No further action will be taken against journalist Allison Pearson over a social media post.
Essex Police were investigating an alleged criminal offence of inciting racial hatred, but on Thursday confirmed the Crown Prosecution Service had decided against bringing any charges.
The force added that an independent review of their handling of the case is also being launched.
Chief Constable Mark Hobrough, the hate crime lead at the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), will examine how officers dealt with the allegations, after severe criticism from the likes of Elon Musk and politicians including Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch.
Chris Philp MP, shadow home secretary, said: “It should never have come to this. The police should not be policing thought or speech.
“Police time should only be spent on criminality or behaviour likely to lead imminently to criminality. I urge the government to urgently change the guidelines on NCHIs [non-crime hate incidents] to stop it happening again.”
NCHI reports have long been controversial, with many citing free speech concerns, but Ms Pearson’s account of events has been challenged by the force.
She said she was “dumbfounded and upset” when officers spoke to her on Remembrance Sunday about a year-old post, which had since been deleted, on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
On her Planet Normal podcast, Ms Pearson described the visit as “chilling” and “the most extraordinary overreach and state intrusion into my private life”.
But Essex Police subsequently told Sky News that its investigation was never for an NCHI, and the matter was always being treated as an alleged criminal offence of inciting racial hatred.
On Thursday the force again defended their handling of the case: “We’re sometimes faced with allegations of crime where people have strong opposing views.
“That’s why we work so hard to remain impartial and to investigate allegations, regardless of where they might lead.”
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