Don't rush sectarianism laws in time for football season - Kirk

Published on Thursday 16 June 2011 18:14

A CHURCH leader has warned the Scottish Government of the dangers of rushing through legislation to tackle sectarianism in time for the start of the new football season.

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland said he was concerned the sectarianism bill being discussed today was being pushed through too quickly.

The Rt Rev David Arnott also said while the Kirk recognised that much of what was regarded as sectarianism took place on the football terraces, verbal or physical harm could be experienced elsewhere and that the problem was a "deeply cultural issue".

Mr Arnott met Roseanna Cunningham, minister for community safety and legal affairs, ahead of publication today of the Scottish Government's Offensive Behaviour in Football and Threatening Communications Bill, to raise his concerns.

He said: "We remain nervous about this haste in which this bill being rushed through parliament apparently in time for the start of the football season.

"Whilst we are not against the ideas in this bill, we remain unconvinced of the wisdom of this approach."

Mr Arnott said that the speed meant it appeared to lack "scrutiny and clarity" and reduced time for consultation.

He added: "The government is rightly asking for support from across civic Scotland but is not giving civic Scotland much time to make sure they are happy with the content."

James Kelly MSP, Scottish Labour's justice spokesman and vice convener of the justice committee, warned mistakes could be made if the bill was rushed through at "breakneck speed". He called on the Scottish Government and opposition parties to back Labour's demand for the bill to be brought before the justice committee to ensure detailed scrutiny.

Mr Kelly said: "Sectarianism is a deeply complex issue and, unfortunately, there are no quick fixes. We look forward to working constructively with the Scottish Government to ensure the new laws are in place as quickly as possible, but if we rush this legislation through at breakneck speed without proper scrutiny there is a real danger that we will get something wrong."

Last month, the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland criticised the failure to tackle sectarianism following a rise of almost 10 per cent in charges for religiously motivated crimes.

The claim followed a football season blighted by bigotry which saw explosives, bullets and knives sent to key figures, including Celtic manager Neil Lennon and lawyers Paul McBride and Donald Findlay.

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: "We welcome the support of the Church of Scotland for the measures in the bill. Given the serious incidents witnessed last season, decisive and immediate action needs to be taken to ensure law enforcement agencies have the full powers available to them to crack down on bigoted behaviour."There is broad support for ensuring new legislation is in place in time for the new season, but we also agree that sectarianism is deeply rooted and won't be solved solely by words or legislation, which is exactly why we are working through the joint action group on football to bring forward further wide-ranging actions shortly."