A year or so ago, a friend insisted we move from Facebook Messenger to WhatsApp for our communications. The former was too easily hackable, she said, and she was worried that any off-colour comments – or indeed jokes – we might make about politics, life or individuals could end up being released to the world. I hate WhatsApp, but – suddenly feeling uneasy – I acquiesced.

At the time, I thought she was being paranoid. Now it has become abundantly clear that one cannot be too careful.

Read article: Must we all live in fear of a visit from

Previously unaware that Kafka and Orwell had written training manuals for police officers, Miller decided to bring a court case against the College of Policing, whose Hate Crime Operational Guidance (HCOG), issued in 2014, forms the basis of current practice. As Miller has argued at the High Court this week, ‘the idea that a law-abiding citizen can have their name recorded against a hate incident on a crime report when there was neither hate nor crime undermines principles of justice, free expression, democracy and common sense’.

Read article: Putting the thoughtpolice on trial

“To make good decisions, a society must have healthy discussions even if it is offensive to some people”

Perhaps it would simplify things if the 999 dialling service was amended. From now on it might say: “Press ‘1’ for ambulance, 2 for police, 3 for fire-service and 4 for thought-police.” Although given current priorities, perhaps the thought-police option should be offered first.

The thought is prompted by the case of Harry Miller, heard at the High Court this week. Mr Miller is a former police officer who was contacted by Humberside Police in January after a complaint that a

Judge hit out at police forces for recording ‘hate incidents’ despite no evidence

Mr Justice Julian Knowles told court said guidance on issue ‘did not make sense’

Rules state comment reported as hateful by a victim must always be recorded

Comes as former PC Harry Miller was investigated over ‘transphobic limerick’

Read article: Right to be offended does not exist says judge as High Court hears police are recording ‘hate incidents’ even if there is no evidence for them

Official police guidance on recording incidents of “non-crime” hate speech against trans people is “contrary to freedom of expression”, an English court heard yesterday.

In January, Humberside law enforcement reached out to former police officer Harry Miller following a complaint over alleged anti-trans tweets.

Read article: Policeman’s anti-trans views can’t be hate speech because they form ‘legitimate public debate’, court told

HOW police record ‘hate incidents’ against transgender people has a ‘real and substantial chilling effect’ on people’s freedom of speech, the High Court heard yesterday.

Former officer Harry Miller was contacted by Humberside Police after a member of the public complained he had posted ‘transphobic’ tweets.

He was told he hadn’t committed a crime but his post was being recorded as a ‘hate incident’, in line with guidance from the College of Policing.

Read article: Free speech ‘is being curbed by police guides on hate incidents’

The “right to be offended” does not exist, a judge has said, as the High Court hears that British police forces are recording hate incidents even if there is no evidence that they took place.

Mr Justice Knowles made the remark on the first day of a landmark legal challenge against guidelines issued to police forces across the country on how to record “non-crime hate incidents”.

The College of Policing, the professional body which delivers training for all officers in England and Wales, issued their Hate Crime Operational Guidance (HCOG) in 2014, which states that a comment reported as

“Police officers cannot take it upon themselves to act as the custodians of proper opinion”

If there is an event that captures the lunacies of modern life, it is a hearing currently taking place in the High Court in London. The case concerns a complaint about allegedly “transphobic” remarks and the police response. Harry Miller, himself a former police officer, tweeted comments about gender that a member of the public reported to Humberside constabulary.

Read article: The police must rethink its Orwellian obsession with ‘transphobia’

Officers who record social media comments as hate incidents are unlawfully acting as “thought police” curbing freedom of expression, a former constable has claimed in a landmark legal case.

Harry Miller, a former constable with Humberside police, was visited by an officer from the force after posting a verse about transgender people on Twitter. In evidence to the High Court yesterday, he said that the officer, PC Mansoor Gul, told him: “I’m here to check your thinking.” Mr Miller, 54, said he was told he had not committed a crime but that his tweeting was being recorded as a

Listen here, starting at 2 hours 52 minutes 30 seconds in. Only available till 18 December 2019.