MSPs recommend repeal of OBFA

[RangersMedia 35,961]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-42718684 

Quote

MSPs on Holyrood's justice committee have recommended the repeal of the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act.

A majority of members on the committee backed Labour MSP James Kelly's members bill, while stressing that they strongly condemn sectarian behaviour.

SNP members do not want the legislation repealed, but are outnumbered by MSPs from opposition parties, all of whom are in favour of scrapping it.

The first vote on the repeal bill will take place at Holyrood next Thursday.

The Scottish government said repeal would "send entirely the wrong message" and would "put Scotland behind the rest of the UK in terms of protection from incitement to religious hatred".

The Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications Act came into force in 2012 after the SNP used its majority to push through the legislation.

Opponents of the law say it is poorly written, unnecessary in light of existing legislation and unfairly targets football fans - a position now endorsed by Holyrood's justice committee.

Each of Holyrood's opposition parties campaigned on manifesto pledges to scrap it in 2016, and with the SNP now a minority government have moved to do so via Mr Kelly's members bill.

'Unacceptable behaviour'

Justice committee convener Margaret Mitchell said the group was "united in its desire to have laws that help the police and prosecutors to clamp down on unacceptable behaviour".

She added: "Whether the act is finally repealed or not, the message that came through from the vast majority of witnesses was that this legislation needs to be changed.

"It is vitally important that our laws actually improve relationships between various groups within society, including law enforcement and sports fans. The bill will now proceed to its next stage, with a majority of members supporting it."

Opposition parties were almost denied their majority on the justice committee after Orkney's Lib Dem MSP Liam McArthur was unable to make it to parliament due to weather disruption on the day the group signed off their report.

However, his Shetland colleague Tavish Scott was able to step in as a substitute member, giving the opposition an edge of six to five over SNP MSPs.

While there was division over whether to endorse repeal, all members agreed that the Football Act should at least be changed, with the five SNP MSPs who opposed repeal saying the government should "revisit the 2012 Act and bring forward constructive amendments".

The report itself said the committee "unanimously condemns sectarianism, hate crime and offensive behaviour and considers it unacceptable".

They said that should the Football Act be repealed, it would be "important that the Scottish government and relevant stakeholders clearly communicate that offensive behaviour at football and threatening communications can still be tackled and prosecuted using other legislation and common law".

Many witnesses and supporters of the Football Act had urged MSPs to delay consideration of the repeal legislation until an ongoing review of hate crime legislation by Lord Bracadale concludes in the spring. However, the committee report said it "would not be appropriate to delay consideration while Lord Bracadale concludes his work".

Mr Kelly said he was pleased his bill had the backing of the committee, saying this had happened due to "the weight of evidence against the Football Act".

He added: "From day one, the Scottish government pushed through this botched legislation to make it look like ministers were taking action on sectarianism, despite it being made crystal clear at the time that the Football Act was not a viable law.

"The unfortunate reality is the Football Act has completely failed to do anything ministers promised. Its only achievement is breaking down trust between fans and the police."

'Wrong message'

Community safety minister Annabelle Ewing said the majority of people who responded to polling commissioned by the Scottish government had backed the Football Act.

She said: "The evidence in this report clearly shows that a range of organisations have highlighted real concerns to MSPs about depriving our law enforcement agencies of this legislation completely without putting a viable alternative in place.

"We share those manifest concerns that repeal will send entirely the wrong message, leaving vulnerable communities feeling exposed to abuse and prejudice and putting Scotland behind the rest of the UK in terms of protection from incitement to religious hatred, currently provided by section six of the Act.

"Singing songs about terrorism, mocking incidents involving loss of life and being hateful towards some of our most vulnerable communities with no regard for the impact of their wilful behaviours is not acceptable in a modern Scotland."

Fuck the SNP. 

Edit: also, posted in The Bears Den because it applies to all of us.

[mitre_mouldmaster 21,509]

I have absolutely no trust that this is being done in the name of 'fairness'.

[The Specky Forum Organiser 64,428]

"The unfortunate reality is the Football Act has completely failed to do anything ministers promised. Its only achievement is breaking down trust between fans and the police."

Boom

[Theulstervolunteer 1,859]

The SNPira should just give the bill its original name "anti Irish/ catholic " legislation and get on with it .... it was only created to attack one perticular group of people / supporters in this country but had backfired when they started charging tarriers with offences.... welcome to the republic of Scotland not only the reason our game is fucked but also out political system in this country....

[BridgeIsBlue 66,595]

Fuck the pope. 

[BridgeIsBlue 66,595]

[Billy1984 6,314]

6 minutes ago, Theulstervolunteer said:

The SNPira should just give the bill its original name "anti Irish/ catholic " legislation and get on with it .... it was only created to attack one perticular group of people / supporters in this country but had backfired when they started charging tarriers with offences.... welcome to the republic of Scotland not only the reason our game is fucked but also out political system in this country....

Spot on mate. 

[plumbGER 24,518]

6 minutes ago, Theulstervolunteer said:

The SNPira should just give the bill its original name "anti Irish/ catholic " legislation and get on with it .... it was only created to attack one perticular group of people / supporters in this country but had backfired when they started charging tarriers with offences.... welcome to the republic of Scotland not only the reason our game is fucked but also out political system in this country....

The MSP for Shettleston (i think) even said as much.

[bluenose244 2,618]

I'm sick to the back teeth of it, why can they not just admit defeat and drop the whole thing, then start a campaign called "sticks and stones." for example, and combat the ones who are so easily offended by word's and singing. 

The people who are "offended" for the most part don't even go to games or have even a simple understanding of the culture. 

It's the equivalent of someone who hates violence going to a boxing match then complaining about it, or someone with no sense of humor attending a comedy show. 

You know what you are getting at the football - and if you are easily offended it's probably not for you. 

 

[simplythebest 11,453]

Any of this be binding?

[SeparateEntityMyArse 53,613]

19 minutes ago, Theulstervolunteer said:

The SNPira should just give the bill its original name "anti Irish/ catholic " legislation and get on with it .... it was only created to attack one perticular group of people / supporters in this country but had backfired when they started charging tarriers with offences.... welcome to the republic of Scotland not only the reason our game is fucked but also out political system in this country....

This.

[goaaaal 945]

Ill be in the minority despite its initial targeting amidst robust policing it only started tackling the Scum the last few years hence why I think these patsy politicians got involved on their behalf only & for one reason only.

I was always of the opinion that if you screwed the nut then you'd be less likely to be singled out in whatever methods plod employed there's plenty of cases where our supporters & more Importantly RFC  should have taken plod to task!¬  the hanging effigies was one at The Scumdome it was patently obvious nothing was going to be done about it until a real fuss was kicked up about it otherwise it would have went like a lot of their antics the last few years conveniently ignored.

 

Just for the fact most of the scums antics have been with tacit approval from within assembly of such disgraceful displays "poppy banner" their farc mouthpiece claiming to represent all supporters clearly no friend of a Rangers Supporter so even allowing for  individual input from bears in reality it meant Fuck All as this isn't being proposed for the greater good & Bastards like Lennon get off scot free having been one of the major instigators of the ill feeling both on & off the park the facts surrounding his west end incident are in  stark contrast to what was portrayed in the court case .

 

Anyone who thinks this legislation good or bad in repeal is something celebratory is kidding themselves on imo the only ones celebrating are the Scummy Bastards who spent all their time & still do to blacken our supporters for the last 15 years at home & abroad we'd do well to remember that.

 

it was by no means perfect but provided our supporters screwed the nut then the legislation was biting into those Bastards despite their blaze attitude in thinking they were untouchable so any time there is a discrepancy in policing it should have been highlighted but a combination of whipping up a pre derby with doom ^& gloom from plod in the media played to their advantage to employ whatever tactics they felt appropriate with a clear sanction from Holyrood however it never was applied convincingly across the board will a repeal make them more accountable not imo something the scummy tims have been all too ready to exploit with tales of woe & victimhood to get this repealed yet the Hypocritical Bastards have been the biggest exploiters whilst playing the victim card it not only shows how Fucking bad the politicos in this country are its time our supporters really made these Bastards accountable at the ballet box

I Fucking despise the Nationalists but on this I agreed with their stance only for the point of how the tables were being turned as they bastards as always never take heed of the old adage of giving them enough rope that alone was always going to be their undoing .

[RangersMedia 35,961]

15 minutes ago, simplythebest said:

Any of this be binding?

No, but it'll now go for a vote next week and the MSPs supporting the repeal outnumber the SNP MSPs who support it.

Only issue will be if the Government come forward with amendments to the bill and win back some of the MSPs who are currently wanting to repeal it.

[Prso's headband 35,342]

Must be arresting too many tarriers obviously  

Probably repeal this and just make it exclusively for Rangers fans. 

[Tiger Shaw 30,345]

What the tarriers want the tarriers get.      'We want a bill'  here you go. '  Nah thats not how it should work' ok bhoys we'll sort that for yese...

Fucking taig cunts

[cushynumber 25,178]

Ive always found it amazing that someone could get jailed for "offensive behaviour" because it is so subjective. It is a victims charter - whereby if someone decides they are offended, they shout "I am offended" and the law kicks in on there side. That was never right and was always way open to abuse.

So we had arseholes saying they were "offended" by the Famine Song, and suddenly the song was on the list of "things to be careful about" because you could get lifted for singing it - or people were offended by the TBB - not just because of the fenian word - but nowadays the narrative became "I find the whole song offensive" - so even a derivation of it without the fenian in it was then deemed dodgy - which was ridiculous

I am glad to see the back of this - it was unworkable and a puerile attempt by taigs in the SNP to collar our support

 

[FSM 20,892]

I don't think it will be repealed, but in a face saving exercise for the SNP the police will be quietly advised not to enforce it.

[cushynumber 25,178]

i think it will be repealed

[Blue Avenger 22,567]

7 minutes ago, FSM said:

I don't think it will be repealed, but in a face saving exercise for the SNP the police will be quietly advised not to enforce it.

Aye, on the fucking taigs.

[Blue Avenger 22,567]

 

2 minutes ago, cushynumber said:

i think it will be repealed

 

Hope your right.

[Gman36 3,455]

It's really disturbing to think that the legislation was introduced almost entirely to attack us. And it's difficult to shake off the feeling that the only reason it's being derided is because it's attacking everyone.

If they'd found a way to word the legislation so that it could only be used against us then I seriously doubt there would be widespread support for its repeal. 

[Bears r us 30,771]

This was put in place by taigs for taigs but then started to catch taigs, so I am not sure repealing it will help us, but I can understand why our supports would want it removed. 

 

[SeparateEntityMyArse 53,613]

"Main victims of abuse are Catholics & Irish. Act challenges such abuse. So main beneficiaries are intended to be Catholics & Irish"

- John Mason MSP.

"OBAF Act is pro Catholic and pro Irish. It is because so many Irish and Catholics were victims that the Act was brought in. It is there to help Irish and Catholics"

- John Mason MSP

 

 

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://fansagainstcriminalisation.com/tag/jeanette-findlay/&ved=0ahUKEwikvuuzt-HYAhWiLsAKHXgcA-8QFgggMAE&usg=AOvVaw3-4qBgIIQbvjQmO59q02C2

 

[plumbGER 24,518]

1 minute ago, Sportingintegritymyarse said:

"Main victims of abuse are Catholics & Irish. Act challenges such abuse. So main beneficiaries are intended to be Catholics & Irish"

- John Mason MSP.

"OBAF Act is pro Catholic and pro Irish. It is because so many Irish and Catholics were victims that the Act was brought in. It is there to help Irish and Catholics"

- John Mason MSP

 

 

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://fansagainstcriminalisation.com/tag/jeanette-findlay/&ved=0ahUKEwikvuuzt-HYAhWiLsAKHXgcA-8QFgggMAE&usg=AOvVaw3-4qBgIIQbvjQmO59q02C2

 

That's the prick i was talking about.

[Brian Fantana 28,894]

if it's repealed then i hope the club take action to cancel any and all bans on fans who were charged under this pile of shite.

 

K.A.I - if they do, try changing your defence from "on pitch exuberance" to "sectarian exuberance" so they let you back in as well.