Call handlers dealing with hate crime incidents in Scotland have been given a script defending First Minister Humza Yousaf.

Police Scotland staff have issued an email guide advising them of lines to give in response to claims that Yousaf gave a racist speech at Holyrood at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement in June 2020.

The speech took place while Yousaf was Justice Secretary when he highlighted the race of a series of high profile figures in Scottish public life, all of which he pointed out were white.

He added that at 99 per cent of the meetings he went to he was "the only non-white person in the room" and said Scotland "has a problem of structural racism".

Now, a guide has been issued by Police Scotland on a "form of words" to recite when members of the public complain about the First Minister under his new hate crime laws, reports The Telegraph.

Yousaf had been making reference to his "own personal experience of racism" and that "nothing said in the speech was threatening, abusive or insulting."

The guidance adds that when he had been referring to "white people", he had been "pointing out a matter of fact."

The guide said: "There was no malice or ill will towards any person or group displayed in anything said, and so it does not meet the threshold to be recorded as a non-crime hate incident."

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

Police Scotland 'ignoring' sexual assaults and shoplifting as they're inundated with hate crimesSNP plunges 20 POINTS in the polls as Humza Yousaf branded 'a total disaster'Police 'can't cope' as hate crime complaints set to outnumber total for ALL other offences

Earlier this week, Police Scotland announced it had received 7,152 complaints under Scotland’s new hate crime law in the first week of operation, with 240 hate crimes and 30 non-crime hate incidents recorded.

The "vast majority" of these reports were anonymous, Police Scotland said in a statement and were assessed against the new legislation and "no further action is being taken."

Scotland’s current Justice Secretary has said the number of hate crimes recorded by the Police Scotland in the first week of the new law shows the need for the legislation.

Angela Constance said: "So I think we can all take that reassurance from that because it is important when we look at the number of hate crimes recorded, 240 by Police Scotland in one week alone. I think that demonstrates that this legislation is indeed required and needed to protect marginalised and vulnerable communities most at risk of racial hatred and prejudice."

Deputy justice spokesman for the Scottish Tories Sharon Dowey said: "It’s a measure of how farcical Humza Yousaf’s hate crime law is that police officers have effectively been given a script on how to respond to the flood of complaints made against the First Minister under the very legislation that he piloted and introduced."

A Police Scotland spokesman said: "We have received a number of complaints in relation to a speech in the Scottish Parliament on June 10 2020.

"Earlier complaints regarding this matter were assessed at the time and it was established no crime was committed and no further action was required."