Don’t believe the conspiracy theories, recording non-crime hate incidents is vital to effective policing, says Sam Fowles
I’m constantly amazed by how so many people without “free speech” manage to get their views on the front page of the Telegraph. Getting “cancelled” seems to almost guarantee a national platform.
This week’s “threat” is “non-crime hate incidents” (NCHI). A report from Policy Exchange claims they “distract” police from “fighting crime” and “chill” freedom of speech. One might be forgiven for thinking that police are logging the intimate details of everyone who makes an off-colour joke. In fact, police can only record personal data where the event “presents a real risk of serious harm to individuals”. Critiques of NCHI are often based on largely made up stories. One front page claimed, “Dodgy haircut is a hate crime”. In reality, the report concerned aggressive behaviour towards a man because he spoke Russian. Attacks on Russian speakers have more than doubled since 2021 (with the primary victims being children).
Recording NCHI is vital to effective policing. They were introduced based on the recommendations of the McPherson Report into the murder of Stephen Lawrence. They ensure police are aware of the spread of racist and other hateful ideas so they can better allocate resources to respond to the crimes that follow. The summer’s riots show how quickly racist conspiracy theories can spawn violence.
Free speech under attack?
Why, then, are a host of politicians, journalists, and think tanks against measures which prevent racist violence? Because conspiracy theories make good politics. Portraying NCHI a sinister plot to suppress the rights of good hardworking (read white, straight and cis) Brits is a great way for politicians, with no real ideas about how to improve citizens’ lives, to generate the sort of angry, alienated, base which votes for the candidate who promises to persecute minorities the most.
The Allison Pearson NCHI “scandal” provides a great example of how to fuel those sort of conspiracy theories. Pearson claimed police accused her of a NCHI. Yet the Guardian reports that she was investigated for “stirring up racial hatred” – illegal since 1991.
Before the record was corrected, however, the Telegraph, tabloids, and even Radio 4 ran more than 177 articles hysterically bemoaning NCHI (against 38 in the preceding six months). Kemi Badenoch jumped on the bandwagon, falsely claiming that NCHI reports have “increased exponentially” (records have roughly halved since 2014) and that “free speech is under attack”. Essex police ultimately dropped its investigation. One wonders whether it would have done so had Pearson’s powerful friends not exerted such public pressure.
NCHI, as with all 20-year old policies, could probably benefit from some updating. But not like this. The UK is already riddled with conspiracy theories. Almost a third believe there are areas in cities, governed by sharia law, where non-Muslims cannot enter. The government’s response has been unjustifiably timid, offering weak platitudes rather than calling out the conspiracy theorists. Labour and sensible Conservatives need to put aside their fear of tabloid and online mobs, stop mumbling about fake threats to free speech, and address the very real threat of conspiracy theories.
Sam Fowles is a barrister