I COULDN’T help but be deeply saddened to see the following headline in the prestigious and widely read international journal of policing, Policing Insight, on November 17: “Policing a sectarian Scotland: Still the country’s ‘secret shame’”.
While I’m by no means suggesting that we do not still have a problem, it is objectively diminishing and so I cannot accept this misrepresentation of my country for the entertainment of an international audience.
The report, by Martin Gallagher, a former chief inspector, goes on at some length to describe sectarian violence at some football matches, the disturbing spectacle of Orange Order marches and the explanatory theories of two academics.
Unacceptably, I feel, the report attempts to suggest, based on the views of the academics, that “the emergence and political domination achieved by Scottish nationalism has played into this area”. While these words hold back from directly blaming Scottish nationalism for somehow worsening the situation, the implication is clear.
It would not have been mentioned at all if there was no intention to associate the two. The complete lack of any evidence for any such suggestion is not addressed.
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Reporting, especially in a trusted media outlet, cannot be allowed unchallenged to promote scare stories devoid of facts and which misrepresent the reality of everyday life in Scotland.
What are the facts? They are easily accessible from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in Scotland. Figures from June this year show that crimes with religious aggravation are the least common of hate crimes by some way. They have been at a static and low level for decades and are not increasing.
Racial crime is by far the most common hate crime in Scotland with 3145 charges reported in 2022/23. At least they are down from more than 4500 a decade ago.
Crimes based on sexual orientation are the second most common with 1884 in 2022/23, up dramatically – and tragically – from fewer than 500 only 10 years ago. It may, hopefully, be that this reveals greater courage in reporting such crimes rather than an actual increase in offending.
Equally shameful in Scotland, the third most commonly reported hate crime is that against disabled people. There were 722 such cases reported in 2022/23. Ten years ago, the total was below 500. Again, increased reporting may be an explanation.
Fourth on the list is hate crime against groups identifying with a particular religion. There were 576 such cases reported in 2022/23, slightly up on the previous year but down from a peak 10 years before of almost 100.
Remember, offences against Islamic, Jewish, Catholic and Protestant groups are included in this number.
The Policing Insight report points to the frequency of Orange Order marches in Scotland as a concern. I agree these are unacceptable, but there is no recognition in the report that its ageing membership is plummeting, nor that in the words of Scotland’s leading academic, Professor Tom Devine: “Sectarianism in Scotland is on its deathbed.”
Devine’s view is based on intensive research into the facts on the ground.
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The journal’s report also makes much of the violence between the supporters of Rangers and Celtic but, again, as the evidence above tells us, this is a declining phenomenon increasingly well-managed by Police Scotland.
The disturbing increases in hate crimes against disabled people and gender identification groups is shameful for Scotland.
The fall in racial crimes gives us some hope for the future and that low-level stagnation in crimes against all religious groups also offers some hope for the future. Sectarianism is no longer Scotland’s shame, secret or otherwise.
Finally, returning to the implication that Scottish nationalism may be inflaming sectarianism, this does not survive a collision with the facts. If it were true, then why has hate crime based on religion along with that based on race fallen in the years of SNP dominance?
Allan Dorans is the SNP MP for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock and a former senior police officer in London.
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