Comments on: Scotland, Scotland, Jason Scotland!

By: DC

DC — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 17:13:13 +0000

As an Englishman who travels the world for work and decided to take the family to the highlands last year for our annual holiday, I see a common pattern emerge. Firstly, neighbouring countries around the world all have passionate rivalry and there is nothing wrong with that.
Secondly, the more people travel the more people they meet and soon realise that on a one-to-one level, we make friends and find it impossible to hold illogical “anti-foreigner” sentiments. Scots people have English friends and vice versa. We had a fantastic holiday.
One place where it all goes wrong is when the media pick up on a “story” such as Andy Murray supporting “anyone playing the English” which we come to expect anyway (it is a natural human reaction in some to not want your neighbours to do too well – envy, gloating, perceived arrogance etc.). Instead of seeing a nation of individuals we get along with, we see a country against us. As the Scots and Welsh seek indivdual identity from the UK, so the English have felt snubbed and the mass appearance of the St George’s flag over the Union Flag is perhaps the first signs of eventual break up of our United Kingdom. There are no winners, we are all losers because together we are stronger.
Another thing which the mindless, stirred up by the media need to understand, is that because the media report on Rooney’s foot or have us either winning the World Cup or so bad we should be out, it is not necessarily the “arrogant” thoughts of every english person. We don’t all ring into Talkshite radio and agree with dickhead Alan Parry.
Three cheers for Alan Hanson and David Moyes for being able to stand being on a show and saying nice things about England occassionally

By: Jim Muir

Jim Muir — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 23:48:32 +0000

Please can someone help me access a copy of this song. Scottish and proud supporting every one except England

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 00:43:55 +0000

Stevo, I can’t see how the Scots support for anyone playing against England would put anyone off visiting Scotland. We really appreciated their support and their good nature in Germany. I’m sure the Swedes and Paraguays found them charming as well.

By: stevo

stevo — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 20:00:04 +0000

It is very sad that there are so many bigots with big chips on their shoulders in Scotland.They are all complaining about the hype of the English football team and have completely forgotten about all the hype on the famous Allies army Scotland squad (who of course the English supported).
If you carry on you will put off tourists coming to Scotland, and as it is our country’s largest provider of income, don’t you think that its a little stupid? Or are you just going to carry on with that chip and let everyone else look at us and wonder what bigoted twis we are?

By: Peter Dawson

Peter Dawson — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 17:32:46 +0000

I’ve lived in Scotland for 15 years now and I think the racism towards England and the English is becoming pretty pathetic. In the news today is a story about how a primary school kid was punched in Edinburgh for wearing an England shirt and a handicapped man was dragged from his car and beaten up in Aberdeen for commiting the same sin. If this is what ‘rising up and becoming a nation again’ means then its very sad. Racists always have excuses for their actions and if people can’t face up to the facts and keep diverting attention from the problem by citing other people’s behaviour then things are only going to get worse. Get a life.

By: andytaz

andytaz — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 19:40:25 +0000

british by birth english by the grace of god. it,s comming home

By: taz

taz — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 16:49:45 +0000

absolutely loved the choon man bloody brilliant well done

By: marvin andrews

marvin andrews — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 03:40:36 +0000

yis got lucky the day, god will se that justice is done in the second round

By: Big Jase

Big Jase — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 03:39:29 +0000

ok that kind of thing is bad but is it not just down to mindless neds rather than any kind of influence by a politician who after all is just looking for votes with his comments. also i don’t really think any english person can accuse others of racism if you see their behaviour out in germany with their inflatable spitfires etc. Also i was listening to talk sport the other day when the scottish sun’s Jim Leckie came on. Within minutes the presenter had already mentioned culloden and all this pish. on talksport they were even discussing who they would most hate to see iwn the world cup with adrian durham i think saying “the germans cos of the war” ..and then you wonder why no one actually likes the english

By: ian

ian — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 01:54:06 +0000

The article below shows where your petty prejudices are leading to.I aint arguing you support England – just calm it down a bit – people are getting hurt.Get worked up about something meaningful like climate change or the Iraq war.I have lived in Glasgow for 10 years & to be honest some peoples behaviour in the last few weeks as been very disappointing.There are on par with a lot of the morons who call themselves england supporters

World Cup snub by Scots leader ‘fuels anti-English racism’
By David Lister, Scotland Correspondent

AN ENGLAND football fan living in Scotland blamed the country’s First Minister yesterday for stoking anti-English racism after his windows were smashed because he was displaying the St George’s flag.
Amid rising fears that Scotland may be boycotted by tourists from south of the Border over Jack McConnell’s refusal to support England in the World Cup, Allan Robinson, 44, accused the First Minister of putting English people living in Scotland at risk.

Police said that they were investigating an “act of vandalism” on Mr Robinson’s home in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, in which three windows were smashed as the opening game of the tournament got under way last Friday.

Anti-racism campaigners described the attack as “moronic”, but Mr Robinson, who is originally from Leeds and moved to Scotland five years ago, blamed the First Minister. “Me putting up a single flag . . . and my windows going through, I think it’s all to do with what Jack McConnell says.

“I was horrified by the attack. All three bedroom windows were smashed in. My girlfriend and I went down the shops and I was in my England strip. I got abuse hurled at me. I didn’t leave my house all weekend. I’m thinking it might be safer to move.”

The attack will further damage Scotland’s reputation as a welcoming and tolerant nation, already under scrutiny after the First Minister’s remarks. Asked last month whether he would be supporting England, Mr McConnell said: “No, I will not. Scotland is not there and that’s disappointing. And there are people who think that as First Minister I should automatically support England instead. But football is not about politics, so I will not be.”

The First Minister’s office denied that Mr McConnell had encouraged anti-Englishness. A spokesman refused to discuss the incident but said: “There is no place for racism in Scotland and we will do whatever we can to tackle that.” This week a group of 60 chartered surveyors from England cancelled a two-day conference at an hotel in Scotland because of Mr McConnell’s comments.

Tourism chiefs are concerned that the English may boycott Scotland after Mr McConnell’s remarks, but Visit Scotland, the tourist authority, said that, with one exception, there were no indications that this was happening.

Although Gordon Brown has said that he will be supporting England along with “two thirds of Scots”, most of the 400,000 English people living north of the Border will find that statistic hard to believe.

Sports shops across Scotland have struggled to cope with demand for Trinidad & Tobago strips and Jason Scotland, the Trinidadian striker who plays for St Johnstone, the Scottish first division team, has become a cult hero with a song in his name sweeping to the top of the charts.

Some bars are offering free drinks whenever England concede a goal and a sports shop in Angus is giving free golf balls to anybody wearing the strips of England’s opponents.

The Scottish Commission for Racial Equality has cautioned against anti-English racism, while schoolchildren who make anti-English remarks in class have been threatened with suspension. The letters pages of newspapers have been inun- dated with complaints about England’s World Cup “hysteria”and the endless coverage of Wayne Rooney’s foot.