My proudest political moment remains, aged five, starting a chant against the Tories. Along with 50,000 Scots, my family – then living in Falkirk – had taken to the streets of Glasgow in the spring of 1990 to march against the poll tax. Brandishing a small flyer, I precociously yelled the slogan “Kick the Tories out!” Not that I really knew who the Tories were (other than that they were “very bad people”) but the surrounding crowd certainly did – and they repeated the slogan with passion, rage and defiance. Continue reading
Tagged with Unionism
OrangeFest 2011: it’s still about hating Taigs
Suppose the Afrikaner Weerstandbeweging decided to organise a comeback gig in the shape of a white supremacist rally in Soweto. Naturally, the South African government would be concerned about the potential for public disorder. So would the best solution be to market the event as a touchy-feely, all-inclusive, fun day out for all the family?
This analogy offers something of the flavour of attempts to rebrand the Loyalist marching season in Northern Ireland as OrangeFest, with the local nationalist community invited to stand quietly on the pavement and cheer on as the massed ranks of parading Proddie flute bands walk on by. Continue reading