The detested Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications Act looks set to be axed as one of the first acts of the new Scottish Parliament.
With the SNP government no longer holding an overall majority and all opposition parties making manifesto promises to dismantle the 2012 law the writing is on the wall for the controversial legislation which was prompted by three Rangers (IL) players being sent off against Celtic in 2011.
In the four years since the Act became law dozens of cases have been thrown out over the dubious grounds of police officers trying to judge whether a mystery person may be offended by a song or chant.
Early in the lifetime of the act Police Scotland came under heavy criticism for kettling a group of Celtic fans at the Gallowgate with that action viewed as an extreme of heavy handed policing.
In the Sunday Herald, Conservative, Labour, Scottish Greens and Lib Dem politicians are all quoted opposing the Act.
The LibDem spokesman said: “The Act was pushed through when the SNP had a bulldozer majority. Now they have lost seats they have to listen to other voices. After repeal the Scottish Government should instead take forward the recommendations of the Independent Advisory Group on Tackling Sectarianism.”
Dr Stuart Waiton, senior sociology lecturer at Abertay University and author of Snob’s Law, a book on the OBFA, told the Sunday Herald: “It certainly seems that opposition politicians are prepared to be opportunistic and oppose the law now. The main problem is that no politician is prepared to oppose all the laws that mean fans can be arrested for singing offensive songs and that’s what we need, a revitalisation of basic liberal principles of freedom of speech.
“Unfortunately things are going the other way and we are seeing more and more people claiming ‘offence’ and more police time spent chasing people who are guilty of nothing more than speech crimes. I’m not holding my breath.”
Despite thousands of season ticket holders singing of how much they enjoy being knee deep in other peoples blood during the Sevco v Hibs match on 28 December 2015 Police Scotland have still to make a single arrest from the match which was televised live by BT Sport, no action has been taken by the SPFL
