The Scottish government has decided not to go ahead with amendments to hate crime laws to incorporate protection for lesbians, gay men and the disabled. The decision has drawn much criticism, as the government promised to make the changes and has broken its word. The betrayal only came to light when Labour MP Susan Deacon put a direct question to Johann Lamon, the Scottish Deputy Justice Minister, who replied: “We gave careful consideration to the working group’s recommendation and concluded the creation of a further statutory offence would work against our wider objective of improving consistency in sentencing.” That has [...]