Home Secretary faces legal battle over ‘non-crime hate incidents’

The Home Secretary has been threatened with legal action if she forces police officers to record more ‘non-crime hate incidents’ (NCHIs).

Writing to Yvette Cooper, the Free Speech Union (FSU) warned her not to reverse the previous Government’s policy protecting freedom of expression, which told the police to only record incidents if they present “a real risk” of either “significant harm” or a “future criminal offence”.

Previously, guidance stated that when someone claims they have been a victim of hatred, officers must keep a record against the name of the accused person even where no crime was actually committed. No investigation of the claims was required.

‘Punishment’

FSU Founder and Director Toby Young estimated that around 250,000 NCHIs have been recorded over the last decade, but this has not prevented a recent surge in antisemitism.

In fact, he highlighted that “people are being punished” because NCHIs can show up on criminal record checks and prevent someone from getting a job.

According to figures from 30 of the 43 police forces in England and Wales, the number of NCHIs rose between June 2023 and 2024, despite officers being told to reduce recording. In Staffordshire, incidents rocketed by 140 per cent, followed by 65 per cent in North Yorkshire.

‘Terrifying’

Former police officer Harry Miller, who successfully challenged previous College of Policing guidance after his details were logged over a ‘transphobic’ tweet, joined calls against the proposals.

Speaking to The Times, he said: “The police have never been able to show that non-crime hate incidents have served any other purpose other than to terrify the public into silence. They’ve not helped solve a single crime.

“They serve purely as a chilling effect and what Yvette Cooper is doing is threatening to overturn a Court of Appeal ruling that said that the police were operating outside of our Article 10 rights” under the European Convention on Human Rights.

A Home Office spokesman stated: “We will carefully consider how best to protect individuals and communities from hate while also balancing the fundamental right to free speech, and ensuring the police can spend their time dealing with the issues that matter most to our communities.”

‘Divisive’

Last week, The Christian Institute’s Director Ciarán Kelly told The Daily Telegraph that Mrs Cooper’s ‘zero tolerance’ approach should “give pause to everyone who values free speech”, coming “hot on the heels of the scrapping of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act and calls to ‘toughen up’ the 2023 Online Safety Act”.

He said: “Hopefully we can all agree that hating others is wrong. But previous attempts to properly define ‘hatred’ have proven both elusive and divisive: just take a look at the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act. Such restrictions can come at great cost to freedom and do not deliver the benefits that are claimed for them.

“‘Something must be done’ is not a sound basis for clamping down on free speech”.