JOHN SWINNEY ADDRESSES GLASGOW DERBY BANNER, SHOWS USUAL COWARDICE
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- May 6
- 3 min read
So, more than 24 hours after The Rangers support shamed Scotland once again, our political leader finally found his tongue.
Unfortunately, his words were so feeble, he as well not have bothered.
Once again, as his party so often like to do when asked to act on anything other than their stated desire for Scottish independence, he passed the buck onto others.
Swinney Abdicates Glasgow Derby Banner Responsibility to Police
Speaking to The National Newspaper, Swinney said: “Obviously there was a banner displayed which was unacceptable at the weekend.”
Yeah, very observant of you John. Yes, there was a totally unacceptable Glasgow Derby banner. From the Rangers end. I feel compelled to say that because you seem to have forgotten this team's name. But anyway. what do you and your government actually plan to do about it?
Well, nothing, it would seem, according to what Swinney said next.
He continued: “These issues have to be addressed by the clubs themselves but also by the police if they judge it appropriate to do so. And that judgment fundamentally rests with the police in that respect.”
No Mr. Swinney, just no. “The clubs” don’t have an issue here.
One club has an issue here. That one club is Rangers, and as usual, like the spineless cretin you are, you refuse to name them.
A leader with any sort of courage or indeed political savvy would call this behavior out right now, name the club responsible and demand that they sort it, or the government will do it for them.
This had nothing to do with Celtic or our fans. No more guilt by association. We will not be thrown in the same category with people showing that level of unreasoning hatred.
As I said yesterday, I really don’t get why the SNP cower before this fascist, extremist element within the Rangers support. These people will never vote for you. Unionism and British Nationalism are integral parts of their “staunch” persona.
Indeed, all Swinney is doing here is driving away long-time SNP voters like me, who are sick and tired of their inability to call a spade a spade when it comes to Rangers and their fans' anti-Irish racism.
Furthermore, Swinney’s insistence that the police need to take the lead in dealing with this shows a further inability to take charge when its needed.
The police will, ultimately do nothing, just like they did after the last game, and the one before that.
I mean, we already saw evidence tampering live on the TV with regards to the bottle thrown on the pitch. A competent, or should I say committed, police force would have ordered the game stopped immediately, so that bottle could be isolated and taken away for evidential analysis.
Instead, a Rangers substitute, who I believe did so with good intentions, was allowed to enter the pitch, pick up the bottle and carry it off.
Like I said, I have no issue with that individual, he truly believed he was doing the right thing removing a dangerous object from the field of play. But the police should have stepped in long before he had to.
This kind of overt thuggery wouldn’t be allowed in any other form of public life. Mr. Swinney had no trouble finding his voice last week when he leapt onto the Pro-Genocide bandwagon going after the Irish band Kneecap.
Yet when Rangers fans first threaten and then commit acts of actual violence, he barely manages a whisper.
At the end of the day, the man is a coward and like any effective bully, Rangers and their supporters continue to walk all over him because of it.
Sadly, for the people of Scotland, I honestly don’t know if it would be any different if we had another party in charge. This fear when facing down fascism seems to run through the entirety of Scotland’s political establishment.
Meanwhile, the solitary Celtic fan who made sick gestures towards the home end in reference to the 1971 Ibrox disaster was sacked from his job this morning, and will, in due course, probably be banned from Celtic Park too.
Credit to his employer for acting so quickly and decisively. At least there are still some people in Scotland who believe in accountability.
