HUNDREDS of protesters have held a “funeral” for free speech at Holyrood after new hate crime legislation came into force.

Attendees in opposition to the law ranged across the political spectrum, from libertarian and gender-critical activists to the socially conservative Scottish Family Party (SFP), which brought a coffin bearing images of both the First Minister Humza Yousaf and his Green cabinet colleague Patrick Harvie.

SFP member Niall Fraser said “free speech has died here in Scotland. Today we buried it and had a funeral service.”