The Home Office has launched a review into how police record non-crime hate incidents after journalist Allison Pearson was visited by two officers on Sunday.
Sir Keir Starmer's official spokesman said it was important that police record non-crime hate incidents where "proportionate and necessary" to help prevent serious crimes that could result from them at a later date.
However, the Home Office is now conducting a review into the current guidance on recording non-crime hate incidents to protect people's right to free speech and not divert police attention away from other offences.
The Prime Minister's spokesman said: “It’s important that the police can capture data relating to non-crime hate incidents where it is proportionate and necessary to do so to help prevent serious crimes which may later occur.”
He added: “The Home Office is looking at how to do this whilst also balancing the fundamental right of free speech, and ensuring that the police can spend their time dealing with the issues that matter most to our communities.”
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Reform UK bigwigs hit out at police over "wet wokery" following Pearson fallout
Criticising the "wet wokery" of the police, Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice said: "More disgrace by leaders of Essex Police, over Allison Pearson farce.
"Now they’re whining to Ipso about press criticism, because they want to suppress complaints. Just focus on actual crime: theft, rape, drugs, knives etc not online wet wokery."
Former Reform Chairman Ben Habib added: "Delighted to see the widespread support for Allison Pearson today.
"She is a free speech and pro-British warrior. They come for her, they come for us all."
Reeves faces farmer threat to blockade "every road in Britain"
The Labour Chancellor has faced a threat from British farmers that their tractors could "block every road in Britain" if the Government does not change the rules regarding inheritance tax.
Thousands of protesters are expected on Tuesday at Parliament Square to express their fury following Reeves' Budget that will impose a 20 per cent tax on farming assets worth over £1million.
Farmers - who are organising a mass rally in the heart of Westminster next week - have informed ministers that more extreme groups will not hesitate to adopt direct action tactics if Labour continues to ignore their voices.
Founder of The Farming Forum - and one of the organisers of next week’s march - Clive Bailye said: "If Tuesday doesn’t work then the Government will have picked a fight with the wrong group of people.
"Farmers have lots of vehicles and equipment and if they wanted they could shut down every road in Britain.
"That could be their next move if there’s no shift by the Government – people who feel they have nothing to lose will do anything. We don’t want to do that, but there are those who will."
However, farming minister Daniel Zeichner has said that Rachel Reeves would stand by her Budget - which has detailed plans of an inheritance tax raid on British agricultural workers.
Humza Yousaf accuses Elon Musk of accessing his private messages to 'besmirch' his reputation
Humza Yousaf has accused Elon Musk of accessing his private messages in order to "besmirch" his reputation.
Yousaf claimed Musk "scours" the private communications of people he sees as a threat on his X social media platform - and also claimed he had "no doubt" the Tesla owner is racist.
The now-backbench MSP said he was "certain" that the tech tycoon "has a whole team of people who are now looking at any information they can gather on me and try to use it to besmirch my reputation".
Yousaf also claimed that Musk would "use any nefarious tactics in order to do that", speaking to the "Elon's Spies" podcast.
It comes after the pair were embroiled in a fiery online spat earlier this year in which Musk branded the ex-SNP leader a "scumbag" and "obviously super racist against white people".
Yousaf - reacting to the summer riots - called the X owner a "race baiter" and labelled him "one of the most dangerous men on the planet".
In response, Musk said: "I dare that scumbag to sue me. Go ahead, make my day.
"Legal discovery will show that however big a racist he's been in public communications, he is vastly worse in private communications."
'Police the streets, not tweets!' Jenrick wades in again on Pearson row as Starmer accused of 'wasting police time'
Robert Jenrick has reacted with scorn to Downing Street's backing of police intervention on so-called "non-crime hate incidents".
The Shadow Justice Secretary called the "incidents" a "chilling attack on free speech" as he tore into Sir Keir Starmer's "wasting of police time" on social media this afternoon.
He wrote: "Starmer shouldn't be wasting a second of our police officers' time on so-called 'non-crime hate incidents'.
"They're a chilling attack on free speech. Police the streets, not tweets."
Essex Police chief listed hate speech alongside rape, knife crime and child abuse as 'one of the biggest threats to community'
Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington PAEssex Police's Chief Constable has listed hate speech as one of the largest threats to "communities" in the county.
In a 2021 document, Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington suggested hate crime was on par with rape, child abuse, knife crime, domestic abuse and child sexual exploitation.
The document was part of the force's four-year crime prevention plan - which has emerged in light of the Allison Pearson furore.
Starmer branded a 'DISGRACE' as No10 claims police intervention on 'non-crime hate incidents' is 'important'
Sir Keir Starmer has been branded a "disgrace" after Downing Street backed police intervention on so-called "non-crime hate incidents".
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said it was "important" that police can "capture data relating to non-crime hate incidents where it is proportionate and necessary to help prevent serious crimes which may later occur" - prompting fury in response.
Reform UK's Rupert Lowe, who pledged his support to Allison Pearson earlier today, said simply: "Starmer is a disgrace."
Starmer: 'Small boats supplier' arrest 'not the silver bullet' - as over 1,000 migrants arrive in Britain this WEEK
Sir Keir Starmer has labelled today's arrest of a man suspected of being a small boats supplier a "significant piece of the jigsaw" in cracking down on illegal Channel crossings.
Law enforcement agencies in the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands worked together to arrest a 44-year-old Turkish man - who allegedly provided engines and boats to people smugglers active in Belgium and northern France.
Though he hailed his arrest, Starmer added that "I’m not pretending it's the silver bullet" - as more than 1,000 migrants arrived in Britain this week alone.
Latest Home Office data shows that 1,058 migrants arrived in the UK this week on 18 small boats.
ICYMI: Reform UK takes aim at 'disgrace' Essex Police 'whining' over 'false reporting' on Allison Pearson
Reform UK's deputy leader has labelled Essex Police a 'disgrace'
PA
Reform UK's deputy leader has laid into the "disgrace" Essex Police over its treatment of journalist Allison Pearson.
Pearson had been subjected to a pair of police officers turning up at her door on Remembrance Sunday to tell her that she was under investigation for a so-called "non-crime hate incident".
Pearson then revealed her run-in with the law to The Telegraph, and opened up about it in a first televised interview on GB News - but now, the force has lashed out at "false reporting", and has even filed complaints with press regulator Ipso.
Richard Tice reacted with fury to the police's response - he wrote on social media this morning: "More disgrace by leaders of Essex Police, over the Allison Pearson farce.
"Now they're whining to Ipso about press criticism because they want to suppress complaints.
"Just focus on actual crime: theft, rape, drugs, knives, etc., not online wet wokery!"
Essex Police declined to comment when approached by GB News.
'Stop playing the race card!' Lee Anderson rips into Sadiq Khan as Trump 'racism' row boils over
Lee Anderson has ripped into Sadiq Khan in the wake of this morning's news that the London mayor called Donald Trump's policies "sexist, homophobic, Islamophobic and racist".
Khan accused the President-elect of "coming for me for my ethnicity and my religion" during his first term in office - and now, Reform UK's chief whip has spoken out.
Anderson wrote on social media: "Stop It. Stop playing the race victim card.
"You are criticised because you are turning our beautiful capital city into a place that is unrecognisable. Shame on you."
GB News has approached the Mayor of London for comment.
Mike Amesbury court hearing pushed back to January
A court hearing for MP Mike Amesbury has been moved from December to January next year, Cheshire Police has said.
The Runcorn and Helsby MP was scheduled to appear at Chester Magistrates' Court on December 30 charged with assault.
The charge relates to an alleged attack on a 45-year-old man in Main Street in Frodsham, Cheshire, which was reported to officers at 2.48am on October 26.
Today, police said he will now appear before the same court on January 16, 2025.
Amesbury was suspended from the Labour Party after footage emerged last month which appeared to show him punching a man. He now sits in Parliament as an independent.
The 55-year-old has been summonsed to court to face a charge of section 39 assault after a file was passed to prosecutors on October 29.
ICYMI: Sadiq Khan labels Donald Trump 'RACIST' in latest Labour rant at new President
Khan vowed to bring Trump to a Pride march
PA
Sadiq Khan has labelled Donald Trump's policies "sexist, homophobic, Islamophobic and racist" in a fresh attack from the Labour Party at the President-elect.
Trump had criticised the Mayor of London in the wake of the London Bridge terrorist attack - and has also referred to him as "very dumb" and a "stone-cold loser who should focus on crime in London".
But Khan claims that the 45th and 47th President wouldn't have "come for" him had he been white.
Asked by the High Performance podcast how it felt to be singled out by Trump, Khan said: "It's personal, let's be frank.
"If I wasn't this colour skin, if I wasn't a practising Muslim, he wouldn't have come for me. He wasn't coming for me because I'm 5'6". He's coming for me for - let's be frank - my ethnicity and my religion, so it's incredibly personal to me."
He added: "So you know the fact that I was speaking out against somebody whose policies were sexist, homophobic, Islamophobic, racist, wasn't because I wanted to come to his attention, [it was] because I have a responsibility to speak out if I think something's affecting not just Londoners, but... all of us."
But the Mayor welcomed the prospect of Trump in the capital.
He told the podcast - recorded before last week's US election - "I would love Donald Trump, whether he wins or not, to come to London. Let me show him around our wonderfully diverse communities.
"Let me take him on the Pride march next summer. Let me take him to a mosque, let me take him to some of our diverse communities and understand that actually it is perfectly compatible to be a Westerner and to be a Muslim, and it's perfectly compatible to treat women with respect, and to be a leader and to be a man."
Fuming Essex Police come after Allison Pearson AGAIN as they take swipe at journalist's criticism of 'Kafkaesque' probe
Pearson was subjected to a police investigation over a so-called 'non-crime hate incident'
ESSEX POLICE/GETTY
Essex Police have taken another swipe at Allison Pearson, saying her response to their probe into her social media posts was "unethical".
A pair of police officers had turned up at her door on Remembrance Sunday to tell her that she was under investigation for a so-called "non-crime hate incident".
But after Pearson brought the outrage to light, the force has lashed out at "false reporting" - and has even filed complaints with press regulator Ipso.
Farage: Labour may have to 'eat their own words' over Chagos surrender
Nigel Farage has said Labour may have to "eat their own words" on Chagos after Labour ministers insisted that the US Government is "happy" with the strategic islands' surrender.
Speaking on GB News, he said: "I've been very unhappy about the surrender of British sovereignty over the Chagos Islands.
"Unhappy for lots of reasons - one being, of course, that the Chagossians themselves don't want it to happen. They want to go back and live in those islands under British, not Mauritian rule.
"But I had a feeling right from the very start what would happen if we got a different American president after the elections on November 5..."
Labour DENIES 'shifting responsibility' onto councils as council tax set for three-figure hike in just months
Emma Reynolds denied that Labour are 'shifting responsibility' for impending council tax hikes to GB News
GB NEWS
Labour's pensions minister Emma Reynolds has denied that Labour are "shifting responsibility" for impending council tax hikes onto local authorities.
Yesterday, Downing Street was forced to issue a red-faced clarification that council tax bills are set to soar by over £100 as soon as April - despite Sir Keir Starmer's refusal to confirm any rises at PMQs earlier that day.
No10 said that a five per cent cap will remain in place - almost three times the current rate of inflation - meaning that the average band D council tax bill of £2,171 will rise by up to £109 next year.
Speaking to GB News this morning, Reynolds blamed the "austerity of the Cameron and Osborne years" for councils needing to hike tax rates - and said Labour couldn't be at fault because the party hadn't changed the Tories' council tax caps.
But the pensions minister was then accused of "shifting responsibility" onto local authorities - which she denied, saying it was neither Whitehall's responsibility, nor her own.
Olivia Utley analysis: 'Bizarre' Allison Pearson story could spell the end for 'non-crime hate incidents'
Olivia Utley is in Westminster, where she's been telling GB News Breakfast about the latest developments in the Allison Pearson debacle. She tells Stephen and Ellie:
It's a really bizarre story... Elon Musk has been very concerned about diminishing free speech for a long time now. He bought the social media platform Twitter - now X - in order to preserve free speech. Could it be that there is enough pressure to remove the 'non-crime hate incidents altogether?
Tice SLAMS Starmer's EU love-in as he hails Brexit opportunity with Trump
Richard Tice has laid into Sir Keir Starmer's so-called EU "relations reset" in the wake of Donald Trump's re-election.
With Starmer facing a crunch decision over whether to cosy up to the pan-European bloc or to renew the "special relationship" with the US, the ex-Reform UK leader has hailed how Brexit has left the UK in a "great spot" to do the latter.
Writing on social media this morning, Tice said: "Thank God for Brexit... It puts the UK in a great spot to get closer to our most important partner: the US under Trump.
"But Labour want to take us closer to the failing EU!"
Tory MSP files complaint after 'identify as a cat' tweet recorded as non-binary hate by police
Fraser has filed a complaint with the police over the so-called 'non-crime hate incident'
PAA Tory MSP has filed a complaint with the police after his social media post comparing non-binary people to those who "identify as a cat" was recorded as a hate incident.
Murdo Fraser's lawyers have written to the Police Investigation and Review Commissioner (PIRC) demanding an investigation into Police Scotland's decision to record a non-crime hate incident (NCHI) against him - the same thing which happened to Allison Pearson.
They argue that the police's decision breached Fraser's right to freedom of expression - while the force could not explain why he had been targeted, when no NCHIs had been filed against Humza Yousaf or JK Rowling for their own controversial statements.
Leadbeater 'disappointed' in Streeting as bitter assisted dying row grows
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater has said she is "disappointed" in Health Secretary Wes Streeting's remarks about her controversial assisted dying Bill.
Streeting had told Times Radio yesterday that legalising assisted dying would have "resource implications" that would "come at the expense of other choices" in the NHS.
"To govern is to choose. If Parliament decides to go ahead with assisted dying, it is making a choice that this is an area to prioritise for investment. And we'd have to work through those implications," he said.
But now, Leadbeater has lashed out at Streeting, telling The House magazine: "I'm disappointed that the Health Secretary came out to speak about the Bill before he had even seen the Bill, and a couple of comments that were made on the media this morning would suggest he hasn't read the bill. So, that is disappointing."
Asked whether she accepted Streeting's argument about spending priorities, the MP for Spen Valley said: "I disagree with that."
Backlash to Pearson police visit grows AGAIN as Reform UK's Lowe joins pile-on
Rupert Lowe has added his name to a wave of support for journalist Allison Pearson
GB NEWS/PA
Rupert Lowe has added his name to a wave of support for journalist Allison Pearson after it emerged she'd been subjected to a police visit for a year-old social media post.
Joining figures including Elon Musk, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Nigel Farage, Lowe took aim at the police's apparent lack of focus on "actual crime".
He said: "The police should focus efforts on tackling actual crime, rather than 'hate' online. Public trust in the police has collapsed, and leadership believes this is a good use of officer time?
"I feel for the decent men and women having to enforce it. I support Allison Pearson."
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