Spending Public Money

Glasgow witnessed one of its annual displays of religious sectarianism the other day when an Orange March paraded through part of the city under the shameful pretence that the event is a celebration of Protestant culture.

Now nothing could be further from the truth if you ask me, because in practice Orange Marches are exclusive and triumphalist affairs; no other sections of the community are invited to participate in the march or play a role in the day's events, which tells you what its organisers and what the event itself is really all about.

Most of the participants are 'bussed' in from Northern Ireland these days because the good citizens of Glasgow moved on from this kind of anti-social behaviour decades ago, unlike parts of Northern Ireland which are every bit as segregated as the Sunni and Shia tribes in Iraq.

I do hope this poor excuse for a 'civic event' is not being subsidised by the council tax payers of Glasgow because I, for one, object to public money being spent on something which sets out to parade religious differences, as opposed to finding ways of bringing communities together.   

So I plan to submit a Freedom of Information request on the subject to Glasgow City Council.