Police Scotland apologises to Tory MSP Murdo Fraser over gender-critical social media post row

In 2023, Murdo Fraser MSP wrote on X that “choosing to identify as ‘non-binary’ is as valid as choosing to identify as a cat”. This was then reported to police by a member of the public and recorded as a non-crime hate incident.

In November that year Police Scotland said the comment “had a real capacity to negatively impact minority communities, in addition to having the potential to influence the actions of others”.

Police Scotland has now written to Mr Fraser admitting its guidelines were “not applied consistently” after he complained he was treated worse than JK Rowling and former first minister Humza Yousaf.

Several complaints were made to the police about Mr Yousaf after a speech he made in 2020 in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement where he said “99 per cent of the time” he was “the only non-white person” in the room during government meetings.

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Police Scotland took no action against JK Rowling after she posted pictures of 10 high-profile trans women on X, criticising them.

The force said it apologises “unreservedly” to the Mid Scotland and Fife MSP.

Mr Fraser told The Telegraph: “It was always clear to me that Police Scotland were not applying their policy on non-crime hate incidents in an even-handed fashion, and I had a particular concern that an opposition politician was being treated differently from the SNP first minister.

“I am pleased that this has now been accepted by Police Scotland and that an unreserved apology has been issued.”

However, he said he remains “concerned about the legality of Police Scotland’s policy towards recording non-crime hate incidents” as these are “based purely on the perception of the complainer”.

A non-crime hate incident is an incident which falls short of being criminal, but is still motivated by prejudice towards a protected characteristic.

Mr Fraser said his legal team is now considering whether any further action is required.

A spokesman for Police Scotland said: “Following receipt of the complaint handling review from the police investigations and review commissioner, the initial complaints have been reassessed and a response sent to the complainer.”