David Kennedy

More than 1,000 hate crime complaints have been made to police every day on average since Scotland's controversial new law was introduced on April Fool's Day. Only a tiny fraction of the reports swamping police officers on an average day are actionable, with just 3 per cent recorded as crimes. The 'vast majority' of more than 7,000 complaints made in the Hate Crime Act's first week of operation were made anonymously. It has fuelled concerns that the floodgates have opened to a surge in vexatious grievances after only 240 were investigated as crimes. Senior officers had warned activists would seize on the law to pursue their own agendas, targeting public figures such as JK Rowling for their critical views on transgender issues.

Since being introduced on Monday, David Kennedy, Scotland's police chief, has been scathingly critical of Humza Yousaf's shambolic hate crime legislation. He had described it as a "disaster," while Harry Potter author and gender-critical activist JK Rowling has also led the backlash against the First Minister's 'authoritarian' law. Mr Kennedy wrote to The Sunday Times: "The number of reports that have resulted in real hate crime probes is very low." "I believe that only about 11% of these reports are progressing into real hate crime investigations." It comes after the Mail revealed on Sunday that almost 8,000 calls had been received in Scotland since the introduction of hate crime legislation.

Following the introduction of Humza Yousaf's shambolic hate crime policy, The Mail revealed on Sunday that almost 8,000 police reports have been overwhelmed following the introduction of Humza Yousaf's shambolic hate crime legislation. Following the Old Firm's derby today, control room officers are fighting to stay on top of the backlog, which is roughly one complaint per minute, and are now ready for thousands more reports. 'It's a disaster, and police officers are flooded with complaints under a slew of calls,' said David Kennedy, the Scottish Police Federation's general secretary (SPF).'