Jim Murphy: I was assaulted for my faith

Published on Sunday 15 May 2011 19:17

FORMER secretary of state for Scotland Jim Murphy has revealed he was abused while on the election campaign trail because of his faith.

Mr Murphy, the Labour MP for East Renfrewshire, said he was subjected to insults in public, not because of his party's performance or policies, but due to the fact he was a prominent Roman Catholic.

In what he described as a "dark period" for Scottish society, the shadow defence secretary said the ongoing problem surrounding sectarianism and the Old Firm was confined to a minority of supporters, and said the "fantastic football rivalry" was similar to that found between football teams in Manchester and Liverpool.

However, he stressed that it would take more than "warm words" from politicians to solve the problems underlying the Old Firm fixture.

Mr Murphy, 43, said: "The only abuse I've ever had in elections isn't about my policy, isn't about the Labour Party's record.

"Just in the last few weeks, there's something particular going on when I got assaulted because of my faith and because I'm pretty public about my faith; it's not a secret.

"So for people to shout at you in the street, simply because of the faith that you follow, I think it's a throwback to a dark period. Scotland should be pretty clear this is a shameful, dark underbelly of our culture.

"But it is absolutely a minority. So people watching, not just in Scotland, but all over the UK and beyond should know that 99 per cent of Scots want nothing to do with this - 99 per cent of Celtic supporters and 99 per cent of Rangers supporters want nothing to do with this.

He added: "It's downright ignorance, it's violence. It's fuelled by drink but the government in Scotland, with support from all of us, has to get on top of it.

"Warm words from politicians won't fix this problem."