ABOVE the players entrance to Centre Court at Wimbledon is the quote from the Rudyard Kipling poem If that says: “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, and treat those two imposters just the same”.
Judging by the weekend events in Glasgow, many Rangers fans are clearly not aware of the works of Rudyard Kipling.
Some of them probably think he makes cakes – exceedingly good ones at that.
The scenes of carnage reflect badly on Rangers, but most of all on the fans involved. In any sport, it is important to lose with dignity, but also to win with class.
The 15,000 so-called fans certainly did not show any class at all as they rampaged across George Square to “celebrate” their title win, with some even fighting amongst themselves.
They were, rightly, roundly condemned for the “sickening” scenes and their “selfish” actions as the city is currently seeing a worrying rise in Covid cases.
Former Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf, as usual, shouted loudest of all on is his favourite outlet, Twitter.
But is there not a hint of double standards about his actions? Less than two days before, he roundly applauded a crowd of at least 200 who surrounded a Home Office van to prevent two men being deported.
While the two events are obviously different, they are exactly the same in that the crowds blatantly breached the current laws on crowds gathering.
The Home Office van incident took place in one of the postcodes at the centre of the worrying rise in Covid cases that has seen Glasgow kept in Level 3.
It put police officers at risk of catching Covid as, despite the protestations of some, a baying mob surrounding a police van cannot possibly do it at a safe distance, any more than drunken hooligans in Rangers tops can in George Square.
But Mr Yousaf not only condoned people breaking the law but almost egged them on to do so. This from the man who was ultimately in charge of Police Scotland at the time.
Just 24 hours after the shameful Rangers scenes, hundreds then gathered amongst the broken glass to show solidarity for Palestinians. A worthy cause, but hard to justify in a pandemic.
These three events all put police officers in a very difficult situation, but they were all policed appropriately. It was not until the Rangers fans got violent that officers responded robustly.
Crowds gathering in protest or celebration are all legitimate in a free country – but not during a pandemic when emergency powers are in place.
Politicians cannot pick and choose which ones to allow or support. They are either all banned or all are allowed. It is certainly not appropriate for a Justice Secretary to pre-empt a live police investigation or applaud law breaking.
His job is to ensure the police have the right tools to do their jobs and let them got on with it.
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