The Conservative Party has called for an end to the routine recording of “non-crime hate incidents” (NCHIs), arguing that the practice has diverted police resources from tackling genuine threats to public safety. Under the proposed amendment to the Government’s Crime and Policing Bill, police officers would be prohibited from logging such incidents except in cases where a senior officer believes the information could help prevent or detect a future crime.
NCHIs refer to incidents which do not meet the legal threshold of a criminal offence but are nonetheless perceived to be motivated by hatred towards protected characteristics, such as race, gender, religion, disability or sexual orientation. The practice of recording NCHIs was introduced following recommendations in the landmark Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, which found institutional failings in the handling of racially motivated crimes.
Today, Tuesday, marks 33 years since the racially motivated murder of Stephen Lawrence in south-east London — a case that profoundly shaped UK policing policy. However, the Tories now argue that the principles behind NCHIs have been distorted and misapplied in recent years.
Kemi Badenoch, leading the charge for the Conservatives, said: “Non-crime hate incidents have become a means of wasting police time chasing ideology and grievance instead of justice. Officers are trawling social media for comments someone might find offensive while families across the country are being failed by a police force that should be tackling burglaries, knife crime, and drug gangs.
“No wonder public trust in policing is plummeting. People see officers distracted by political correctness, while politicians like Keir Starmer are too timid to say what needs to be said. Labour must show some backbone and back our amendment. If they’re serious about tackling violence, they’ll support real policing – not ideological overreach.”
In 2023, under the Conservative government, the guidance around NCHIs was amended. Officers were instructed not to record incidents unless there was a genuine risk of significant harm or the potential for a future criminal offence. Trivial complaints or incidents not clearly motivated by prejudice were to be excluded.
Figures obtained by the Daily Telegraph via freedom of information requests indicate a slight decline in the number of NCHIs since 2021, suggesting the revised guidelines may already be having an impact.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp, who served as policing minister during the previous Conservative administration, echoed Badenoch’s views. “Our amendment will stop police forces from wasting time on Orwellian nonsense. The British public expects officers to be out on the streets, protecting them from real crime – not policing people’s opinions online,” he said.
“The Conservative Party will always stand up for free speech and common sense. We’re bringing the focus back to what matters.”
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However, the move has been sharply criticised by Labour. Policing Minister Diana Johnson accused the Tories of political posturing. “The Conservatives had 14 years in power to set the agenda on policing, and failed. It’s galling to hear these criticisms from Chris Philp, who himself approved the policy on recording hate incidents just two years ago.”
She warned that scrapping NCHIs could make it harder to monitor trends in hate-related behaviour, including antisemitism and other serious forms of prejudice. “What the Tories are proposing would undermine community confidence and weaken efforts to tackle hate. Instead of these half-baked measures, Labour is focused on strengthening neighbourhood policing and addressing violent crime at its root.”
The debate reignites long-standing tensions over the balance between free speech and protection from hate. While supporters of NCHIs argue that early intervention can prevent more serious crimes, critics believe the system has been exploited to silence unpopular opinions or record subjective grievances that never pose a threat.
Whether the Conservative amendment gains traction in Parliament remains to be seen, but the political divide on the future of hate crime policing in Britain is clearer than ever.
