A further 610 events in the past five months incurred a further policing bill of £900,000. Although these events include anti-globalisation protests and parades organised by Irish republican groups, the vast majority involved Protestant loyal orders.
Love them or loathe them, marches marking events in the late seventeenth century form part of a multi-faith, multi-cultural Scotland. People are entitled to celebrate their beliefs and traditions.
However, despite a review in 2003 by Sir John Orr recommending a rationalisation of marches and greater community consultation about routes, their number appears to be increasing again. Last year there were 1061, the equivalent of three per day. There are more loyalist and republican parades in Glasgow than Belfast. Some of these events continue to attract a thuggish element that necessitates the disproportionate employment of police officers, regardless of whether the troublemakers are genuine participants or unwelcome hangers-on. Inevitably, such events produce a rise in community tensions. The sharp increase in recorded crime that coincides with processions speaks for itself. Presumably without a police presence, the incidence of crime would be even higher, and the focus on policing such events distracts resources and attention from crime solving and crime prevention elsewhere.
When scenes of disorder are witnessed in Glasgow city
centre or are shown on television, they can have a negative impact on tourism and inward investment. And, while participants clearly enjoy such occasions, they can engender anxiety in others.
In the past, the Orange Order has shown a willingness to consult and compromise over the scale and organisation of parades. If the loyal orders desire others to show a spirit of tolerance towards them, the quid pro quo is that they co-operate with the authorities to make parades more manageable and cheaper to police.
One solution already aired in The Herald is the elimination of the “feeder” marches, from an individual lodge to a rallying point and home again after the main event. Consideration must also be given to moving marches from congested areas, where they can inconvenience shoppers, and streets where they are not welcome. It is right to uphold the principle of not charging for police cover for what amounts to walking in a public place. Breaching such a principle could threaten the democratic right to peaceful protest. Nevertheless, at a time when the police authority is under pressure to address a looming deficit, the time has come to cut street parades down to size.
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