Stuart Waiton: Free speech must also mean free singing too

The intention for me and the other event’s speaker was to put the case for free speech in football. We aimed to argue with the respective fans about why they should oppose the criminalisation of their “enemy’s” songs.

I explained to the Rangers fans at Ibrox that my colleague was at that moment standing in front of a group of Celtic supporters arguing that they needed to defend the right of Rangers fans to sing about being up to their knees in fenian blood. Understandably, my audience could see the funny side of this, as I suggested this may not go down too well with Celtic fans. However, I then noted he would at that precise moment be saying the same to the Celtic fans, except this time about the need for Rangers fans to accept the right of Celtic fans to sing “Up the IRA’’.

The Rangers fans found this less humorous, but they got the point and at the end of the meeting I asked if we could have a vote. Of the 85 people present, only five voted in favour of criminalising some songs. The rest of the audience backed the notion that fans should be free to sing whatever they like without threat of arrest or imprisonment.

More worryingly, in terms of free speech, an apparent attempt was made to disrupt the Celtic event, in a school in Dennistoun.

A campaign appears to have been encouraged to complain to the school about an “IRA” meeting taking place. This created serious tension and resulted in around 40 Rangers fans turning up.

To their credit, despite the disruption, a number of Rangers fans entered the debate. Hard arguments were had in the most difficult of environments. Despite there being many things we can all get offended about, free speech, free debate and even the freedom to sing offensive songs at matches is part and parcel of what living in a free, tolerant society should be all about.

• Dr Stuart Waiton is a lecturer at the University of Abertay, Dundee