Tories push to ban recording of non-crime hate incidents
NCHIs are defined as alleged acts perceived to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards people with certain characteristics, such as race or gender.They are recorded to collect data on "hate incidents that could escalate into more serious harm" but do not amount to a criminal offence, according to Home Office guidance.Police guidance on the recording of NCHIs was first published in 2005, following recommendations by an inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence.Tuesday marks 33 years since he was murdered in a racially motivated attack in south-east London.The Tories said it was not intentional that their announcement came on the anniversary. NCHIs are not recorded nationally by a single source and not all police forces publish data on the number of incidents they log.Last year, the Telegraph newspaper reported that 43 forces in England and Wales had recorded more than 133,000 non-crime hate incidents (NCHI) since 2014.In 2023, the Conservative government changed the guidance on the recording of NCHIs.The new guidelines said officers should consider whether a complaint was "trivial" or if the incident was motivated by "intentional hostility or prejudice".
At the time, shadow home secretary Chris Philp was policing minister and in a statement to MPs, he said: "If someone is targeted because of hostility or prejudice towards their race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or transgender identity, and the criteria in the code are met, the incident can and should be recorded as a non-crime hate incident."But the Conservatives under Badenoch's leadership are saying the "use of NCHIs has spiralled out of control".The party said under its plans, only senior officers would be allowed to record NCHIs in clearly defined circumstances, such as the prevention or investigation or actual crimes."The British public want police on the streets - fighting crime and protecting families - not trawling social media for things someone might find offensive," Badenoch said.She said Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer needed to "stand up, show some courage, and back real policing over political correctness".Policing minister Diana Johnson said the Tories had "14 years in charge of policing to set priorities or make policy changes in this area, and failed to do so".She added: "Instead of introducing unworkable and half-baked measures which would prevent the police monitoring serious antisemitism and other racist incidents, the Tories should support the Labour government's prioritisation of neighbourhood policing and serious violence."A Reform UK spokesman said: "The Tories had 14 years in government to do this, instead we saw non-crime hate incidents surge under their watch."Reform are clear, we want to get more bobbies on the beat and put an end to two-tier policing in Britain. Police forces across the country should be focussed on solving real crimes, not policing social media posts."The BBC has approached the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party for comment.
Policing and crime are among the issues political parties have been campaigning on ahead of next week's local elections in England.In an interview with the BBC, Badenoch said the Tories were bracing for a tough set of results.She defended her leadership of the Conservatives and insisted she would not be swayed by internal criticism about the amount of policy she had announced so far."It's really important that we take time to get things right - rebuild trust with the public and have a credible offer," Badenoch said.
POSTCODE LOOKUP: Check if there is an election in your areaSIMPLE GUIDE: Everything you need to know about the local electionsGET IN TOUCH: Tell us the election issues that matter to youFULL COVERAGE: Catch up on all our election stories
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
36 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Mental health crisis is overblown, say public
The mental health crisis is overblown and people often exaggerate their problems, according to a poll of public beliefs. More than half (56 per cent) of the public believe mental health conditions are exaggerated, while three quarters (76 per cent) think some people mistake life's normal ups and downs for mental illness, according to the survey of more than 2,000 adults by Electoral Calculus. With the Government facing a backbench rebellion over its efforts to restrict welfare benefits, the survey also suggests that ministers – rather than their backbenchers – may have better judged the pulse of the nation. The poll showed more than half of voters (52 per cent) believed that it was too easy for people to claim benefits for mental health illnesses, against 35 per cent who thought it was too hard and 13 per cent who believed it was about right. Last month, Sir Keir Starmer was forced to back down on controversial plans to slash disability and sickness benefits after more than 120 of his MPs threatened to vote against the proposals. Although the public believe benefits are too readily available, they are evenly divided on whether it is too easy or too hard to prove a mental illness in the UK. Some 44 per cent said it was too easy, while 43 per cent said it was too hard. However, Tory and Reform supporters were more likely to believe it was too easy to be diagnosed as suffering from a mental health condition, with 74 per cent of Conservative voters and 55 per cent from Nigel Farage's party saying it was the case. It comes as the head of the Government's workplace review said that employees who have 'I hate my boss syndrome' should not be signed off sick with a mental health condition. Sir Charlie Mayfield said he was concerned some problems are being 'over-medicalised' when they could be solved in the office. The former John Lewis chairman has been appointed by Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, to come up with plans to stop workers leaving their jobs because of poor health. His report is due this autumn. One in five people of working age have a health condition that affects their job and there are 2.8 million people inactive due to ill health – up from 2.1 million since before the Covid pandemic, although the numbers had been rising for several years. Sir Charlie told The Sunday Times: 'The last thing I wish to do is trivialise [mental health conditions] but I agree that things do get over-medicalised.' Half of those polled (49 per cent) agreed that society spends too much time talking about minor mental illnesses. This rose to 77 per cent of Conservatives and 62 per cent of Reform supporters compared with just 35 per cent of Labour voters. Three quarters (74 per cent) said that social media often led to people thinking they had a mental illness when they did not. However, despite the scepticism about 'over medicalisation' of mental ill health, the public believe by five to one majority (68 per cent to 14 per cent) that there were not enough services available to meet the needs of people suffering from mental health problems. Eight in 10 people believed that mental illness had been stigmatised for too long and that it was healthy for people to talk about it more. Seven in 10 also felt that people with serious mental illness are losing out because of the attention given to the growing numbers of people saying they have less serious mental illness. Martin Baxter, the chief executive of Electoral Calculus, said: 'The public shows strong support for tackling stigma and being open about mental health, yet many worry that everyday challenges are being labelled as mental illness, risking the needs of those with serious conditions being overlooked. 'Mental health policy looks set to become a key political battleground, and these findings suggest that politicians will need to tread carefully as they respond to growing public scepticism and a system that most feel isn't working.'
Telegraph
37 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Police use spit hoods on suspects once an hour
Police officers are using spit hoods to defend themselves in potentially violent situations once every hour, new figures have shown. The mesh fabric hoods are placed over a suspect's head to prevent them from spitting or biting when arrested or in custody. Figures show that they were used 26,4000 times over three years and that their use is increasing each year. Official data showing the use of spit hoods between 2021 and 2024 has been released by the Home Office, following a House of Lords written question by Lord Palter of Spalding. In 2021-22, they were used by police 8,281 times, in 2022/23 it was 8,275 and in 2023-24, it was 9,844. On average, that is 8,800 each year, which breaks down to 24 times a day. The Metropolitan Police had the highest number with 4,503 over the three years, Greater Manchester Police with 1,951 and West Midlands Police using 1,875. Critics of the tactic have voiced concerns that spit hoods can be dangerous, potentially leading to suffocation or distress, and that they can mirror a waterboarding effect. Two serving Metropolitan Police officers and a former officer are facing a gross misconduct hearing after a 90-year-old black woman with dementia was 'red-dotted' with a Taser, handcuffed and put in a spit hood. The woman was targeted with the Taser when she refused to drop kitchen utensils she had been holding after officers were called to an address in Peckham, south London, in May this year over reports of a disturbance. Officers approached the woman who spat in the direction of some officers. She was physically detained and placed in handcuffs and then a spit hood was applied, but she was not arrested. Ambulance staff attended and the woman was taken to hospital still in the handcuffs and spit hood. These were later removed at the hospital. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is now investigating the police officers' actions. Steve Noonan, the IOPC director, said: 'We are concerned by some of the actions and decision-making of police officers involved in the detention of this elderly and vulnerable lady, and we recognise this incident has also caused community concern. 'It's important that an independent investigation takes place to establish the full circumstances.' But officers have defended their use of spit hoods. Peter Bleksley, a retired Metropolitan Police detective, said: 'This is the shocking reality of policing in 2025. If there's a risk of an officer being spat on, I'd say put the hood on. ' Violence against police is out of control. It needs a proper crackdown. The use of these hoods is a clear sign it is not acceptable in any form.' 'Put yourselves in the shoes of the officers' He added: 'It's a horrific thing to have to go through. Anyone who does not believe me, I'd say put yourselves in the shoes of the officers it is happening to. 'They are there for a reason. Anyone making the human rights argument, what's humane about being spat on? It's a disgraceful act.' One officer from Kent, who did not want to be named, said: 'It's becoming an increasing problem. There is more reporting of it now. 'No police officer wants to have to use them. But if we're being spat on, we have to. It's also about controlling what could be an unfolding violent situation and not making it worse.'
The Herald Scotland
37 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
How not to be a politician's wife, from someone who knows
'Tell your dad that if he doesn't do (an unspecified act) he won't live to see you turn 19.' Ms Vine was married at this point to the former Conservative Cabinet Minister and top Brexiter Michael Gove. Towards the end of her new book How Not to be a Political Wife, she recounts another incident. This was when police told her that both she and Mr Gove had been primary targets for Ali Harbi Ali, the Islamist extremist who had murdered the Conservative MP, David Amess in 2021. Analysis of his phone revealed he'd been stalking both of them on their daily routines for a week before targeting Mr Amess. I wouldn't previously have considered interviewing Sarah Vine. For starters, she's the star columnist on another newspaper, the Daily Mail. She also belonged to the fabled Notting Hill set, whose gilded existence in the orbit of David and Samantha Cameron in the early 2000s was from a distant galaxy, not far enough away. I'd been irked though, by a piously dismissive account of her book in a left-wing magazine which lacked professional respect. Ms Vine is routinely voted Columnist of the Year in the UK press awards. And besides, when all of next year's books are published to mark the 10th anniversary of Brexit, hers can be regarded as an essential part of its first draft. Few will convey the human drama of this one. She was married to Brexit; she lived in it; she fed and watered it and – in the end – it mangled her and spat her out. We meet in Kensington, a beautiful part of my second favourite city where the houses fetch prices that would choke the economies of small states. The hidden drama of Brexit and the toll it exacted of Sarah Vine's life and marriage unravelled in these avenues and alleyways. I suggest that some of this is rooted in how women are treated in the political world and especially those who are considered to be right-wing. 'One of the points I try to make is about the process of dehumanisation and about not being seen as a real person. I write for the Mail and was married to a Tory. In some people's eyes, that means my opinion doesn't count.' Ms Vine has worked in every cranny and crevice of the old print media production churn: fetching and carrying; sub-editing and commissioning. She's time-served. 'The people who hate you the most are often those who haven't read anything you've written,' she says. 'I wanted to reclaim my own narrative a little. Women who identify to the right in politics do seem to experience an extra layer of sexism. Women are much less confrontational than men. Most of my female friends are either Labour or Lib-Dem. 'Many aren't as interested in politics as men. And so, the path of least resistance is to be a kind leftie because they're the ones who want to help people and to build an equal society. 'If you're to the right, people say: 'What's wrong with you? You're meant to be nice and kind and nurturing. It goes back to Margaret Thatcher, I think. For all that she was talented and a memorable politician, she had a reputation for being cruel. People couldn't understand how she seemed able to set aside the human collateral of her policies.' (Image: PAUL STUART) As one of the Notting Hill set, she describes a gilded world of dinner parties spent with a privileged cast of boulevardiers who were either running the country or awaiting their turn. From up here, it looked exhausting, like having to run up a down elevator. 'It really was,' she says. 'These were fabulously intelligent and charismatic people who were at the centre of influence and making a difference. It was very full-on. The constant of round of dinner parties, though I like cooking, which helped. Plus, I was a social person. It was at a time when you have small children and you're accustomed to running around and when you have the energy and the ambition to do so. 'There was a sense too of being in it together. Life is about finding your tribe, isn't it? And I felt I had my tribe. And then I lost my tribe and became isolated.' It was on Brexit's threshing floor where her existence at the Tories' high table began to fade. This was when her husband, Michael Gove enraged the Camerons and their acolytes by signalling he'd be joining the Brexit camp. It was only then that they both learned what happens when those who are considered low-born refuse to yield to the aristocrats who pull the levers of Toryism. Read more: Kevin McKenna: 'This is the most Scottish moment in my entire life' Kevin McKenna: A glimpse into the darkness at the heart of the Scottish Government Kevin McKenna: Fake liberals wage war on Scotland's poorest and most vulnerable folk Kevin McKenna: Sorry Mr Swinney, this isn't Full-on John. This is John of the Dead Though she and Mr Gove are now divorced, she speaks about him fondly and you sense that she'll always love him. Whenever events call for criticism of him, she leavens it with fond mitigations. Nor does she spare herself. Like other elegant and handsome women, she talks about her perceived physical flaws: hair loss; weight issues. Men, even in our moth-eaten decrepitude, just sally forth regardless. There's very little bitterness in her book, nor in our conversation. What little there is though, is reserved for the Tory aristocracy. 'I don't have any natural class instincts,' she says. 'I grew up in Italy, which has no class system. I didn't understand the British class system. I don't understand how someone can be considered better if they have a large house and not a smaller one. I'm a journalist and journalism is the ultimate outsider's profession. You can't be obsessed with status and deference. 'I consider myself to be Eurotrash, basically I grew up round Europe. (Her parents had moved to Italy when she was a child). Michael though, comes from a Presbyterian, Aberdonian fishing community and with all the rectitude that comes with this. He had transcended that by going to Oxford. 'That's why he felt education was so important. His way to a different place was via education. It's not that he was living in squalor: he had a lovely upbringing. At Oxford though, he experienced a melting-pot where you had the children of baronets and the children of fishermen. 'When Michael became Lord Chancellor and in charge of prisons, he saw this as an extension of his mission to improve the lives of those less fortunate. That, if you've missed people the first time round and they'd fallen through the cracks in education and end up in jail,society can still offer them second chances. 'If he'd stayed there, he'd have done great work.' Then came the Brexit referendum in 2016 when David Cameron, pumped up with adrenalin on securing victory in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, made the biggest political misjudgment in modern British history since the Suez crisis. In calling for a referendum on Europe, he staked his career and the future of the Tories. And, having set the stakes so high, he had a patrician expectation of absolute loyalty from his friends. There was no room for sincerely-held beliefs. Within the close-knit Notting Hill set, her friendship with Sam Cameron was tighter still: a scared thing as close friendships are. Brexit took its toll on that too and she mourns its passing as intensely as the end of her marriage. She is godmother to one of the Camerons' children. She recalls a moment in a lift with David Cameron not long after Michael Gove, a career-long Euro-sceptic, has become a lead Brexiteer. 'You have to get your husband off the airwaves,' Mr Cameron hissed at her. 'You have to get him under control. For f**k sake, Sarah, I'm fighting for my political life here. This was followed by an emotional public outburst to the same effect by Sam Cameron'. It signalled the end of a friendship Ms Vine mistakenly believed had proceeded on an equal basis. It was a moment of truth for her. 'It was the realisation that they genuinely believed that they were much more important than us. I don't think it's intentional by their tribe. It's just how they're raised. If you're from a working-class background, or a middle class one, everyone tells you that you need to prove yourself; to justify your existence; to sink or swim. To work hard if you want to make your way in the world. If you come from their background, all you experience is deference.' This may be so, but Ms Vine also reveals in her book that in this world there exist aftershaves called Penhaligon's English Fern and Blenheim Bouquet. I want them, just so that I can say their names out loud if anyone asks me. How Not to be a Political Wife by Sarah Vine (HarperElement £20)
