Tuesday is porridge-looming day for the Scottish Socialist MSP. If he fails to pay a #250 fine for committing a breach of the peace at Faslane naval base on the Clyde by then, a warrant will be issued for his arrest and it is expected that he will shortly thereafter be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure for 14 days.
Q: Why did Mr Sheridan break the law?
A: He has argued that he was, in fact, trying to uphold the law when he and about 150 other protesters blocked the road outside the gates of Faslane naval base on the Clyde in
February this year.
Q: Uphold the law?
A: Yes. He said he was merely abiding by a ruling of the International Court of Justice, which had said that the threat posed by nuclear weapons was in itself illegal. Argyll and Bute District Court took a different view and, on November 15, he was given 28 days to pay the fine.
Q: Can't he afford it?
A: Yes, but Mr Sheridan says his is a principled stance and, unless nuclear weapons are abolished by Tuesday, he'll go to jail.
Q: What are the chances of the world being nuclear weapons-free in four days?
A: As likely as Rangers winning the Champions League.
Q: So will it be Christmas in prison for Mr Sheridan?
A: Unlikely. If he doesn't pay up he will either be arrested and taken to prison to serve his sentence, or he will give himself up to police, who will then convey him to jail, probably Barlinnie in Glasgow. With good behaviour, he should be out in time to enjoy the turkey and trimmings at home on Christmas day.
Q: How much of an ordeal will prison be?
A: Not much. Mr Sheridan is a disciplined, focused character. Anyway, he's been banged up before, in connection with a warrant-sale protest. Paradoxically, poindings are to be abolished by the democratically-elected Scottish Parliament, of which Mr Sheridan is a fully paid-up member. He willingly and vigorously adhered to the democratic process to lead the successful campaign for legislation outlawing warrant sales. That process has achieved much more than any illegal protest did. It would be another sign of political maturity on his part if he paid the fine.
Q: Will he be able to remain an MSP if he goes to jail?
A: Yes. Mr Sheridan is a
law-maker so he must surely be aware that his offence is insufficiently serious to warrant expulsion.
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 hereComments are closed on this article