Police tips for non-crime hate incidents must be made clearer, says policing minister – amid controversial investigation into Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson’s tweet

Police should note online hostility in case it escalates into criminality but guidelines for non-crime hate incidents need to be made clearer, the policing minister said.

Freedom of speech is important but police forces should be able to make operational decisions about who and what they investigate, Diana Johnson added.

Dame Diana clarified that she had not contacted Essex Police about its controversial investigation into a year-old tweet by newspaper columnist Allison Pearson.

‘Because it’s an operational matter it’s not something that as minister I’d be involved in at all,’ she said.

Ms Pearson’s tweet, which has been deleted, is now being treated as a criminal matter rather than a non-crime hate incident, but the investigation has sparked fury among freedom of speech campaigners.

The Prime Minister has said forces should prioritise fighting crimes that ‘matter most to their communities’ but should make their own operational decisions, for which they would be held accountable.

Dame Diana said she could not talk about the Daily Telegraph columnist’s case specifically because it was a live investigation but added: ‘I think for matters like this, it’s an operational decision by the police [which] has to be proportionate and reasonable.

‘But if you’ve got people who are making hostile comments… then it might be appropriate for a police officer who witnesses that to have that information in case it escalates into something else, into a criminal offence, and something much more serious.’

Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said while it was important to protect free speech, police should be able to make operational decisions about what they investigate

Guidelines for police on non-crime hate incidents need to be made clearer, the minister also said (file photo)

Allison Pearson’s tweet, which has been deleted, is now being treated as a criminal matter rather than a non-crime hate incident

She said she and the inspectorate of constabulary were in agreement that guidelines and training on these issues should be improved.

More than 13,000 non-crime hate incidents were recorded in the past year – including complaints against schoolchildren.

Two officers visited Ms Pearson’s home on Remembrance Sunday over what the force described as ‘an alleged offence of inciting racial hatred, linked to a post on social media.’

It is understood the tweet the complaint relates to shows an image of two police officers standing next to two men holding the flag of a Pakistani political party.

It has been reported that Ms Pearson confused the flag with that of Hamas, tagged the Metropolitan Police and accused the officers of ‘smiling with the Jew haters’ in the post.

Ms Pearson said she had been shocked when officers came to her house, adding: ‘A non-crime – what the hell?’

Essex Police has since stated that at no stage during the interaction was she told the investigation related to a non-crime hate incident.

And the force took the unusual step of releasing a transcription of the words spoken by an officer from their bodyworn footage, in which they refer to ‘offence of potentially inciting racial hatred online.’ 

Allison Pearson has used X, formerly Twitter, to defend herself and criticise Essex Police

The journalist says officers have over-reacted to a year-old post she is said to have written on X, formerly Twitter, before swiftly deleting – this is among her posts this month in response

The force has lodged a complaint with the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) regulator over the Telegraph’s reporting of the incident.

A spokesman said: ‘Essex Police supports free speech.

‘It does not support inaccuracy. If an alleged crime is reported it is investigated. There is no public interest in falsehood.’

The spokesman said the brief conversation had with Ms Pearson was to arrange an interview and had been ‘polite and professional’.

They added: ‘As part of our investigation, we’re liaising with the Crown Prosecution Service regarding an alleged offence which was reported to us by a member of the public. This is an investigative stage review – nothing more.’