Sheriff clears Celtic fan of sectarian singing in his Dundee Court but says solution to sectarianism is to end denominational schools, Alex Salmond’s knee jerk Bill is an example of bad law making at Holyrood

Dear All

People will today be busy blogging regarding the death of Margaret Thatcher but I have decided to blog on the SNP’s unworkable ‘Fitba’ Bill and how people are falling foul of it.

Sometimes you wonder how totally unsuitable people get appointed to the position they are in.

A sheriff has said the best way to deal with sectarianism in Scotland was to "do away with" denominational schools.

So, is his idea viable?

Well, the short answer is no!

Whether you go to a Catholic School or other denomination school makes absolutely no difference, schools don’t teach hatred, people pick that up elsewhere.

The Catholic Church has rightly responded to this bizarre and simplistic suggestion by saying:

"Catholic schools exist throughout the world without being accused of leading to sectarianism."

What brought about Sheriff Richard Davidson is case of a Celtic fan of singing sectarian songs during a Boxing Day match with Dundee.

The Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 is a piece of crap, a knee jerk reaction by the Scottish National Party and leader Alex Salmond.

We will continue to see the fall out from this Bill until such time as it is struck off the books, it is badly written, badly thought-out and an example of the incredibly poor talent surrounding Alex Salmond.

The upshot of this Bill is that people will be dragged to Court such as Dion McLeish, 20 and then found not guilty.

When the Bill came out, people asked the SNP Government for a list of songs that shouldn’t be sung, but the SNP said no.

In other words, it comes down to the subjective opinion of a Police Officer based not on law but on their personal belief system or agenda.

It’s the old ‘he was walking on a crack in the pavement’ mentality, so I arrest him M’Lud!

Sheriff Richard Davidson cleared a Celtic fan of singing sectarian songs during a Boxing Day match with Dundee, then from his chair, addressing the court by denounced attempts to tackle sectarianism in football through laws banning certain songs.

He said:

"If they can prescribe a list of songs which people are banned from singing, they will find the courts are full and the football grounds are empty. Sectarianism is a blight on Scottish society, but this isn't the way to tackle it. The way to tackle it is to do away with denominational schools."

The not guilty verdict is another blow to the new legislation, which was passed last year by the Scottish Government, since then and to no surprise, the incompetent Kenny MacAskill, the Justice Secretary, has claimed the laws have been a success.

Kenny MacAskill is Salmond’s pal which is why the post of Justice Minister is de facto unfilled; we don’t have a Justice Minister in Scotland, just a crony of Salmond drawing a wage.

Leading lawyers have raised concerns that football fans in Scotland are having their human rights undermined by the new police powers and protests are on the go against the targeting of fans.

The Green Brigade incident generated so much bad publicity for both the Police and the SNP.

And the protests are getting more organised which could develop.

The Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 is the produce of dullards, but this time the SNP have gone too far, because people now have a cause which the ordinary person understands.

The Bill as I said previously is crap, it should never have been brought forward and it again shows the lack of talent in the ranks of the Scottish National Party.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University