Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said police should concentrate on “what matters most to their communities” rather than responding to tweets, as controversy continues over an investigation into columnist Allison Pearson.
Speaking to reporters en route to the G20 summit in Brazil, Starmer said forces would be “held to account” for their operational decisions. His comments come after Essex Police visited Pearson’s home on Remembrance Sunday over a deleted social media post allegedly labelling protesters as “Jew haters”.
Pearson, a Telegraph columnist, said she was left “dumbstruck” by the visit and accused of a “non-crime hate incident”. The force later said the investigation concerned a possible criminal offence of inciting racial hatred, and it is liaising with the Crown Prosecution Service.
Essex Police released a transcript from body-worn video showing an officer telling Pearson the matter was “potentially inciting racial hatred online”. The force has also complained to the media watchdog Ipso over what it says is false reporting.
The shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, told the BBC the rules governing non-crime hate incidents must be “urgently reviewed”.
