Laurence Fox unveils masterplan to take down SNP – Reclaim Party to expose ‘incompetence’
London ‘should stand up to Brussels’ says Laurence Fox
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Scottish Comedian Leo Kearse will contest the seat of Glasgow Pollock, which SNP Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf holds with a 6,482 majority. Mr Kearse describes himself as a right-wing liberal comedian and said he was standing after the SNP’s Hate Crime Bill passed in Holyrood, put forward by the Scottish Justice Secretary.
The Scottish comedian said he would repeal the controversial hate crime bill if elected and “expose incompetence and systemic wokeness within the SNP”.
Critics fear the Hate Crime and Public Order Bill, which centres around plans for a new offence of “stirring up hatred”, will severely impact freedom of expression for Scots.
Mr Kearse also claimed the Bill criminalizes jokes and has a chilling effect on free speech, a point disputed by the SNP.
In a statement announcing his candidacy for the elections, he said: “I don’t want to be a politician. Politics is boring and everyone’s ugly.
“But I have to stand against the SNP’s Hate Crime Bill.
“Under the Hate Crime Bill if you say something that someone else perceives as abusive or intended to stir up hatred – no matter what you said or how you meant it – you could be prosecuted.
“Scotland has a proud history of iconoclastic boundary-pushing comedians: Billy Connolly, Frankie Boyle, Jerry Sadowitz.
“They are all hilarious and have all said things that would get them prosecuted under this Hate Crime Bill.”
Mr Kearse continued: “The police, the church, the legal profession and even us comedians have all expressed opposition to this hated hate Bill.
“When once we had freedom, Scots now live under the increasingly stultifying boot of the SNP, where even our ability to speak freely around the dinner table is set to be policed by Humza Yousaf and Nicola Sturgeon.
“With wokeness and extreme nationalism seemingly the only acceptable discourses allowed in Scotland these days, I feel now is the right time to stand up and be counted.”
The Express understands the party is expected to field further candidates in various Holyrood seats.
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Party chiefs stressed they would also back a series of reforms to strengthen the Scottish Parliament including giving MSPs parliamentary privilege.
Mr Fox, an actor, is also standing to become Mayor of London next month.
Mr Fox said of his party: “Our country is now in desperate need of a new political movement which promises to make our future a shared endeavour not a divisive one.”
In response, an SNP spokesperson said: “The Hate Crime Bill was rightly held up to scrutiny in the Scottish Parliament and was backed by a majority of MSPs in Holyrood, with a specific amendment to protect freedom of speech.
“At the election in May, the people of Scotland will have the chance to put their future into their hands and the only way to do that is with both votes SNP.”
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