1) The document discusses a protest against film director Quentin Tarantino by feminists who considered his film to glorify misogyny, and Tarantino's angry response denying their freedom of expression. 2) It also discusses the polarized reactions to three Scottish National Party councillors publicly burning a copy of the Smith Commission report on constitutional reform, and debates whose freedom of expression should be defended. 3) The author argues that while protests should not have a chilling effect on democratic discourse, governments also should not be vilified for making policy "U-turns" and that conflicting ideas were welcomed during the Scottish independence referendum debate.

1. The National 3
I once had a fleetingruninwithQuentinTarantino.He hadcome to Glasgow topromote hisfilm
DeathProof and I was amongsta group of feminists protestingagainstwhatwe consideredtobe
glorificationof misogyny.
Quentinwasn’texactly pleasedtosee us. Atone pointhe waggedhisfingerinmyface,while angrily
denouncingus.
He didn’tgetthe ironyof defendinghisfreedomof expressionbydenyingours.
Freedomof expressionisanideathatalmosteveryone supportsinprinciple. Butassoonthat
principle isputtothe test inthe real world,the consensusfallsapartandthe argumentsbegin.
Whenthree Renfrew SNPcouncillors lastweek demonstratedtheircontemptforthe Smith
Commissionreport bypubliclyburningacopy,reactionswere polarised.Theywere alsoconfused.
Thinkingaboutwhose freedomisbeingdefendedhelpsme make senseof it.
Some people mightregardthe actionsof the three councillorsascrassand tasteless.Othersmight
see themitas harmlesspiece of politicaltheatre designedtomake aboldpublicstatement,like
tearingupa leafletorwalkingoutof aconference.
In myview, the onlythingthe councillors wereguilty of isalack of tactical nous.You don’tneedto
be around muchin Scottishpolitics torecognise ascene ripe tobe exploited byopportunistic,faux
outrage.
What are the ‘outraged’challengingexactly?Youmaynotagree withprotestingagainstTarantino –
but at leastthatdemonstrationwasbasedona coherentpolitical analysis. Ourworldsystematically

2. exploits,objectifiesandkillswomenintheirmillions.Feministprotestorsare challenging abuse of
powerand oppression of women.
Who were the malignedcouncillorsoppressing?Noone. Theywere makingapoint,however
insensitively.Whenone LabourMP comparedtheiractionswiththose of the Nazi regime,he
spectacularlyfailstounderstandpowerandtyranny.The Naziswere intentonsystematicallywiping
out everytrace of the ideascontainedinthe bookshe orderedtobe burned.One charredcopyof
the SmithCommissionreportpreventsno-one fromreadingit.
The real riskhere isthat the manufactured‘offence’of the nae-sayershasachillingeffectonthe
diverse,vibrantdemocraticdiscourseunleashedbythe referendum.
Whichis exactlywhatsome politicianswant.Inaspeechlastweek, GordonBrownsaid – rather
vaingloriouslyforasoon-to-retire backbenchMP – that he was“pressingthe resetbutton”because
“it’stime to move onfrom twoyearsof talkof constitutionalchange.”
And,conveniently,divertsattentionfromthe reallymomentousnewsof the week –like trulyradical
landreformand conclusive fiscalproof thatwe’re farfrom‘bettertogether’.
But that doesn’tletusYesvotersoff the hook.Supportingindependence isnotequivalentto
supportingeverypolicythatcomesoutof the SNPGovernment.
Take the Offensive BehaviouratFootball legislation whichhasledtopolitical expressionbeing
criminalised.One CelticfanwasarrestedlastweekatTynecastle forwearing a‘Free Palestine’T-
shirt.Underpressure tojustifythe arrest,SNPMSP JohnMason bizarrely agreedthatwearinga‘Yes’
badge couldhave youup before the Sheriff.Seriously?That’dbe a prettyscary precedent.
Don’tget me wrong,I’ve hada few trainjourneysruinedbytanked-upfootball supporters. Butit
wasn’tthe contentof ‘The Sash’or ‘The Boys of the OldBrigade’that buggedme.Itwas the total

3. lack of respectforotherpassengers,the volume andthe aggression.The issue ismenintribes
behavingbadly.
There’sa fewfolkonTwitterwhothinkthe wayto independence isto act like some monolithic
‘united’blocthatshouldvoluntarily suspendall critical facultiesuntilIndependence Dayhasbeen
and gone.
Thisis notthe wayto a bettercountry. I have disagreedferventlywithSNPpolicieswhile sharinga
friendlyplatformwithSNPMinistersonthe Yestrail. That isone of my abidingjoyousmemoriesof
the campaign.Ideas – conflicting,contradictory,sometimeschaotic– were givenaspace.Theywere
welcomedandnurtured. Lotsof people disagreedwithme.Brilliant.
Can we carry that on, please?It’ssucha contrastto the pettypoint-scoringandpolitical triviathat
predatedthe referendum.
We all have a responsibilitytocreate anenvironmentwhere political ideascanthrive withoutan
Arctic freeze descendingonpassionate flames.Andtocontribute toa democracyinwhich
governmentscanmake ‘U-turns’andbe praisedratherthan vilified.It’sdifficult,though –especially
whenyouropponents are entirelyfocusedonruthlesslyexploitingthe slightestmistake.
But I don’tthinkthe rightresponse istobattendownthe hatches.If thathappens,the hope,
empowermentandenergyunleashedbythe referendumwill be snuffedout.Sometimes flames
don’talwaysspreadinthe directionyou’dlike themto. The price of a genuine movementisthatyou
can’t control it.
But that’spreferable tothe dankanddismal alternative of politicsastheywere.GoodfolkIknow on
the No side will recognise that.