Murdo Fraser MSP has hit out at Police Scotland and accused them of “wasting their time and public money” on investigating non-hate crimes following the release of damning data on the issue.
Statistics supplied by Police Scotland to the Scottish Conservatives through Freedom of Information show that there was a total of 193 counts of non-hate crimes in Mid Scotland and Fife recorded between January 1, 2023, and May 31, 2025.
Despite the Metropolitan Police recently stating they would no longer be investigating non-crime hate incidents (NCHI) after the Irish writer and director Graham Linehan was arrested at Heathrow Airport in London by armed police officers following an allegation of a hate crime, Mr Fraser is dismayed that Police Scotland has not followed suit.
Commenting, Mr Fraser said: “This very useful data just highlights how ridiculous it is that Police Scotland are still wasting their valuable time investigating so-called non-hate crime incidents. Everyone knows that this wouldn’t happen if common sense prevailed.
“NCHIs are recorded where no crime has been committed but, in the perception of a complainant, a hate incident has taken place.
“I have a personal involvement in the fight against non-hate crime incidents. I am now nearly two years into an ongoing battle with Police Scotland over a recording of an NCHI in relation to a social media post I made, where I shared an article from fellow columnist, Susan Dalgety, which criticised Scottish Government gender policy in producing a ‘non-binary action plan.’
“With the help of the Free Speech Union (FSU), who have also been backing Graham Linehan, I challenged Police Scotland in relation to the lawfulness of the policy. With the assistance of lawyers funded by the FSU we took the matter to the Police Investigation and Review Commissioner who upheld my complaints on all three grounds and referred the matter back to Police Scotland for a satisfactory response.
“That was in March this year, with the force being given two months to respond. They are now five months overdue in dealing with the matter.”
Mr Fraser continued: “These damning figures on the counts of non-crime hate incidents in Mid Scotland and Fife are seriously alarming. Surely it is time for Police Scotland to ditch investigating them. It does not reflect well on their leadership that they are still looking into NCHIs, and I am sure many people feel the same as me in saying perhaps it is time for someone new at the helm of Police Scotland.”
The data supplied in the Freedom of Information request from Police Scotland showed that there was a total of 95 NCHIs in Mid Scotland and Fife in 2023; 69 in 2024 and 29 up to May 31 this year.
Police Scotland has confirmed that all records relating to non-crime hate incidents were extracted from the Interim Vulnerable Persons Database (iVPD).
