Hansard

PE1593, by Paul Quigley on behalf of Fans Against Criminalisation, seeks a full review of the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012. We have received responses from those whom we contacted, and we have also had a submission from Fans Against Criminalisation itself. I think that there is still a lot of work to be done on this issue. Even as late as this morning, a national newspaper was supplying information, including a letter signed by a host of individuals and organisations who continue to have concerns about the legislation. As those individuals and organisations represented a swathe of society, I think that it would be remiss of us to say that there is not something still to be done on the matter. On a personal level, I was disappointed by the response from the minister, Paul Wheelhouse, with regard to one particular issue. The issue is personal to me, and I have to raise it because it involves a point that he makes in his letter. When he made his statement to Parliament on the review, he claimed that one aspect of it—the rehabilitation of offenders—had the support of the fan groups who were opposed to the legislation. His wording was careful; I will not say that it was misleading, but his words were carefully chosen in order to allow him to make the claim that Fans Against Criminalisation endorsed that proposal. After the minister made his statement, I asked a specific question about that claim. In response to my question, the minister went away from his carefully crafted words and made a clear statement that Fans Against Criminalisation fully endorsed his position. When people challenge that assertion, he refers to the comments that he made in his statement, but he ignores the comments that he made to me. I find that unacceptable. People are challenging him on the basis of what he said in the chamber, and he continues to maintain that he did not say something that he said. I want to make it absolutely clear that I find that totally unacceptable on a personal level. Based on all of the information that we have had, further information that has been submitted this morning and the views of a host of people in wider society, we have to pass this petition on to the next Public Petitions Committee so that the issues can continue to be examined. That is my view.