15:46
The next item of business is an urgent question. In order to get in as many members as possible—a number of members have supplementaries—I would prefer short and succinct questions, and answers to match.
Football Disorder in Glasgow (Discussions)
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Police Scotland, local authorities and football stakeholders following the disorder seen in Glasgow city centre last weekend.
As the First Minister has stated, the Scottish Government utterly condemns the incidents of violence, vandalism and antisocial behaviour that took place on Saturday. Although the vast majority of fans are well-behaved, it is clear that when a minority are not, the impacts on policing and on a range of services are enormous, and it is the taxpayer who foots the bill. We fully support Police Scotland, and I have sent my best wishes to the officers who were injured in the disorder while helping someone with a medical emergency.
Ministers have been regularly updated on events and the Scottish Government has engaged with Police Scotland, Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Professional Football League, and incoming ministers will do so again. They will make it clear that governing bodies and individual clubs must step up and use their influence to help tackle this continuing misconduct.
I thank the cabinet secretary for that reply and I, too, wish the police officers who were injured on Saturday a speedy recovery.
The overwhelming majority of supporters enjoyed their day responsibly, and it is important that any measures that may come forward do not unfairly impact or punish law-abiding fans. However, does the cabinet secretary agree that all football clubs and relevant authorities have a shared responsibility to minimise the risk of disorder around major fixtures and celebrations? Where such preparations require to be backed by funding, where does the Government think that that should come from?
I thank Mr Harley for his question and congratulate him on being the first member to lodge an urgent question successfully in this new session of Parliament.
He is quite correct to state that the majority of sports fans and football fans are law abiding, but we have seen the consequences when the mindless minority has an impact on our communities and on our policing, and that cannot be tolerated. We must all—Government, local authorities, other stakeholders, the football authorities and football clubs—act together.
I stand here as the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, and it is clear to me that, if there had been a managed, organised celebration, the impact on policing would have been much less than it was. Police Scotland had to deploy more than 900 police officers, and two of those were significantly harmed. We must reflect on that, and each and every stakeholder must get on the same page and ensure that, where possible, we minimise the risk of it happening again.
It is also not right that local businesses should have to close or clean up. There was a significant impact on local businesses over the weekend. People need to know in advance where in the city will be impacted, so that any future disruption can be managed, whether that is through fan zones, open-top bus parades or whatever other way people want to celebrate. For that to happen, we need co-ordination and leadership.
What further guidance can the Scottish Government provide in order to prevent a repeat of the disruption that we saw at the weekend?
It is useful to note two things. First, if the result had been different, there was a well-planned and co-ordinated arrangement for a celebration in Edinburgh.
The second factor is that, with good, visible, local leadership, operation moonbeam has taken action all year round in response to the fireworks-related violence and disruption that have blighted our communities. Making clear the consequences of such behaviour has driven down violence and disorder around fireworks. We need to learn from operation moonbeam in that respect.
The scenes that we witnessed in Glasgow at the weekend were beyond disgraceful, but let us be blunt—they happen way too often. Glaswegians should not have to live with such violence, vandalism and behaviour every year, and clubs must take responsibility.
Does the minister agree that, rather than taxpayers, Celtic Football Club and other teams must start paying the bill for disruption and destruction when such incidents happen?
As I intimated in my original answer, which I will repeat for clarity, governing bodies and individual clubs must step up and use their influence to help to tackle this continued misconduct. My view is that nothing should be off the table now. I will do what I can within my powers, as will any minister in this Government, but no solution should be off the table. We all need to get on the same page and prevent such disorder from happening in the first place.
Presiding Officer, I welcome you to your position.
Does the Government agree with Glasgow City Council’s claim that it is simply not possible to establish an official managed fan zone because the council cannot bear the burden of the cost? Given that the impact of football in Glasgow is equivalent to hosting a Commonwealth games every year, could the Government show some leadership in pulling together funding between the local authority, national Government, commercial sponsors and the football clubs to establish an official fan zone, to prevent Glasgow’s streets and emergency services from being subjected to entirely preventable disorder every year?
I have to be candid with members—as justice secretary, I had a full briefing from Police Scotland on Friday about the preparations that had been made, irrespective of the result. I contrast the preparations that were made in one half of the country with the preparations that were made in the other half. Therefore, I must respectfully disagree with some of the commentary from Glasgow City Council.
I repeat what I said to Mr Kerr: no solutions should be off the table. We all have something to bring to the table, and we have to prevent such disorder from happening again. Prevention falls on us all. It is not down to Police Scotland to be the only player in this; the organisation and its officers should not be exposed to such behaviour. We know from other experiences that good planning prevents or, at least, reduces the risk of disorder. We need to plan not just in the weeks and months ahead; like operation moonbeam, that has to be a consistent endeavour, with good local leadership.
I have lost count of the number of times that questions like this one have been asked in relation to an incident like this one. The citizens of Glasgow are as sick of it as we are—more so, in fact.
The behaviour of fans—of whichever club—in such incidents is unacceptable. Surely, it is not enough for the cabinet secretary to talk about encouraging clubs to step up and share responsibility. Is it not time that we were very clear and that we made clubs face legal consequences for the actions of their fans in such circumstances?
I appreciate thoroughly that the good people of Glasgow and the communities impacted by the disorder will be at their wits’ end. As Mr Sweeney said, aspects of that behaviour are predictable, as we have seen over the years.
Mr Harvie will be aware of the action that this Government is prepared to take—it is in our manifesto—in relation to widening the scope of football banning orders. I am open to any review involving, for example, the criminal law in such matters. That does not, by any stretch of the imagination, allow any other partner, the football authorities or football clubs to walk away from their responsibilities. No solution should be off the table.
We need to get together and have very frank, but respectful, conversations. We all need to get on the same page to prevent this from happening. There is evidence that, where they have been implemented in Scotland and elsewhere in Europe, sporting sanctions have an impact.
Scottish Police Federation joint central committee minutes from May 2025 warned of “low staffing levels” in public order policing. Given the appalling disorder in Glasgow, the estimated 3,000 people involved, the serious injuries to officers and the fact that we have 1,000 fewer officers since 2020, will the cabinet secretary seek assurances from the chief constable that Police Scotland is funded and resourced sufficiently for the specialist public order capacity that it needs?
One advantage of having a national police force is that more than 900 police officers were deployed. I mentioned in an earlier answer that if there had been an organised celebration event, the requirements placed on policing would have been less. At the risk of raking over the coals of old arguments, it is this Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs who negotiated with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government to provide record funding of £1.7 billion for police in Scotland. If I recall, I was the only person in budget negotiations to make that pitch; no members or spokespeople of the previous Opposition parties made such a request to Ms Robison.
Attacks on our police officers, who are simply doing their job, are unacceptable. In order to identify those who were responsible for criminal behaviour last Saturday, the police need all the tools that are available. However, closed-circuit television coverage of Glasgow city centre is no longer available 24/7 due to funding cuts. Will the cabinet secretary—and, I hope, the First Minister—assure the Parliament that, in any future discussions on how we police effectively, and in identifying those responsible, prosecuting them and ensuring that they know that the rule of law will be enforced, she will address the full operation of CCTV in Glasgow, which is Scotland’s largest city?
There is an important role for CCTV and for other tactics that Police Scotland, in partnership with local authorities and other stakeholders, has at its disposal. I hasten to add that, as events this week show, Police Scotland and prosecutors have a good record of bringing to justice those who are intent on mobbing, rioting, vandalism and antisocial behaviour at football matches. It is important that we all work together to ensure that the police have the tools of the trade.
I commend our police force: they are very good at following up on disorder. Those who think that they have walked off free should be wary of any celebration, because Police Scotland will leave no stone unturned in bringing to justice people who have been on the wrong side of the law.
Does the cabinet secretary agree that clubs and fan organisations have a significant role to play in encouraging responsible behaviour among supporters? Will she encourage further engagement among all groups and representatives of the local community to find ways of preventing such antisocial behaviour in the future, given its significant impact on residents and businesses in my Glasgow Central constituency over many years?
I agree with the cut and thrust of Ms Thewliss’s question and that action is required now. It is clear from evidence in Scotland and further afield that, when we connect fans’ behaviour to consequences, that has an impact. As with many issues, there will be more than one solution. I repeat what I said earlier: no solution should be off the table, because we must get into a better space in order to prevent this from happening in the future.
Such disorder is to be deplored. Given the cabinet secretary’s favourable comments on the plans and arrangements in Edinburgh, is she of the opinion that the events in Glasgow reflect a failure of planning and preparedness by Glasgow City Council?
I say candidly to Mr Kerr and to the chamber that it is imperative that we see good, strong local leadership. That must involve local authorities, but it must also involve football authorities and football clubs. I draw a contrast—based on a briefing that I had from the chief constable and Police Scotland—with the well-co-ordinated set of arrangements that would have been in place had Heart of Midlothian Football Club won the match. Policing of celebratory functions requires a co-ordinated plan, as that complements the policing response.
I say to everyone, without fear or favour, that we all need to get a grip and get on the same page.
Thank you. I had intended to finish the urgent question at this point, but a further three members wish to ask questions. I will allow them to do so, as there is clearly a lot of interest in this topic.
I am most grateful, Presiding Officer.
Prior to the shocking scenes in Glasgow city centre, there was a rather unseemly pitch invasion at Celtic Park. That was not the first time that it had happened this season. As a football fan, I am sickened to see such things.
I was surprised to learn that pitch invasions are illegal in England but not in Scotland. Does the cabinet secretary agree that we need to take action to close that loophole? If she agrees to close the loophole, action should be taken swiftly against those who break any new law.
I appreciate Mr Simpson’s point about pitch invasions and the law. In Scotland, we have breach of the peace and section 38 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010. Although I am of the view that the legislative provision is broad enough to enable a range of behaviours to be dealt with, I will nonetheless practise what I preach, keep an open mind and consider what further action we can take in terms of changes to criminal law.
As I mentioned to Patrick Harvie, we are taking forward work on football banning orders. It may well be that, following further consultation, we could consider criminalising pitch invasions as part of that endeavour.
This Saturday, Dunfermline Athletic will meet Celtic in the Scottish cup final. That is great for Fife and for the club’s supporters. What discussions has the cabinet secretary had with Glasgow City Council, Police Scotland and the clubs to ensure that we do not see a repeat of the terrible scenes that we saw last weekend?
Let me assure Ms Baker that I and my officials will reach out to her local team and Police Scotland in the hope that we can reassure her with regard to this weekend.
After the pitch invasion occurred, the Scottish Professional Football League released a statement calling on the Scottish Government to introduce legislation to make it an offence to encroach on a football pitch, just as it is in England and Wales. That would not be a panacea, although I note that, in 2018, the English Football Association fined West Ham United Football Club £100,000 because its fans invaded the pitch. However, it seems to me that that call is a deflection tactic by the SPFL. For years, it has refused to discuss strict liability for football clubs failing to take responsibility for fans in and around the stadium. If the cabinet secretary is engaging with the football authorities, will she pursue them on the consideration of strict liability?
Mr Brown is quite correct to say that, despite pitch invasion being a specific offence in England and Wales, pitch invasions still occur there. However, I will look at the issue in good faith. We intend to legislate for football banning orders, and we can widen the scope of our endeavours in that area. We will need to look at the issue very closely, but I am open to doing that.
I will repeat what I said earlier. Even if the Scottish Government were to change the law, that would not for one minute let any other stakeholder, either locally or nationally, off the hook. I say to football clubs and the football authorities, with all respect, that they are within their rights to call on the Government to change legislation, but, standing here today as the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, having seen the impact on policing this weekend, I am also well within my rights to call on them to step up to the plate.
I thank the 10 colleagues who asked those questions and I thank the cabinet secretary for her stamina in responding to them.
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