
As a large crowd gathered outside the Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh, one of the speakers led the protesters in a singalong of “why, oh why, oh Humza”.
Protesters outside Holyrood demonstrating against the new hate crime laws
One of the organisers, Stef Shaw, told Sky News there is “great cause for concern” over the new legislation.
Mr Shaw, also known as the Glasgow Cabbie, said: “This is based on perception of hatred and one person’s perception of hatred could be very different from another person’s.
Stef Shaw, known as the Glasgow Cabbie
“I see absolutely no positives to this act. It will cause major problems in Scotland.”
Elizabeth Richardson, right
Elizabeth Richardson, from Rosyth in Fife, said: “I’m not here because of hate today. I’m here for the love of Scotland and the passion that I feel about the love of our country.
“Women can’t speak up about how they feel about men in women’s spaces any longer.
“They aren’t thinking about the women and children. We are not going to be protected and we can’t speak out to protect anybody either.”
Midlothian councillor Pauline Winchester branded the new laws “ridiculous”.
Midlothian councillor Pauline Winchester
First Minister Humza Yousaf has previously stressed there will be a “triple lock” of protection for free speech.
This includes an explicit clause, a defence for the accused’s behaviour being “reasonable” and the fact the Act is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
In regards to being targeted with hate herself, Ms Winchester said: “I’m targeted quite often – English accent, Conservative councillor. I’m one of the targeted, so let’s see if it protects me as well.”
Pastor David Richardson, from East Kilbride in South Lanarkshire, said “free speech is going to be affected tremendously”.
Pastor David Richardson, centre
He added: “People are going to start being more quiet about just normal conversations and opinion.
“This is going to cramp everyone’s style, big style.”
A large crowd gathered outside the Scottish Parliament building
The pastor believes the new laws will affect everyone, not just Christians.
He added: “As the police start to try to apply this, it’s going to become very intrusive. This is going to be weaponised against people who want to speak their mind.”
A workman saved a seven-year-old boy from a burning car in the aftermath of a deadly crash caused by a suicidal ex-pilot, an inquest has heard.
The schoolboy’s rescue came following the collision on the M6, which killed former RAF man Richard Woods and four others, in October last year.
Last week a coroner ruled that Woods, 40, took his own life by deliberately driving his Skoda the wrong way down the motorway while drunk and hitting a Toyota Yaris head-on.
The driver of the Toyota, Jaroslaw Rossa, 42, was also killed, along with his two sons, Filip, 15, and Dominic, seven, and his partner Jade McEnroe, 33.
Cockermouth Coroner’s Court heard on Thursday that Ms McEnroe’s son was also in the car but survived after workman Gavin Walsh came to his rescue at the scene, which was near Tebay services in Cumbria.
In a statement to the inquest, Mr Walsh said he was a passenger in a transit van travelling to Scotland when he witnessed the crash.
He jumped out of the vehicle and used a jack to smash the rear windscreen of the Toyota and pulled the boy out of the burning vehicle.
Mr Walsh said: “We really did try, I can assure everyone we did our best. We only had minimal time.
“I saved a life that day and I hope never to witness anything like that again.”
He added that he has never stopped thinking about the boy, and said: “I hope we will meet again one day and I will give you a massive hug.”
At the time, the family were returning to Glasgow from a trip to Legoland in Windsor, Berkshire.
The inquest heard that Wood, who was travelling at a speed of at least 65mph, would have been charged with manslaughter had he survived.
Recording conclusions of unlawful killing, Cumbria assistant coroner Margaret Taylor said: “I found that Jaroslaw, Jade, Filip and Dominic died as a consequence of the unlawful acts of another driver.”
The inquest heard how Mr Woods, from Cambridgeshire, had served a distinguished 14-year career in the RAF and was a flight instructor for BAE Systems at the time of his death.
Jade McEnroe. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Dominic and Filip. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
In Ms Taylor’s record of inquest, Mr Woods was said to have been experiencing “a number of stressors in his life” and had a “history of harmful use of alcohol”.
Following the crash, he was found to be nearly four times over the legal drink-drive limit and a two-thirds empty bottle of gin was found in his car.
On the day of his death, concerns had been raised over his behaviour at a work conference near Preston in Lancashire.
Mr Woods failed to return to his seat after lunch and was later spotted driving erratically and swerving across three northbound carriageway lanes on the M6.
After pulling onto the hard shoulder, he then proceeded to U-turn and drove southward on lane three.
Filip, Dominic and Jaroslaw Rossa. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Detective Sergeant Deborah Story, from Cumbria Police, told the inquest that Mr Woods would have been prosecuted on four counts of manslaughter had he lived.
She said hypothetical charges of murder were considered by detectives but not thought appropriate because of a lack of information that Mr Woods knew the family or anything that provided a link between them.
Ms McEnroe’s parents, Marie McEnroe and George McNellis, told the coroner they thought it was “murder”.
Read more from Sky News:
Luton Airport expansion approved
Prince Harry responds to charity row
Appeal launched to help earthquake victims
A statement from the mother of Filip and Dominic, and the ex-wife of Mr Rossa, Kamila, was read out at the inquest.
She said Mr Rossa, known as Jarek, was born in Poland where they became a couple and went on to have three boys.
He loved playing computer games and had “lots of friends”, she said, and worked at the Wagamama restaurant in Silverburn, Glasgow.
She said she was “devastated” over the deaths, adding: “Our lives will never be the same.
“I am heartbroken at the passing of my beloved angels Filip and Dominic.”
Marie McEnroe said her daughter, a spa therapist, had been in a relationship with Mr Rossa for about two-and-a-half years.
She said Jade had been a “brilliant mother” to her only child, was “really happy” with Mr Rossa and it was “lovely chaos” when all the boys were playing together.
Ms McEnroe added: “Life changed forever that day”.
Ms Taylor praised the “selfless acts of bravery” from those in the aftermath of the collision, including Mr Walsh, who she said went towards the burning car “without hesitation for his own safety”.
The coroner added: “Without his swift response, Jade’s child would also have perished.”
Addressing the bereaved family members, she said: “Your loss is unimaginable but you have conducted yourself with dignity and I thank you for that. I wish you strength for the future.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports12 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway