Scotland must thank an Englishman for having any kind of international reputation this week. His name is Tom Bardsley. And unless the former army medic had pulled PC Mick Regan from the baying mob after the Rangers v Zenit Uefa Cup final, it's possible that policeman would now be dead. Not certain. Maybe not even likely. But possible. And that possibility should be shaking Scotland's footballing and political leadership to the core.
Instead, there has been complacency from sporting naysayers who cannot recognise last week's violence for what it is – a massive wake-up call for Scotland.
The excuses made for the "Battle of Manchester" were as depressing as they were predictable. It wisnae us. There were apparently wild men from Ulster and London present – a modern variant of Billy Connolly's classic excuse: "A big boy done it and ran away." If wild Ulstermen were present, has anyone asked why? Why, over a quarter of a century of violence, has Northern Ireland failed to find any better local repositories for sectarian rivalry than Scotland's Rangers and Celtic? Why have Linfield, Cliftonville or Glentoran not become clubs of choice for the divided fans of Belfast? Why bother when the chants, strips, songs, colours, religion and flags of the Scottish Old Firm offer a re-enactment of the Battle of the Boyne every weekend?
Other excuses are just as bad. It could have happened anywhere in Scotland on a Saturday night. It's quite unbelievable that this casual admission of the truth can be uttered by people who actually live in the country they've just described. Unless they never go out on a Saturday night and have no children. Or friends.
There were only 42 arrests. Strange that no-one has related this to the other great excuse – there were not enough police. If there were more police, there would have been far more arrests. If you haven't already done so, go to the BBC website and watch the videos of PC Regan under attack and a car being trashed. Count how many people you see. At least 42 were involved in each disturbance. And these were just the incidents captured on film. In subsequent radio phone-ins, it became apparent that Scots had trashed some parts of Blackpool after staying there the previous night.
Ah, but it was "just a few" supporters who went overboard.
Well, that's all right then. Until you consider what "just a few" can do.
Just a few cells can house terminal cancer. Just a few degrees of temperature change can melt an ice-cap. Just a few doubts can create a recession. Just a few myths can justify domestic violence. Just a few ghettos can perpetuate an underclass. Just a few no-go zones can create a breeding ground for despair. Just a few "good rammies" can create the notion that drink-fuelled rage is the only fitting climax to a "good" weekend. And just a few more complacent responses about male rage will prompt even more Scottish women to leave Scotland and raise their families elsewhere.
Does civic Scotland have the will, the courage or even the insight needed to tackle Macho Caledonia? Can we accept that large parts of our society are out of control, and dominated by the threat of male violence and the misuse of power?
Rangers' hopeful pilgrimage to Manchester wasn't devoid of women – or even kids taken off school – but it was a largely laddish affair. The film reports tell the story. Six packs of super lager with packaging casually discarded. Objects hurled immediately and petulantly in the aftermath of the big screen failure. Men swarming round cars and smashing every inch of their surfaces, like practised professionals who have that kind of "fun" every Scottish weekend. And the most horrific scene of the lot – the mob piling on top of PC Mick Regan.
Watching that piece of CCTV footage brought back memories.
Twenty years ago in Belfast, two British Army corporals, David Howes and Derek Wood, were abducted, beaten, stabbed, shot and killed by Irish republicans after they drove into the funeral of an IRA volunteer killed in a loyalist attack.
Corporal Wood was shot six times and stabbed four times. Father Alec Reid, who later played a significant part in the peace process, administered the last rites to one of the men. An enduring image of Northern Ireland's nightmare shows him kneeling beside the soldier's body, his face uplifted in horror.
Don't tell me this absolutely couldn't have happened last week.
Filmed from above – like the final moments of David Howes and Derek Wood – the sudden, almost involuntary, surge of the crowd is viewed with the dispassionate clarity of the airborne eye. This time, mercifully, the policeman escaped.
If he hadn't, the consequences would have been appalling.
The killing of the corporals 20 years ago took place against a backdrop of terrible tit-for-tat violence. Weeks earlier, three IRA members had been killed in Gibraltar. Their funerals were attacked by UDA man Michael Stone, who killed three people – one of them, IRA man Kevin Brady. Fearing another paramilitary attack, Brady's funeral three days later was attended by large numbers of IRA volunteers. When the plain-clothed soldiers inexplicably drove into the mêlée and fired a warning shot to disperse the crowd, a torrent of violence was almost inevitable.
What background like that existed in Manchester? A screen failed? A few Portaloos were full?
Last week, Scotland was laid bare. Ours is a society only partly based on reason and partly based on uncontrolled male aggression. Emotional excess is excused by polite society, admired by other men and aped by girls. Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill and Glasgow council leader Steven Purcell are right to say the attack was shameful and unacceptable. They would also be right to recognise Tom Bardsley as the man who averted tragedy, and gave Scotland a breathing space it hardly deserves.
belter !
i like the 'just a few's :)
as for the male-aggression, thats' spot on, too. everyone knows this male aggression, and its' not only in scotland.
Politics is a huge base for such aggressiveness - only there it's called 'robust': well, i'm fed up with that stuff now, and crave words of kindness, Love, friendship, joy, fun, art .. something children can understand. anything that speaks to people like they are cherished humans, not a Trauma-driven demographic.
great blog
world of Love :)
Posted by: bru | May 19, 2008 at 02:14 PM