Hansard

I extend a warm welcome to representatives of Rangers Football Club who are in the public gallery.

The twin evils of bigotry and racism blight many societies around the world and, sadly, Scotland is no different. Bigotry and racism are major societal challenges but they are challenges that are being addressed with vigour and determination. I want to focus my attention, as the motion suggests, on the positive impact that football, footballers and their clubs have in that regard.

It is customary for members to declare at the beginning of a debate any relevant interests. I would like to declare an interest that does not appear in my entry in the register as it is not a pecuniary one: I am a fan of football and a life member of the Lewis and Harris Rangers supporters club, which regularly hosts football fans whose allegiances are not in Govan.

For the decent fan, it is beyond comprehension that there are people who believe that the best way of manifesting support for their team is by launching into a sectarian tirade.

Rangers and Celtic have initiatives that are aimed at dealing with and challenging unacceptable behaviour. The pride over prejudice and bhoys against bigotry campaigns are initiatives that should rightly be commended.

I can talk with reasonable authority about the initiatives with which Rangers is involved and which it promotes. Unfortunately, my friend and colleague Frank McAveety, who represents the Glasgow Shettleston constituency and works closely with Celtic Football Club, cannot be with us this evening as he has succumbed to the flu. He has asked me tender his apologies.

A few months ago, Rangers Football Club invited me, Charan Gill, a Glasgow businessman, and Harry Reid, the former editor of The Herald, to join its sectarianism and racism monitoring committee as advisers. I know that I speak for Mr Gill and Mr Reid when I say that we are all impressed and encouraged by the determination of everyone at Rangers to help eradicate unacceptable and inappropriate behaviour.

Rangers is a multicultural, multidenominational and non-political organisation. The chairman, Sir David Murray, has clearly expressed his views. From the chairman down, Rangers is focused on creating an environment at Ibrox that leaves no room for the bigot or the racist. Those who bring the club into disrepute are dealt with through ejection from matches, forfeiture of season tickets without compensation and so on. The old firm is united in the commitment to help eradicate sectarianism.

However, this is not just a challenge for football; it is a challenge for all in society. The First Minister has rightly staked this issue out as territory on which we legislators will act. That has already happened and further measures will be implemented if required.

There has been a seismic shift in behaviour by football fans. Even though, sadly, there are some who, with their cretinous and moronic outpourings, let not only themselves down but the clubs that they claim to support, it is still true to say that a massive attitudinal behavioural change has taken place. The next step will be the good policing of our football grounds. I am talking about policing not by the forces of law and order and the stewards in stadiums, but by the vast majority of decent fans. Increasingly, fans now appreciate that the good name and reputation of the club that they support is in the hands of each individual fan. More and more, fans appreciate that they have an ambassadorial role with regard to the reputation of the club that they support.

I want to pay tribute to the old firm alliance, a collaborative venture involving both clubs and Glasgow City Council's education services. The programme has played a key role in tackling health, education, antisocial behaviour and sectarianism and issues relating to diversity and equality in the city of Glasgow, and the outcomes are striking. Some 97 per cent of teachers said that the initiative led to children appreciating and embracing lifestyle changes.

Yesterday afternoon, I had the pleasure of visiting the Rangers study support centre at Ibrox, where children from Glasgow schools have access to a range of motivational learning activities through the ready to learn programme. I listened to a group of children interview Mark Hateley, an accomplished internationalist who spends hours giving of his time at the study support centre. He is a shining example of the former old firm players who give so much back to our children with little if any external recognition.

In an independent analysis of the study centre's work, 80 per cent of teachers thought that pupils' self-esteem and confidence improved after their visit and 70 per cent thought that it helped to improve pupils' literacy and numeracy. I asked a few of the children from Battlefield primary school to tell me one thing that they learned from their day. A young lad named Ross said that he had learned that Mark Hateley was "dead tall". That insight was quickly followed by a girl's emphatic statement that we must never judge someone by the colour of their skin.

Football clubs are in the leisure industry. That is their primary function, and it is fanciful to expect them to eradicate sectarianism and racism on their own. However, they have a role, and in my view they are more than playing their part. It takes courage and leadership to state the unpleasant realities about some aspects of Scottish life.

Scotland has a proud history and a strong culture. Irrespective of where our life's journey finds us, and irrespective of our role or vocation in life, collectively people can change a nation for the good. That is why, without hesitation, I lodged my motion, which congratulates both Rangers Football Club and Celtic Football Club on the part that they continue to play in tackling the twin evils of racism and sectarianism.