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.”
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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.”
The King and Queen have arrived at St Paul’s Cathedral in central London for a service of dedication for the Order of the British Empire.
Established by King George V in 1917 to reward outstanding contributions to the war effort – it now recognises the work of people from all walks of life.
Pic: PA
Around 2,000 people who are holders of the royal honours such as MBEs and OBEs – from the UK and Commonwealth – formed part of the congregation.
The King is the Sovereign of the Order of the British Empire, and the Queen is the Grand Master of the Order of the British Empire.
Pic: PA
It comes after the King carried out his first investiture in five months – and his first since his cancer diagnosis – at Windsor Castle yesterday.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who conducted the service for the coronation, was one of the 52 recipients of an investiture – and was given the Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order.
Awards of the Royal Victorian Order are in the King’s gift and are bestowed independently of Downing Street to people who have served the monarch or the Royal Family in a personal way.
He said the King seemed in “very good spirits indeed” and was “looking very well” as they spoke during the ceremony.
The monarch, who is receiving treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer, was given permission by his doctors to return to public duties last month.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Dean of Westminster Abbey Dr David Hoyle was among the other people honoured at the ceremony, as he was made a Knight Commander for his own role in the coronation.
He revealed there were plans for a building in the King’s honour to be built on the side of Westminster Abbey.
“We have already done the archaeology, so the site is prepared. We have plans which the King has seen. We hope we might have it built in the next two to three years,” he said.
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The King has invested a handful of people with honours over the past few months.
However, these ceremonies took place in private during individual audiences at royal residences.
UK
‘If I go, I know they will detain me’: Asylum seekers consider skipping Home Office meetings over Rwanda fears
In June 2022, Kidus, 30, from Eritrea, came to the UK in a small boat with around two dozen other people.
He still has the video on his phone showing everyone – including some women and children – clinging on to the dinghy wearing identical red lifejackets.
Back then, the government had already announced plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Despite being sent a letter warning he’s being considered for removal, he’s never thought it could really happen until now.
Kidus – not his real name – says before he left France, one of the people smugglers reassured him the government wouldn’t go through with it: the Rwanda policy simply wouldn’t affect him.
But earlier this month, one of his friends from Eritrea, who was on the same boat across the Channel, was detained when attending a routine appointment with the Home Office at a site in Liverpool.
As a result, Kidus is now considering not going to his next fortnightly meeting, even though attending the appointments is a condition of his immigration bail.
“If I didn’t go there, I know they’ll drop my case,” he tells us, concerned his asylum application will be cancelled.
But he adds: “If I go I know they will detain me. So, I’m just confused what I’m going to do.”
Kidus says he fears being deported to Rwanda
A document drawn up by Home Office officials revealed only 2,143 of the 5,700 asylum seekers Rwanda has agreed to accept actually attend check-ins and “can be located for detention”.
If people like Kidus stop attending, they will join the remaining 3,557 migrants who are currently missing.
The shared house Kidus lives in is paid for by the Home Office – so his address makes it almost impossible to disappear. But this means he knows he could be detained at any time.
“I’m always just frightened here. So, they might come at night or day and I’m always thinking that they’ll come and they’ll take me to detention. I’m not feeling safe here,” he says.
Kidus has stopped attending college where he was learning English and carries the phone numbers of legal firms with him at all times.
He speaks to his friend on the phone – who is now being held in a detention centre near Heathrow.
Nahom, not his real name, 26, estimates he’s among around 40 asylum seekers there who’ve been told they’ll be sent to Rwanda.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
“It’s like a nightmare, it’s like a prison and I don’t like it here. I’m really stressed and panicked about the situation,” Nahom tells us from the site almost 100 miles away.
He admits he has been able to meet his solicitor but says he’s feeling increasingly desperate about being faced with the prospect of being sent to Rwanda.
“They can send my body, but not me alive,” he says. “I’m just giving up.”
In west London, we meet Nura, in her 20s, whose real name is withheld and who has made the decision to keep attending meetings with the Home Office because she doesn’t want to be kicked out of her taxpayer-funded hotel.
Nura says she will keep going to the appointments
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But each time she goes to sign in she’s terrified of being detained.
“Sometimes I say ‘why me’?” she asks tearfully, looking at her “notice of intent” letter warning her she’s being considered for removal to Rwanda.
“It’s not a safe country,” she adds. “What is the difference from Eritrea? It’s the same.”
Nura says when she came to the UK by small boat, she believed women wouldn’t be sent to Rwanda. She says she wouldn’t have come if she’d known she was at risk.
The notice of intent letter
Kidus says the same thing: “If I’d have known this I’d have never come here.” He added he’d have instead gone to “Belgium or France, or Germany maybe”.
Now they’re here, their only hope is they won’t be chosen for detention.
The government remains determined to get the first flights to Rwanda within weeks.
Ahead of a general election, the plan has become a clear dividing line between the Conservatives and Labour, which has vowed to scrap the scheme if it comes to power.
Teachers in English schools will not be allowed to teach children that they can change their gender identity, according to reports.
Age limits are also set to be imposed for the first time on when children can be taught sex education.
The Times reports that education ministers will warn schools in England today that gender identity is “highly contested” and that teaching the issue could have “damaging implications”.
If asked, school staff should teach the “biological facts” about sex, the government will say, The Times adds.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has become concerned gender identity is becoming “embedded” in schools as an uncontested fact, the newspaper says.
Under other proposals, schools will be told not to teach children any form of sex education until year 5, when pupils are aged nine.
The plans will also rule out any explicit conversations about sex until the age of 13, The Times report also says.
Thirteen would also be the age threshold for pupils to be taught about contraception, sexually transmitted infections, and abortion.
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The new guidance is reportedly part of the government’s response to concerns children are receiving age-inappropriate relationships, sex and health education (RSHE).
Schools will reportedly be required to provide parents with samples of the material their children will be taught.
RSHE became compulsory in all English schools in September 2020.
The existing guidance outlines broad lesson modules, stating primary school children should be taught about alternative types of families and healthy relationships.
Secondary-school-aged children are taught more complex topics, including puberty, sexual relationships, consent, unsafe relationships, and online harms.
The Department for Education said it could not confirm the newspaper reports, and that it would not speculate on leaks.
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