7 John Smeaton

Published on Friday 28 December 2007 13:13

HAVE-A-GO HERO

"Glasgow doesnae accept this. We'll set about ye." He spoke for the nation after the airport attack

ON JUNE 30, bleary-eyed travellers entering the arrivals lounge of Glasgow Airport were greeted by a sign advising them that they were now in Scotland, "the best small country in the world". Though well intentioned, proud yet modest, this official national slogan was widely disliked. It made us seem sheepish, people said. It wasn't how Scots saw themselves or felt inside.

The slogan was abandoned recently, but June 30, at around 3.15pm, was really the moment it passed into oblivion. That was when two men who had just driven a burning car full of propane gas canisters into Glasgow Airport were held to account by John Smeaton, a baggage handler who happened to be outside, just starting the second cigarette of his fag break. It was a triumph for the human spirit. And the smoking ban.

Afterwards, in a series of television interviews, Smeaton explained the philosophy underpinning his actions: "Glasgow doesnae accept this. We'll set about ye." That was it. No more "best small country in the world". Although Smeaton spoke specifically about Glasgow, the reason he has been so celebrated by Scots is that he articulated, in words and deeds, three values we like to think lie coiled within our DNA: fearlessness, selflessness, unpretentiousness; as well as those character traits for which we are inclined to forgive ourselves: machismo and bombast. Also, of course, Smeaton's interviews were hilarious, vivid and full of character, so different from most of the clichd vox pops trotted out on the news. Asked by the BBC to describe the burning car, he answered: "Anyone who's ever thrown a lit can of deodorant on a bonfire will know exactly what it's like."

What Smeaton did, more than anything, was release the tension surrounding the attack on the airport. It was a very anxious moment and in the days that followed, as further suspects were arrested and astounding details emerged, it felt calming that the resistance to terror had a human face and that it belonged to a 31-year-old everyman who lived with his parents in Erskine.

Since the summer, Smeaton's celebrity has exploded like a can of Lynx exposed to a naked flame. He's 'Smeato' now, a folk hero, toast of the internet and tabloids. He has met Gordon Brown (they discussed Raith Rovers) and Alex Salmond, received a standing ovation from fans at his beloved Ibrox, and in New York attended a memorial service for those who died on 9/11. Blogging about this last event, Smeaton displayed a very appealing modesty, writing that he felt he had really done nothing when compared with the firefighters who lost their lives at Ground Zero.

So what's next for John Smeaton? After 13 years as a baggage handler, he now has a new job as head of security at an airport car park. He is sad to leave and wants to get his "quiet, mundane ordinary life back".

The news that he is to be awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal, one of the highest civilian honours for bravery, might postpone that return to a quiet life but there is no doubt that he will take it in his stride. Over the last few crazy months, he has handled himself with dignity and charm, and made his country feel bigger than before.

Peter Ross