Shameful, but Nicola should look at her own behaviour
YOU need a thick skin to get involved in politics. That much is true whether you are an elected representative, or working behind the scenes, or even just a committed party activist. However, that doesn’t mean that any Scottish Conservative heading to hear from the candidates to be Prime Minister last week should have been fair game for abuse.
The scenes in Perth on Tuesday night should shame us all, no matter our political persuasion or even if we have no persuasion at all.
Everyone has the right to protest. It is one of the cornerstones of our democracy and we should treasure it.
However, the behaviour of a group of pro-independence supporters outside Perth Concert Hall was completely unacceptable. It was deplorable and despicable.
What we witnessed was spitting on pensioners, intimidating young members, chucking eggs at those walking in, and shouting scum, traitor, liar and other aggressive terms at loyal party members who merely wanted to hear from Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss.
Typically, this abuse was delivered towards journalists as well, who were just doing their job.
Any notion of civil conversation goes out of the window when the opportunity arises for these supporters of independence to let off pent-up aggression.
Perhaps most shocking of all, the newly elected chairwoman of the Scottish Young Conservatives was spat on, had her coat grabbed and was called a Tory wh***. What a way to try to convince young women to continue with their passion for politics.
I get that politics makes people angry. I get that the current situation has pushed many people to breaking point. But those trying to make their way into the building on Tuesday were effectively running a gauntlet of hate.
While things came to a head outside the Concert Hall with the behaviour that we’ve seen widely reported, it may have been even worse. Some protesters broke through the barriers and attempted to storm the building.
We don’t know for sure what they would have done because security staff quickly prevented anyone getting in, but their motives seem clear – they wanted to cause maximum trouble, fear and alarm. This isn’t the Scotland I want to see.
It was a stark reminder of how divisive the debate around independence has grown since the 2014 referendum. We witnessed enough scenes that weren’t befitting of democratic debate back then.
Tuesday night showed why the vast majority of Scots do not want another independence referendum. They do not want community pitted against community again. Families and friendships torn apart all over again. Not with so many challenges facing our country.
The global cost-of-living crisis, recovery from the pandemic, NHS backlogs, our drug deaths scandal, delivering ferries for our islands and closing the attainment gap in our schools are just some of the issues I want our politics to be focused on, rather than the bitter and polarising debate around the constitution.
This culture has been allowed to fester within the nationalist movement for too long. Nicola Sturgeon must take responsibility and condemn all the abuse directed by proindependence supporters.
She must also reflect on her own words and tone. Her snarling condemnation of all Tories in Scotland in the lead-up to the 2019 General Election no doubt spurs on her nationalist backers.
If Nicola Sturgeon can scream hate and fury at the Tories into a microphone to a crowd, why can’t they?
For too long her SNP has turned Scot against Scot. If action is not taken then scenes like Tuesday will be seen again before too long.
I don’t want that for my party members and I don’t want it for my country. MAC IS AWAY
Her snarling spurs on her nationalist backers