Copyright scotsman
Scotland is officially a satire state. No sooner had former MP and self-anointed working-class hero Mhairi Black announced she was now a luvvie – Black is to play a police officer in a forthcoming BBC Scotland drama – than Police Scotland threatened to charge one of the country’s leading women’s rights campaigners with vandalising an umbrella. A pride brolly at that, and in contemporary Scotland there is surely no worse crime. After a rigorous investigation of events at the September 4 rally outside the Scottish Parliament, organised by For Women Scotland (FWS), officers of Holyrood’s crack police unit decided that FWS director Susan Smith should be issued with a formal police warning for ‘breaking’ the aforementioned umbrella. And if she refused to accept the censure, she was to be charged with a crime. Smith, one of the most polite and unflappable women I know, immediately recruited a criminal defence lawyer with support from the Free Speech Union, while on social media, thousands of women erupted in fury over this latest gratuitous attack on their sex. Want the latest Scottish headlines sent directly to your phone? Sign up to our new WhatsApp Channel here. The officers, who clearly model themselves on the stars of the spoof cop series Scot Squad – had no doubt convinced themselves of their genius at cracking the crime of the century, but even a cursory examination of the evidence, including video footage, shows that Smith did not commit any crime. On September 4 male stripper Tom Harlow proceeded to Holyrood where he mounted a one-man protest against the regiment of monstrous women gathered outside the parliament. But instead of blasting a trumpet against the uppity females, he turned up his portable disco to over 100 decibels in an attempt to drown out the speakers, who included the record-breaking round-the-world sailor Tracy Edwards and several MSPs from across the party divide. READ MORE: For Women Scotland: Campaigner facing vandalism charge after spat involving brolly outside Parliament Note to Police Scotland: there are several laws covering noise, including section 54 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 which states: “Any person who operates any radio or television receiver, record player, tape-recorder or other sound producing device so as to give any other person reasonable cause for annoyance and fails to desist on being required to do so by a constable in uniform shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £50.” Smith asked Harlow, politely, to turn down the volume which was by then causing many of the women real distress, including your columnist who had to remove her hearing aids, so loud was the noise. Harlow responded by pointing his already broken pride brolly in her face, which she brushed gently with her hand. This is the incident, which lasted all of 20 seconds, that led to the “constables in uniform” threatening Smith with criminal charges earlier this week. READ MORE: Female engineer 'forced to use secret toilets' after encounter with trans colleague The fact that Police Scotland later backtracked – saying a review on its handling of the September 4 protest, which “includes the complaint of an umbrella being damaged”, is not yet complete – is irrelevant. Smith has been left in legal limbo, while Scotland’s hapless police force decides whether touching a broken brolly is a crime. What is relevant is Police Scotland’s past record. Only a few weeks ago, a freedom of information request by policy analysts Murray Blackburn Mackenzie (MBM) revealed that an independent review of the force carried out last year found ample evidence of sexism, misogyny and violence against women. The report describes Scotland’s national police force as having a 'toxic' culture resembling "a boys' club" where inappropriate behaviour by senior male officers is commonplace. Is it any wonder then that on September 4, the “constables in uniform” took the side of a male heckler assaulting women with 100 decibels instead of protecting their safety and wellbeing. Those noisy women clearly left Harlow with no option but to turn up the volume. On Thursday, when asked by Tess White MSP about the curious incident of the broken umbrella and the apparent attempt to intimidate and silence women, John Swinney replied that it would be “inappropriate of me to comment on a case that is under active engagement with Police Scotland”. He went on: “If I were to do that habitually, lots of members of parliament would complain about me doing so.” The First Minister is correct. He should not provide a running commentary on Police Scotland’s every operational mishap – he has a country to run after all – but it is appropriate for him to make his feelings known about the toxic culture that pervades our national police force, as evidenced by its own report. Police Scotland’s core purpose, as formally defined in the 2012 legislation that established the force, is to “improve the safety and wellbeing of people, places and communities in Scotland”. In recent years, it has rebranded itself as a “rights-based organisation”, whatever that means. And over the last decade many campaigners have come to the reluctant conclusion that the police are not neutral in the battle for women’s rights. Today, hundreds of women will gather outside the parliament to mark 199 days since the Supreme Court ruled that the sex in the 2010 Equality Act is based on biology and not self-identification. The protest has been organised by the grassroots group Women Won’t Wheesht in response to the Scottish Government and Westminster’s delay in implementing the ruling. There are similar protests planned in London and Cardiff. A campaign group Resisting Transphobia in Edinburgh has organised a counter protest with a “PA system and chanting”. Its supporters are advised to wear masks to hide their identity and urged to bring “megaphones and drums” in a clear intention to drown out women’s voices. Police Scotland has a choice today. Defend women’s right to protest and allow their voices to be heard or, as happened on September 4, enable men to harass women into a deafening silence.
