A NATIONALIST MSP has said he does “not feel particularly British” and questioned a UK government plan to make public office holders swear an oath to British values.
John Mason, who represents Glasgow Shettleston, was jeered by Tory MSPs when he raised the issue at First Minister’s Questions.
On Sunday, the Tory Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said he was “drawn” to a loyalty pledge for elected officials, civil servants, council workers and even NHS and BBC workers.
The proposal originated in a report on social cohesion by Dame Louise Casey earlier this month, which said government failure to address immigration issues had divided communities.
Mr Mason asked if the UK government had run the proposal past the Scottish Government.
He said: “I wonder if the First Minister is any clearer than I am as to what British values actually are, and if everyone in Scotland should be expected to have them?
“Because certainly I, for one, do not feel particularly British."
Nicola Sturgeon told MSPs: "The Scottish Government has had no communication from the UK Government in relation to the Secretary of State's premature, in my view, response to the Casey report on social cohesion.”
She went on: "I think it deserves to be given proper consideration and I would suggest that the UK Government should do the same, commit to giving it proper consideration, rather than taking the premature step of announcing that all public servants should be compelled to swear an oath. I do think it potentially risks the exclusion of people who do not define their values as uniquely British.
"Scotland has a long history of welcoming people of all nationalities and all faiths.
"We are committed to supporting their integration into our communities, not, in my view, through the swearing of oaths, but by creating a country where everyone has an opportunity to flourish and where diversity is truly welcomed and celebrated."
Mr Mason recently prompted controversy by revealing he still boycotts a travel firm over its owner's support for the Union in 2014.
He said he refused to use Barrhead Travel, which has an office in his constituency, because "they're on the No side".
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel