Dear All
Everyone in Scotland quite rightly hates Tories.
The Scottish Tory ‘justice’ spokesman has accused the west of Scotland school system of overseeing "state-sponsored conditioning of sectarian attitudes".
That is a terrible slur.
John Lamont's comments came as MSPs debated emergency laws to increase jail terms for sectarian-related behaviour connected to football.
He said segregating children in Catholic and non-denominational schools contributed to the problem.
The Catholic Church quite rightly branded the comments "offensive" and "malicious".
Community Safety minister Roseanna Cunningham also attacked Mr Lamont's remarks, describing them as an "astonishing diatribe".
Lamont shouldn’t be a justice spokesman if that is the level of his thinking, schools don’t teach hatred in Scotland.
Recalling his time growing up and attending a non-denominational school in Kilwinning, North Ayrshire; Lamont said tensions with a local Catholic school resulted in pupils spitting and throwing stones and eggs at school buses.
That was nothing to do with the schooling they received rather that the pupils were acting like a bunch of wee troublemaking bastards.
Lamont added:
"This segregation of our young people has brought them up to believe that the two communities should be kept separate."
What is bizarre is that the Scottish Tories officially supports faith schools.
He added that the education system of west central Scotland had, "produced many, if not all, of those who are responsible for the shocking behaviour which we have witnessed in recent months".
He went on:
"The education system in this part of Scotland is effectively the state-sponsored conditioning of these sectarian attitudes. And I say this as someone who believes, as a Christian country, we should do more to promote Christian values in our young people and support religious education in schools. Clearly these attitudes are being entrenched at home and the wider community in these small pockets of west central Scotland."
The Bishop of Motherwell, Rt Rev Joseph Devine, said:
"The claim that Catholic schools are the cause of sectarianism is offensive and untenable. There has never been any evidence produced by those hostile to Catholicism to support such a malicious misrepresentation. Is Mr Lamont really claiming that he knows better than parents what is in the best interests of their children? Is it arrogance or ignorance on his part? Let him either produce the hard evidence to support such irresponsible claims or withdraw them."
I don’t think evidence will be coming anytime soon.
SNP MSP Rosanna Cunningham, said:
"After listening to John Lamont's astonishing diversion into a diatribe against Scottish education, I really do think that perhaps they (the Scottish Conservatives) need to reconsider how they are going to approach the whole issue of sectarianism in Scotland. Because that would suggest to me that they are reckless as to whether or not actually it gets stirred up even further."
I wonder if John Lamont is trying to be the new ‘Richard Baker’ on justice, totally clueless and a waffler.
He should retract that rubbish.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
1 comment:
It's a widely held view and he was right to express it. The response of some smacks of censorship.
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