The SNP's Westminster leader has described controversial new proposals for Scottish football fans travelling to matches as "unworkable, unmanageable, unenforceable".
An open consultation has been published by the UK government on bringing the situation north of the border in line with the "voluntary guidelines" in place in England and Wales.
Richard Turfitt, Senior Traffic Commissioner for Great Britain said in the consultation: "These guidelines have historically applied to Scottish operators when conveying passengers to all football matches in England and Wales but have not previously been applied to matches held within Scotland."
The new rules would apply to all 'designated' sporting events - which applies only to football and not other sports such as rugby, or to similar large scale events such as concerts.
Read More: Police Scotland say they 'won't investigate some crimes' due to cuts
Under the proposed rules
- Anyone running a bus would have to have to inform a 'dedicated football officer' or DFO 48 hours before the match of the number of supporters expected to travel, the number of vehicles booked, the name and the contact number for the person who made the booking
- Buses would not be allowed to stop within 10 miles of the stadium before or after the match without permission
- Buses would be banned from stopping at pubs unless alcohol is "sold ancillary to a substantial meal", and permission would have to be sought from the DFO
- Buses would have to arrive at the stadium "no earlier than two hours before and not later than one hour before the scheduled start of the game".
- Permission would have to be sought from police to pick up passengers at stops on the route
- Buses would be required to leave the stadium within 30 minute of the end of the match
- Those running the bus would be required to inform the DFO of "any chanting demonstrating hostility based on race, ethnicity religion or beliefs, sexual orientation, disability, and transgender identity or chanting of an otherwise grossly offensive or inflammatory nature" which happened on the journey.
- Voluntary searches could be in place for things like alcohol and pyrotechnics.
The proposals have been unpopular with Scottish football fans, and have now been harshly criticised by the SNP's Westminster leader.
Unworkable, unmanageable, unenforceable. Get it in the bin.
— Stephen Flynn MP (@StephenFlynnSNP) September 5, 2023
The clubs these fans support can be a huge force for good & more folk attend matches in Scotland than anywhere else in Europe.
Celebrate them, don’t punish them. https://t.co/YiljiwAwqQ
Mr Flynn wrote on Twitter: "Unworkable, unmanageable, unenforceable. Get it in the bin.
"The clubs these fans support can be a huge force for good & more folk attend matches in Scotland than anywhere else in Europe. Celebrate them, don’t punish them."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel