Scotland is getting a new, modern blasphemy code in the form of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act, which takes effect from 1 April. The offence of ‘stirring up racial hatred’ will be extended to disability, religion, sexual orientation, age, transgender identity and variations in sex characteristics. The new law gives few assurances … Read more
On The Spectator‘s The Edition podcast, Claire, William Moore and Ian Acheson discussed the potential disruption to Armistice Day proceedings in London and the problems of policing protest. Claire appears from 5 minutes in…
Law-making is a funny old business. My move from commentator to legislator has brought with it some poacher-turned-gamekeeper quandaries. While all laws emanate from political choices, unlike my usual stomping ground of activist speeches or polemical articles, there is a danger that legal mis-speaking might end up criminalising people. I feel the need to ask … Read more
“One of the trickiest challenges of being in politics is defending the rights of those we disagree with vehemently. That dilemma has never been truer than in deciding how to approach the Public Order Bill, now making its way through the House of Lords. How can I defend the right to protest when I have little sympathy for those … Read more
“The Tories clearly want to appear tough on crime but criminalising people who wish to vent their unhappiness in a democracy isn’t the way to do so. After all, if there is a crime crisis, it is surely because pre-existing laws aren’t being properly enforced. Coppers seem more interested in scouring Twitter for alleged hate speech … Read more
Writing in The Spectator, Claire takes issues with Boris Johnson’s comments about the miners’ strike… In March this year, 35 years to the month since the end of the miners’ strike, environmentalists were caught dressing up as miners. Their media stunt was intended to protest against a proposed expansion to the Bradley coal mine in … Read more
Is the new normal here to stay? For the sake of our parliamentary democracy, let’s hope not, writes Claire in The Spectator… At the very time when the Executive needed to be prodded, probed and interrogated over the hundreds of statutory instruments controlling every aspect of public life, Parliament was reduced to stultifying and formulaic set … Read more
Writing in The Spectator, Claire reflects on the current state of broadcast news… …It’s hardly a surprise then that many people are optimistic about the launch of GB News, a channel which aspires to have its finger on the public pulse and which seeks to feature a diverse range of opinion. Good. Indeed, one reason why the channel … Read more
“When Labour leadership challenger Jess Phillips urged men to ‘pass the mic’ to a woman on the top job, telling Sky’s Sophy Ridge it would ‘look bad’ if Labour failed to elect a woman, she more or less admitted not being up to the job. Surely the weakest argument any leadership candidate could use is … Read more
In the Spectator, Claire argues that it is up to the public to avoid being dragged into an over-simplistic ‘whose side are you on?’ row. Who needs statue topplers when the state will do it for you? Some bright spark in authority has decided the way to defend the statues on Parliament Square is to … Read more