SIR – The difference between what is and is not a crime is fundamental to both a free society and the rule of law. It is also a fundamental of English common law that you can do anything you like unless the law prohibits it.
It is therefore dispiriting to read that Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, is apparently committed to reversing the Tories’ decision to downgrade the monitoring of “non-crime hate incidents”, specifically in relation to anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, so that they can be logged by the police (report, August 28).
While it is legitimate for the police to collect intelligence on criminals, for them to record actions by individuals which are neither crimes nor likely to lead to crimes is what we see in states such as China and Iran, where the police monitor any expression of opinion which diverges from the dominant political ideology.
Dr Martin Parsons
West Mersea, Essex. DT.
West Mersea, Essex. DT.
