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 to be one of the most gaseous political statements to come from any UK minister, Scottish or otherwise, in quite some time. There’s simply no substance to the answer. It provides no real explanation as to why criminalising verbal and physical attacks on gay men, lesbians and the disabled would impact negatively on anything or anyone other than those lowlifes who believe it okay to call other people names, punch, kick, knife, beat, shoot, torture and kill them for being who they are.

Tim Hopkins of the Equality Network had this to say:

“This sends out completely the wrong message – it says the executive is not concerned about homophobic and disability-related crime. The four areas of hate crime – race, religion, sexual orientation and disability – are the areas where research shows a small number of perpetrators who target a large number of victims.”

I couldn’t put it better myself. The Scottish government does not wish to extend protection and rights to all its citizens.

This latest revelation should give pause for thought to those who believe gay people have achieved full equality. It isn’t true. The decision of the Scottish government should upset anyone of a decent disposition who believes every member of society, every human being, deserves equal treatment and opportunities. No matter whether we like them, agree with them or take issue with their lifestyles or opinions.

You can read more about this news story here, here and here.