They don't like it up em
The BBC, Scotsman, Herald and Daily Record carry reports on the distasteful and frankly disturbing comments left on Andy Murray's blog.
Hopefully the individual who left a sickening comment about Dunblane will have their IP details passed onto the press by Andy's webhosting company and asked to answer publicly for their comments.
Andy Murray responded to criticism of his anti-English remarks by trotting out a damage limitation exercise:
"Want to say that I’m not anti English! I have supported Tim the last 10 years and he is English! Ricky Hatton is one of my favorite boxers and he is English. I said I think England will beat Portugal in my press conference! I made a joke I don’t mind whether England win or lose! Press blew it out of proportion!"
Despite the few that abuse their right to freedom of expression on the internet I remain fully behind the 'Anyone but Murray' campaign and will continue to support his opponents.
Having been on the receiving end of anti-English violence in Scotland (with my jaw broken in two places) I am heartily sick of Scottish public figures reinforcing this anti-English attitude in the Scottish public psyche. This is a Scottish national disease, not friendly rivalry, harmless banter or a joke.
The irony here is that devolution, which was supposed to instill the Scots with self-confidence and a more mature and confident attitude towards their relationship with England, has, if anything, made the situation worse. Devolution has not made the union stronger. Instead it has resulted in a sense of injustice (real and perceived) amongst the English who are now emboldened and simply unprepared to tolerate this uncharitable and, at times, malicious attitude towards all things English
I wonder whether, in hindsight, Andy Murray now wishes he had taken heed of the stupidity of Paul Casey and the wise words of the following letter that was printed in the Scotsman during last year's Wimbledon.
A lesson in fair play
The Wimbledon tennis crowd (mainly English) got behind Andy Murray (a Scot) on Thursday and cheered him to the echo.
But what if a sports tournament was taking place in Edinburgh, with an Englishman playing against a Czech, or any other nationality, for that matter? A Scottish crowd would almost certainly have backed the competitor from overseas and been despondent if the Englishman had won.
Scots should take note of the attitude of Wimbledon's English spectators (which is typical of their approach to the endeavours of all Scots) and stop their mean-mindedness when England is playing teams from overseas.
We Scots should get rid of our inferiority complex, cease refighting old battles and treat our southern neighbours with the courtesy and friendliness they show us.
GEORGE K McMILLAN
It just won't wash any longer. Scotland: You are not put upon, hard -done-by or victims to England's superiority; you are the precious constitutionally mollycoddled spoiled brats of the Union, handed democratic privileges and a funding largesse that the rest of the UK does not enjoy. Respect has to be earned, don't come bleating or offering lame excuses when England reciprocates in kind to your endless antagonism.
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Agreed.
Agreed.
Yes, ditto to what the
Yes, ditto to what the councillor said.
I didn't see the Dunblane comment - but I can guess at the sort of thing that might have been said, which I am truly sorry about. The Scots do seem to have a bit of a blind spot with the slagging off of England obsession. My sister is married to a jock and they live in a fantastic part of the country in Northamptonshire. We were talking away, like you do and he said, straight to my face that he hated living in England and didn't really care much for the English. He said he couldn't wait to get back the Scotland.
He just didn't seem to connect that I AM English - and he IS married to an English girl....
I'm not kidding you Gareth, I looked at my missus and I was a gnat's nob away from smacking him one. We've hardly spoken since.
Mrs Sane's ex husband is
Mrs Sane's ex husband is North British and he can't stand English people. Still lives here, married an English woman, etc. In fact, he once said that he would make sure that my two step kids hate English people ... he's half Irish and half Scottish which makes the kids half English and only a quarter Scottish - go figure! Luckily he doesn't see them any more because they love England and don't have to listen to his bigotted bile.
What a shame that more Scots
What a shame that more Scots don't share Mr McMillan's view. Instead, his is a lone, sensible voice in a Caledonian wilderness, where anti-English sentiment is imbibed along with mothers' milk. Turning to Murray, his belated attempt to convince us that his comments were 'light hearted' was so transparently insincere as to draw further attention to them. Have they never heard of PR managers in Northern Britain?
Whoever wrote that letter to
Whoever wrote that letter to the scotsman was an idiot. I cheer Englishmen on all the time at sporting events. When? At the Olympics for instance. I've cheered on Tim Henman for years! I'm a Scot but I'll support any Englishman representing Britian. I don't however support the England football team because they represent England. Not Britian. We don't have to support you. Now stop being facists.
Robert, I refer you to this
Robert, I refer you to this post where I say that I don't care who the Scots support.
Now stop hurling insults that you cannot spell or understand the gravity of.
Guys, the English media are
Guys, the English media are strirring things up by asking Scots who they'll support, knowing full well what the answer will be. This same media has an agenda that involves the West Lothian question. It's political. Don't tar all Scots with the same brush. I actually find the whole thing of Scots being accused of being anti-English for not doing things the way some English people would like them done the same as George Bush accusing countries, like Canada, of being anti-American for not supporting them in their various "international endeavours". People don't like to be told what to think. That's why Scots have become so indignant over this whole thing. I think "facists" was the right word personally, not for your blog but for the general tone of this debate in the UK media.
Don't rise to it. Scotland are actually the best friends England has when it comes down to it. We're all a bunch of mongrels.
Correction: Scotland should
Correction: Scotland should be our best friends, and hopefully will be again, but at the moment they act like the friend with a drug-addiction, stealing and blaming everyone but themselves - usually England - for their predicament.
Portugal won, which is the
Portugal won, which is the main thing