MSPs show Football Act the red card as Government suffers symbolic defeat
MSPs have backed a call for the repeal of controversial laws aimed at tackling sectarianism in football in a symbolic defeat for the Scottish Government.
MSPs have backed a call for the repeal of controversial laws aimed at tackling sectarianism in football in a symbolic defeat for the Scottish Government.
A Scottish Conservative motion urging SNP ministers to scrap the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act was supported by 64 to 63 in a vote at Holyrood.
Opposition parties united in condemning the legislation, which criminalised offensive and threatening behaviour, including sectarian behaviour, related to football matches and any communications containing threats or incitement to religious hatred.
It came into force in 2012 after the SNP used its majority in the last Scottish Parliament to pass the Act despite a lack of support from other parties.
Scottish Labour's James Kelly has brought forward a Members' Bill aimed at axing the legislation, while the Liberal Democrats and the Greens also want to see the Act ditched.
While resolutions of the Parliament are not binding for the Government, in a point of order raised after the vote Mr Kelly said the Act is now "clearly dead in the water".
"The Government must therefore bring forward immediate plans on how they will repeal this Act as a matter of urgency."
Mr Kelly later added: "I will take my Bill to the next step of the parliamentary process, but the SNP now needs to reflect hard on this result. Ministers have to reach out to other parties and find a consensus to tackle sectarianism."
Tory justice spokesman Douglas Ross said: "The SNP can now make no mistake - the Scottish Parliament has voted to repeal this hated law.
"There's nowhere for the Scottish Government to go, it has to scrap what was unpopular and ill-thought out legislation.
"This is a historic moment for Holyrood - the days of the SNP rail-roading through this kind of thing are over."
He had earlier told the chamber the SNP was "behaving like a football club that has used all their subs but would rather leave an injured player on the pitch instead of removing him for the benefit of their team".
He added: "To use a footballing analogy, this Act doesn't need a substitution it needs the full-time whistle blown on it."
Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur said the Act was "flawed from the start", while Green MSP John Finnie said his party believes the Act "unnecessarily restricts freedom of expression and has not been the most effective way of addressing these concerns".
But in response, Community Safety Minister Annabelle Ewing said the vote "threatens to set us back as a country in our efforts to effectively combat prejudice, hate crime and sectarianism and ultimately to drive such behaviour out of Scottish society".
She said: "The result of the vote sends completely the wrong message about how serious Parliament as a whole is about doing so - but the Scottish Government remains absolutely committed to that objective.
"Evidence shows strong public support for this legislation, the repeal of which would leave a significant gap in effectively prosecuting hate crime."
She said the Government would "reflect on the debate and give full consideration to all of the issues raised".