Feeling Blue: First Minister shares feelings of ‘anger and despair’ following scenes in Glasgow

‘Let’s not allow the irresponsible behaviour of a minority set us all back’

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon criticized Rangers for a ‘lack of leadership’ when she addressed the Holyrood parliament today.

She told MSPs:

The ability to announce even limited changes at this stage is possible only because of the hard sacrifices that the majority of people across the country continue to make each and every single day.

So let me at the outset acknowledge, and be clear that I share, the anger and despair that the vast majority of people – including, I am sure, the majority of football fans – felt at the weekend towards crowds of supporters flagrantly breaching rules that the rest of us are following every day at great personal cost.

The behaviour witnessed at the weekend was disgraceful and it was selfish.

Now it is natural that some of the anger people feel is directed towards the government and the police – I absolutely understand that. All of us must reflect on what more could have been done, and what more we need to do to avoid any repeat in the future.

But those at fault are those who breached the rules.

How the police manage situations like this is, of course, an operational matter – government cannot and should not direct policing operations.

I will though be speaking to the Chief Constable later this afternoon to consider what further action might be necessary to avoid any repeat of the unacceptable scenes we saw at the weekend.

However, no one should doubt the deeply invidious situation that behaviour like this puts the police in as they discharge their responsibility to protect public order and public safety.

We will also be having further discussions this week with the football authorities and with certain football clubs who, in my view, do need to show much more leadership on occasions like this.

Now let me be clear, in making these comments, I really don’t care about the colour of the shirt. My comments on these matters are in no way partisan.

I said some harsh things about Celtic’s decisions at the start of this year. And as far as I am concerned in this case, Rangers Football Club could have done more to help avoid this situation arising at the weekend.

The fact is that elite sport is being allowed to continue just now so that fans – deprived like all of us of so much else in life right now – can continue to watch and support their teams.

It would be deeply unfair if a minority spoil that for the majority, and I very much hope that will not be the case.

But given the fragility of the situation we face right now, we cannot simply turn a blind eye to what happened at the weekend and we won’t.

So we will report back in due course – and certainly ahead of the Old Firm match scheduled for 21 March – on the various discussions taking place this week.

Now finally on this subject, I understand, completely understand, why people watching what unfolded at the weekend might wonder why they are bothering doing the right thing.

The fact is the vast majority of us are doing the right thing because we know it really matters – it matters for our own health and the health of our loved ones.

It is about saving lives. And it is working. As I will set out shortly, we are firmly on the right path.

So, no matter how legitimately angry we feel, let’s not allow the irresponsible behaviour of a minority to set us all back.

Let’s stick with it as we make our way, slowly but surely, back to normality.