The Smell of Exceptionalism

Since Catherine Calderwood is obviously an intelligent woman, Calton is diagnosing her deliberate flouting of the lockdown travel laws not just once, but twice, as a bad case of elitism. Nicola Sturgeon, on the other hand, is suffering from a bad case of exceptionalism. Just as the Prime Minister and other Tories defended Priti Patel on the grounds that she was doing a jolly good job, and Dominic Cummings overlooked the dubious online background of Andrew Sabisky because he was a "superforecaster", so the First Minister tried to keep on CMO Calderwood because seemingly she couldn't do without her and, of course, she was doing a jolly good job. Big mistake.

The current extreme restrictions being placed on the general public rely on the idea that we're all in this together. There can be no exceptions, none whatsoever, because if a single exception is allowed, others will follow. It is an unfortunate British trait that quite a lot of us think that rules are good but they don't apply to us. We all have a tendency to think we are the exception. Police Scotland get this, which is why they didn't waste time hot-footing it round to Calderwood's residence to 'have a word'. Nicola Sturgeon doesn't get this. Even at today's press conference, when specifically asked about the damage done to the Government's message and the need to rebuild trust, she didn't get it. Instead, although she was more in control today, the image of her as a wee girl who can't bear to be parted from her best friend lingers. She didn't show leadership yesterday - she stalled, prevaricated and, finally, about 12 hours too late, reacted to public opinion.

No-one has put a smell on Sturgeon - they don't need to. She reeks of exceptionalism with a whiff of cronyism and fear.

PS. And lest anyone accuse Calton of having  it in for Sturgeon, he's also extremely suspicious of the haste in which more than one Tory MSP, including Jackson Carlaw, is seeking to draw a line under this whole sorry affair. Are there some Tory-voting second home owners thinking "there but for the grace of God" and changing their plans for this coming weekend?

Police Scotland - making it up as they go along?

It seems that Police Scotland have unilaterally decided that the Bible is illegal, or, at least, the Gospel of John, which is what a street preacher was quoting from when he was arrested in Perth on Wednesday. Actually, it seems that officers were making up laws on the hoof as, according to preacher Josh Williamson, they first of all complained that he was too loud, then told him that the noise level was not an issue but someone had made a complaint and then, finally, that the content of his message was illegal before arresting him for breach of the peace. They also arrested another man who protested against Williamson's arrest on the grounds that it was a denial of free speech. Now, as Calton understands it, the Police are meant to uphold the law, not invent it. Preaching the gospel is not a criminal offence in Scotland. Williamson was not using amplifiers and was willing to tone his voice down to an acceptable volume if asked to do so. Unfortunately it seems that the Police were determined to stop Williamson preaching and were grasping at any excuse to do so. We still have freedom of speech in this country but only if the Police do not take the law into their own hands. Calton is in total agreement with Andrea Minichiello Williams, CEO of Christian Legal Centre, who has said of this latest arrest that “Freedom of speech is a precious freedom that we must uphold. This injustice must be tackled to halt the chilling effect already felt by many Christians. The threat to freedom of speech is a concern for wider society, not just for Christians. ... It’s evident that police all over the UK need clear guidance on this matter. ... It’s up to police chiefs to take a lead and issue guidelines so that this stops happening.” Calton also wonders if Williamson would have been arrested had he been preaching from the Koran.

In support of Criado-Perez

First it was campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez on the receiving end of rape threats for, gosh, suggesting that a woman's portrait should feature on a banknote. Hardly the sort of thing to threaten the ego of any reasonably secure male, one would have thought. Now MP Stella Creasy is getting the same sort of threats for supporting Criado-Perez, which just goes to show that some men are a) incredibly insecure and pathetic, b) total cowards for hiding behind the internet and c) have nothing better to do with their time (and probably nae mates either). If it was just a case of offensive comments, Calton would probably agree with Guardian columnist Tanya Gold about shaming rather than criminalising, however, specific, detailed threats of rape should be taken seriously and reported to the police. The fact that they are made in an online forum makes no difference and Calton is pleased to see that, in this case, the police have taken the matter seriously and arrested a man. Calton supports the right to free speech but it should not be abused to make threats of violence, including sexual violence, against anyone and platforms such as Twitter need to make it easier for people to report threatening comments. It's time we sent a tough message to the nasty little trolls out there. If the beak and talons are not enough of a deterrent, anyone threatening violence against this eagle will be reported to the police. You have been warned.

PC gone mad at Strathclyde HQ

Interesting that in all the hand-wringing, analyses and excuses no-one is mentioning the fact that over half the voters in Eastleigh chose candidates who are opposed to same-sex marriage. Ditto the EU. Perhaps if Conservative candidate Maria Hutchings had been able to be more vocal about her Euro-scepticism and support for traditional marriage she might not have been pushed into third place by UKIP. Unfortunately it is all too easy for Cameron to dismiss this as a 'protest vote' and a typical mid-term by-election result. Calton is wondering what his excuse will be in 2015.

In another, related, vein, it has come to Calton's attention that the Crazy Rev has been sacked as Chaplain to Strathclyde Police for expressing support for traditional marriage on his personal blog. What on earth did the Force expect? He's a Minister of the Gospel for God's sake! This is political correctness gone mad with a vengeance. Are they also going to sack all the Roman Catholic chaplains? And the Moslem ones, if they have any? Does the spiritual health and comfort of Roman Catholic or Evangelical Christian or Moslem coppers not matter any more? And whatever happened to freedom of speech? This is a very worrying development, especially for bloggers. Where will it end?

Big Brother is watching you

Calton is very relieved to see that Adrian Smith has won his case against Trafford Housing Trust. Mr Smith wrote a comment on his personal facebook page, in his own time, on his own computer, saying that gay church weddings were "an equality too far". Trafford Housing Trust demoted him and slashed his pay because it thought that his comments "might upset co-workers". Now, if Smith had used the Trust's email system to send an email to all his colleagues airing his views on same-sex marriage the Trust might have had a point. As it is, Calton finds it very worrying that an employer should seek to have so much control over the expression of religious or political views by its employees in their own time and on their own personal social media pages. It's bad enough that you can now get your collar felt for upsetting someone by stating your opinions (or displaying Bible verses). Trafford Housing Trust have taken this one step further by disciplining an employee for expressing views which 'might' upset someone! If this sort of thing continues, the title of George Orwell's seminal work will only have been out by 28 years.

Think twice twits

Dorset police have been coming in for some stick over their arrest of the teenager who tweeted abuse at olympic diver Tom Daley amid concerns over freedom of speech. Calton shared those concerns however, after reading a fuller account of the twitter posts on Archbishop Cranmer's blog (warning - contains strong language), the police would have been hung out to dry if they hadn't done something. Calton is a firm believer in freedom of speech but young people need to understand that threats of violence posted on the internet will be taken seriously, even if they are only meant as a joke. Our police cannot afford to ignore them. So if you don't want the long arm of the law knocking on your door in the wee small hours, think twice before you hit the send button. And if this sorry episode highlights the issue of cyber-bullying and dissuades others from emulating the twit who was arrested, so much the better.

Since when did 10 become 7?

Calton wants to know why a convicted violent rapist, whose victim was left looking like she had been in a car crash and who got a 10-year sentence in 2005, is back in the community where he committed the crime. Such cases make a complete mockery of our justice system. It's understandable that neighbours of Robert Greens are not happy, particularly since it now seems that there is a real possibility of Greens reoffending. Police have applied for a Sexual Offences Protection Order so that they can monitor Greens and protect the public. They wouldn't need to do this if he was still behind bars. Isn't it about time we stopped being soft on serious criminals and, instead, made them serve out the whole of their sentence?

(And don't get Calton started on the report that Greens is opposing the Protection Order on the grounds that it contravenes his human rights. Unless you want a full-scale rant.)

Corroboration - archaic or an essential safeguard?

The Law Society of Scotland is concerned about the Scottish Government's proposal to abolish the requirement for corroboration of evidence in trials. So is Calton. While removal of the requirement would help to prosecute cases of crimes such as sexual abuse of children, it also opens the door to wrongful prosecutions based on the evidence of one person alone and appropriate safeguards need to be put in place before such a fundamental change is implemented. In particular, removal of the need for corroboration could radically change the way policing is carried out in Scotland as there would no longer be a requirement for two officers to provide evidence for a prosecution. That may well be a positive step in terms of cost-savings for our police force however it seems to be a backward step in terms of justice in Calton's opinion.