Letter: Wrong approach

WITH no in-depth study of sectarianism in place, the SNP’s new legislation on this matter is vitally flawed (your reports).

Singling out football fans belting out their partisan songs while ignoring inherent sectarianism at the heart of society has been a knee-jerk reaction to media-instigated populism.

Rangers fans may sing about a victorious monarchic Battle of the Boyne – where Protestants and Catholics actually fought on the same side, a victory that is still commemorated today by the Orange Order – to support Protestantism in Ireland. Celtic fans may sing in praise of the IRA, once a progressive movement for an independent Ireland. Are these songs offensive or are some of us just too easily offended?

As a society, we stupidly divide our children in separate faith schools and allow religious leaders to discriminate against homosexuals. Far better had the SNP debated the causes of sectarianism, focused on inclusive and instructive education and re-routed its energy into helping hard-pressed Scots by replacing the council tax with a fairer income-based alternative efficiently collected at source, which if I recall, was one of its pre-election flagship policies.

Jack Fraser

Clayknowes Drive

Musselburgh, East Lothian