Responding to tweets should not be a top priority for police, the Prime Minister said, and forces should “focus on what matters most to the community”. Essex Police are investigating Telegraph columnist Alison Pearson for allegedly inciting racial hatred. A message from X labeling protesters as “Jew haters.”
Keir Starmer said he would defend the right of police to make operational decisions and said they would be “held” to account.
Mr Pearson's comments come amid a heated debate over freedom of speech after police visited his home over long-deleted social media posts and claimed he was being “charged with a non-criminal hate incident”. comments were made. ” Over the summer, many people who supported far-right mobs were arrested and charged with sending tweets deemed inflammatory.
Mr Starmer told reporters on his way to the Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro: “First of all, obviously this is a matter of the police themselves, the police by the police. So they can't make their own decisions. , of course they will be held accountable for their decisions.
“While this particular aspect is being reviewed, I think as a general principle police should focus on what is most important to the community.”
Essex Police say they are working with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) as part of a criminal investigation into tweets that were allegedly posted and later deleted in response to protests following Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel. did.
Last week, Ms Pearson was asked by police officers to attend a voluntary interview on suspicion of a non-criminal hate incident (NCHI) and refused to reveal the allegedly offensive tweets or details of her accuser. said. She tweeted over the weekend that the force had “upgraded the charge from a non-criminal hate incident to a crime under the Public Order Act.”
The Guardian reports that the tweets being investigated include images of two men of color and an officer from Greater Manchester Police holding flags of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the political party founded by Imran Khan. It is said to have been published.
Pearson is said to have written the following post targeting the Metropolitan Police. On Saturday, I was invited to have a photo taken with my lovely, peaceful British friends in Israel, but the police refused. Look at this bunch of people smiling along with the Jew haters. The Guardian reported that Pearson appeared to have confused the flag with the flag of Hamas and associated police forces.
Essex Police claim Pearson was not informed at the time of the investigation that this was a non-criminal NCHI charge. The group said in a statement: “As a reminder, a complaint regarding a possible criminal offense has been lodged with the police and I have contacted the police to arrange an interview.'' Regarding the “alleged offense'', the CPS I am in contact with. The CPS regularly provides early investigation advice to the police, separate from the police's request for a charging decision.
In an unusual move, the force released a transcript of part of the conversation the officer allegedly had with Pearson, taken from body-worn video footage, in which the officer told Pearson: Ta. Online racial hatred. That would be a violation. ” The force also lodged a separate complaint with media standards watchdog Ipso about false reporting.
In Saturday's post of X, Pearson wrote“1. I am not a racist. 2. I have not posted any racist Tweets. 3. My Tweets do not incite violence against any protected characteristic.'' No. 4. My perfectly innocuous tweet was deleted a year ago. 5. A senior lawyer says my tweet “doesn't meet the criteria for criminal prosecution.” 6. However, Essex Police upgraded the charge from a non-criminal hate incident to an offense under the Public Order Act. why? “
Tagging X's owner Elon Musk, she continued: In my opinion, it's very evil, horrifying nonsense, and completely disproportionate police overreach. ”
Essex Police say the investigation is suspicious of criminal offences, but the incident has sparked intense debate over the NCHI and police response to social media posts.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philip told the BBC's Sunday program Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that the rules governing the NCHI must be “substantially amended” and that police should “focus on criminal investigations”. That's what he said. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch previously told the Telegraph that hate crime laws needed to be reviewed to protect free speech.
