Humza Yousaf has described a Conservative attempt to scrap his controversial new hate crime law as “reckless and frankly unforgivable”.

The First Minister accused the party of “debasing” political discourse through its opposition to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act, which came into force on April 1.

It comes as Mr Yousaf said police officers had been the victims of almost a quarter of reports under the new law.

Humza Yousaf speaks during First Minster's Questions at the Scottish Parliament. Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

But Douglas Ross, the Scottish Tory leader, said Mr Yousaf had his head in the sand, as he claimed “40 officers a day have been brought in on overtime” to deal with complaints. The pair exchanged verbal blows on Thursday during the first session of First Minister’s Questions in Holyrood since the Easter break.

MSPs rejected a Tory motion to repeal the Hate Crime Act on Wednesday.

Mr Yousaf said: “What we’ve witnessed over the last few weeks is, I think, the most worrying, concerning debasing of our political discourse by the Conservative Party in relation to the Hate Crime Act.”

He added: “If the Hate Crime Act didn’t exist, with the stroke of a pen, it would have removed protection against stirring up of hatred for those who suffer racist abuse, for those who suffer anti-Semitism, for those who suffer Islamophobia, for those who suffer homophobia, transphobia, those who suffer abuse because of their disability. What a reckless and frankly unforgivable approach for a party that seems more interested in gaining shoddy tabloid headlines than actually protecting people from hatred.”

Mr Ross said concerns had been raised by police officers and legal figures, while polling showed the legislation was unpopular with the Scottish public. Lord Hope of Craighead, one of Scotland's most senior legal figures, previously condemned the Act as “unworkable”.

The Scottish Tory leader said: “It is a disgrace, First Minister, that you are unwilling to accept the failures of your Bill and listen to the voice of police officers up and down the country.”

Mr Yousaf said there had been “deliberate disinformation from the Conservatives and many other bad faith actors, who have refused to look at what the law actually does”. He said Police Scotland had dealt well with thousands of complaints, and only a minority had ended up being recorded as hate crimes.

But Mr Ross said: “Humza Yousaf is sitting here saying everything is fine with his legislation, just like he did with the ferries he couldn’t get to sail, the trains he couldn’t get to run on time and the NHS waiting lists that grew under his stewardship of the health service.

“We warned him all of these problems with the Hate Crime Act would happen. We warned the police would be overwhelmed, the law was poorly written, it would put free speech at risk. He dismissed every single valid criticism. Humza Yousaf said he knew best.

“Now the police, legal experts and the public are telling him he has got this badly wrong. The only person in Scotland who seems to think this Act is working well is Humza Yousaf. How on earth can the First Minister say that the Hate Crime Act has been a success?”

Figures published on Tuesday showed the number of hate crime complaints dropped by almost 75 per cent in the second week of the new law coming into force.

Humza Yousaf: Tory bid to scrap Hate Crime Act was ‘reckless and unforgivable’