Meeting of the Parliament 05 November 2014
The forthcoming old firm match has attracted the media’s attention even though it is three months away. Although it has been nearly three years since they last met, there is understandable excitement. Supporters hope that Scottish football will get a much needed competitive boost, and that there will be greater maturity among the small sections who are an embarrassment to their clubs and who project an image that should no longer have any place in Scotland.
There is widespread feeling that the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 exacerbates the problem. That act should be repealed.
When we talk about challenging sectarianism, the old firm and other sporting manifestations are only part of the story and, in many ways, they are subsidiary to the wider task of challenging sectarianism in society through prevention and education. It is that wider task that we need to speak about today.
Tackling sectarianism has and will continue to be a priority for the Scottish Labour Party. When we were in power, we had an action plan and we pursued an education strategy that was designed to tackle sectarianism. By contrast, the SNP Government pushed through a controversial law, despite widespread opposition and doubts about its effectiveness. Those doubts have been borne out by subsequent events.
The SNP also set up an advisory group on tackling sectarianism in Scotland, but although Dr Morrow’s report was published more than a year ago, it still awaits proper consideration and debate. The supposedly concerned Scottish Government has published a response but, significantly, the response fails to take on board the recommendations about actions that are its responsibility.
The Morrow report specifically called on the Scottish Government to use powers to engage people in discussion of sectarianism and to ensure that instances of sectarianism are recognised as such. It said that the Scottish Government should provide financial support for community activity and education that can address sectarianism at grass-roots level, with the issue being part of public funding for community work, education and youth work, yet community projects that have been set up still do not know what will happen when their funding comes to an end next year.
Other recommendations included evaluation of existing community-based projects to see what works, and encouraging schools to create anti-sectarianism partnerships. Dr Morrow claimed that many senior and influential people across Scotland have failed to show the leadership that is needed to confront the problem.