SCRAPPING the controversial law intended to combat bigotry at football games would be an “historic moment for devolution”, according to the Labour MSP pushing for its repeal.
James Kelly said it would also show the SNP it could no longer treat Holyrood “with contempt” by steamrollering through legislation.
Mr Kelly’s member’s bill to repeal the five-year-old Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications Act was introduced to parliament this week, and is due to come to a vote by the end of the year.
The Act, passed by SNP MSPs alone after a spate of sectarian incidents at matches, has been widely criticised, with supporters claiming it singles them out for unfair treatment.
MSPs passed a symbolic vote calling for its repeal last year, after the SNP lost its Holyrood majority.
Mr Kelly said: “Repealing the Act will show that the days of the SNP treating the Scottish Parliament and the views of the Scottish people with contempt are long over.”
Tory MSP Oliver Mundell said: “The legislation has been ridiculed by courts, has next to no positive impact, and punishes fans who pay good money to watch the sport they love.”
LibDem MSP Liam McArthur added: “We need a tactical switch towards a more holistic approach to tackling sectarianism. This must involve grassroots and community-wide actions, working with local authorities, churches, football clubs and more.”
Community safety minister Annabelle Ewing said the SNP government was backed by “tens of thousands” of football supporters who wanted to enjoy games in a friendly atmosphere, and prosecutors had used the Act 377 times last year.
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