South Yorkshire Police used Twitter to urge members of the public to “…please report non-crime hate incidents, which can include things like offensive or insulting comments, online, in person or in writing…”

In response, Dan Liddicott, Libertarian Party Home Affairs Spokesman, repeated his call to “abolish the category of hate crime” calling it a “mis-prioritisation of police” that is “causing trust in police to fall while violent crime increases.”

Dan Liddicott, Libertarian Party Home Affairs Spokesman said: “I’m repeating my call to abolish the category of ‘hate crime’. Police are being taken away from their most vital work tackling real crime and wasting time recording non-crime incidents.

“It is vital that police are allowed to focus on tackling real crime if they are to maintain the trust and confidence of those they serve, an essential aspect of Peelian policing principles.

“This mis-prioritisation of police is causing trust in police fall while violent crime is on the increase.

“We already have laws to deal with criminal use of speech and other actions including assault, incitement to violence, threatening behaviour, harassment and many other tangible crimes. Victims of these crimes should always report them whatever the perceived motive. Police should be freed up to deal with those crimes swiftly and efficiently without politically motivated distractions.

“The law has no place determining what a person may think or believe. Thoughts, feelings and most of the time words, are not crimes even if we strongly disagree with them. Freedom of conscience and freedom of speech are civil liberties worth protecting even if some people are disagreeable.”