to ask Scottish mnetters if they or anyone they know have bought any of the jubilee tat going about?

[FayeGovan]

any shop displays I've seen (yes you M&S) dont look like they are selling

personally I'd rather give my money away than but a union jack mug/various shite, but maybe thats just me

so is anyone up here buying into all the hype?

Puremince, i was in H&M the other day and saw little boys tops with English flags and England blazoned all over it (wasn't official football logo). Thought it was a bit odd!

A risky business. I'm English and live in Edinburgh, but wouldn't wear any England merch because I am not daft enough to spunk my cash on polyester tat out and about. It is asking for trouble.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/5101184.stm

I mean, they shouldn't have attack the kid, but for fuck's sake what were his parents thinking letting him go out dressed in an England kit?

That's appalling, but that report dates from 2006. It's not exactly an everyday occurrence.

Compos I think they can wear an England kit wherever they want, without having to fear an attack.
I remember that story in the Evening News. I was appalled.

What a stupid thing to say compos!

I live as north in scotland as you can possibly get and ds will be in his england shirt. So I suppose I should be expecting him to get the shite kicked out of him?

Get a grip.

I know it was from 2006, these things crop up at the time of football tournaments. It makes me think that it is an OTT football rivalry rather than anti-English 'racism.

Of course they should be able to. Whether it is wise to do so is another thing, especially sending out a child in the kit. Likewise I wouldn't think it wise to wander round Liverpool in a Man United kit or sport Newcastle kit on the streets of Sunderland. '

I am always amused by all the A.B.E. (Anyone but England) t shirts that come out at every tournament, if I were braver I would get an S.N.P. (Scotland not playing) one made up.

What a stupid thing to say compos!

Tell you what, try donning an England shirt and taking a stroll down the East End of Glasgow at chucking out time and see if it such a 'stupid' thing to say.

When I used to work at a tourist attraction in Edinburgh, a lot of Japanese tourists used to turn up with England shirts with Beckham on the back. We all used to advise them to get changed if they were going out in the town in the evening.

If it is a bit of a rural backwater, then you may be okay, still not a risk I'd be prepared to take.

Thin end of the wedge though, to tell people to change their clothes for fear of attack. Perhaps someone should be dealing with the fucking cunts, who consider it okay to attack kids.

It's akin to telling women not to dress provocatively or they are 'asking for it' - that just wouldn't be acceptable in a free society.

Compos, don't you see how ridiculous that is though? The thought that I couldn't wear whatever the fuck I chose to in any part of the UK withought having to worry that I might not be safe be use of it is actually quite sickening.

It says very little of the people in these areas if it's ever unsafe just because of the wrong colour tshirt. It's racism.

And you are amused by an Anyone But England sentiment?

I'd have more concerns about allowing a child of mine wear a Rangers or Celtic shirt in public. Actually, any Scottish football team (with the possible exception of Queens Park).

Unfortunately that's just the nature of football, especially in the West of Scotland.

Fortunately ds is no longer interested in football - and rugby doesn't have the same issues

It's akin to telling women not to dress provocatively or they are 'asking for it' - that just wouldn't be acceptable in a free society.

No it isn't. People who say that are mysogonistic wankers. Advising someone to avoid wearing a rival team's football shirt in certain situations is sensible advice to avoid unessesssary agro. The freedom to wear what you want, where you want does and should have limits: would be okay to wear a t shirt with EDF logo on it in a predominantly Asian area or dress up in Nazi Uniform outside a synagogue?

That isn't to excuse those cunts who think it is okay to batter people on the basis of a football shirt, just to emphasise that it isn't an absolute.

The 'Anyone but England' sentiment I tend to treat with wry amusement. I don't percieve it as racism, as I have never experienced an anti-English sentiment in any other context, I see it as an overly intense football rivalry.

Jesus wept.

well my kids wear old firm strips and they haven't been attacked

its all about context

BTW love the snp one

I'd have more concerns about allowing a child of mine wear a Rangers or Celtic shirt in public.

If any offspring of mine professed to support either of those shower of bigots, they'd be packed off to a Soviet style camp for re-education.

its all about context

Absolutely, something I have tried in a longwinded and ineffectual way.

I disagree Compos.

I think that if someone wanted to wear an item of clothing that other people find offensive, then they should have absolute freedom to do so, without getting physically attacked for it. Of course, everybody else would be free to think they are dick heads, but I would still reserve the right of the dick head to be a dick head. Thems the breaks with a free society - people will say and do things that other people find awful.

I'm afraid I do see the 'anyone but England' mentality to be racist and deeply offensive when people wear Argentina t-shirts, when England play. As offensive as I find it, I defend their right to be pricks do it. Just as I defend the right of the England fan to wear their t-shirt, wherever they happen to be.

oh get a grip compos

you sound like you could do with some soviet style education yourself

thousands of celtic and rangers supporters aren't bigots, they just love their team

there are bigots in all walk of life, its learned in the home and taken from there

Well said Karma.

I meant to clarify that he was never allowed to support either team! He did end up supporting Queens Park and has friendly competition with his dad, who doesn't support football supports Airdrie (relic from when his mum would let him to Airdrie on his own as a child, when his uncle became a referee and wasn't able to take him to Celtic games). Only time he wore the strip in public was when he was going to Hampden to see Queens Park play.

The other times was when, age 6 or 7, he went with his dad to Broomfield when Airdrie were playing Queens Park - and a steward tried to stop him going in with his dad 'cos "there might be trouble with him wearing a QP strip amongst the Airdrie fans". A SEVEN year old.

But that's more an indictment of football fans and attitudes than Scottish "racism".

Rugby, on the other hand, allows, nay EXPECTS, fans to mix. You even get Red Hand of Ulster flags and Ulster songs sung, in Glasgow WITH NO PROBLEMS. and what's more, the (mixed) fans are allowed to have alcohol IN THE STAND!!

Should be able to wear what ever you want yes actually able to do so in the real world afraid not

Call me a coward if you will, but I am not prepared to risk getting my face rearranged for a tatty polyester England shirt.

FayeGovan my comment was tongue in cheek and anyway my comment was aimed at the Clubs, not the fans who until comparatively recently openly peddled sectarianism and profitted from bigotry.

just want to clarify that the h&m sellling England tops was odd to me because I didn't think they'd sell that many this far up Scotland, and not that I have anything against the English.

Nope, have no interest in it. I have given the impression to DS1 however that it's worth celebrating because the nursery have made a big fuss about it all....

Just wanted to back ComposHat up here - yes, in theory anyone should be allowed to wear whatever they like wherever they like but in the real world that's not often possible. Or it may have "repercussions".

WRT whether Scots celebrated the Jubilee, a Scottish friend of mine posted a pic of her DS decked out in Union Jack regalia in honor of the day. It surprised me because she hadn't struck me as especially Unionist. Another friend, however, posted up a status update to say 'when the hell are they going to get all this jubilee rubbish off the TV and put something decent on?', which is more true to the Scottish form that I'm familiar with!

As for the football situation in Scotland, there's always going to be that Old Firm rivalry...I don't support any football team, am more for rugby :)

As an example, by the way, try following the 'it's a free country, I'll wear what I like' mantra in certain parts of Belfast. With the wrong kind of gear on, it'll be more than your face that would be rearranged.

As a rule of thumb, the further away you get from London, the more dangerous it is to sport Union regalia