How did it come to this?

How wonderful to see so many people still queuing to see the Queen’s coffin in Westminster Hall.

I’ve been watching the live feed on the BBC Parliament channel for several days and it’s been rather moving to see everyone file past, quietly and stoically after a marathon walk of up to 14 hours.

As I write I can see (via pictures posted on Facebook) that a good friend joined the queue in Southwark Park at 11.40 last night. Ten hours later she was in sight of her destination but with several hours still to go.

Was I ever tempted to join the happy throng? Not really. I admire the effort everyone has made but 14 hours? Not for me.

Ditto the funeral services in Westminster and Windsor tomorrow. They will be magnificent occasions, I’m sure, and I have cleared the diary so we can watch the whole thing on television, but travelling in and out of London for the occasion sounds like a nightmare to be honest.

Fair play to those who do go, though, and what about the people who are reported to have travelled from America, Canada and many other countries. Remarkable.

That said, I think I heard that the number attending Queen Elizabeth’s lying-in-state is not significantly larger than that for her father George VI and, before that, Queen Victoria.

Don’t quote me but I’m sure I heard someone say that Victoria’s successor Edward VII attracted almost a million people to his lying-in-state, which if true is interesting considering he was only on the throne for nine years.

Unfortunately not everyone has marked the occasion with the decorum it deserves. I get that not everyone holds the monarchy or even the late Queen in high regard, and that some people would prefer a democratically elected head of state, but that’s an argument for another day, surely?

On a personal note I was dismayed - no, sickened - to hear that some Dundee United fans booed and interrupted a minute’s silence and sang an abusive song about the Queen before yesterday’s match against Rangers at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow.

It wasn’t even an original song because they were merely copying supporters of Shamrock Rovers who sang the same song during a match in Ireland following the announcement of the Queen’s death ten days ago.

The behaviour of the Dundee United fans also followed that of Celtic supporters who held up banners at a match in Poland in midweek that read ‘Fuck the Crown’ and ‘Sorry for your loss Michael Fagan’, a reference to the intruder who broke into the Queen’s bedroom many years ago.

The reaction of some United fans at Ibrox didn’t surprise me though because after the announcement of the Queen’s death a tweet on United’s Twitter account expressing condolences attracted numerous abusive comments from so-called fans.

I put it down to social media (and Twitter in particular) giving a platform to people who have little interest in common courtesies, but I was concerned that similar ‘protests’ might be heard before the match with Rangers, a club hated by many United supporters for reasons I won’t go into here. (The feeling is mutual, I believe.)

According to media reports, that’s exactly what happened. Some people have argued that fans can respond to such tributes any way they like because it’s a question of free speech, but that’s nonsense. If someone dies is it so hard to stay silent while others mourn or show their respect?

If you want to protest against the late Queen or the monarchy stand outside Holyroodhouse Palace or Buckingham Palace.

Do whatever you like within the law but have the common decency to keep quiet during a minute’s silence to mark the death of a much loved head of state whose devotion to duty should be celebrated regardless of politics, religion or petty nationalism.

The irony is that United fans are generally horrified if anyone links the club with the type of bigotry that bedevils the game in Glasgow.

Founded in 1909 by Irish immigrants as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed its name to Dundee United in 1923, presumably to be more inclusive.

When my family moved to Scotland in 1969 and I started supporting United my father told me that a colleague at work had asked him why he allowed me to support the ‘Catholic’ team in Dundee.

I was ten at the time and unaware of United’s Irish origins but even if I had been it wouldn’t have made the slightest difference. It was and never has been an issue for me.

In fact, in the 50+ years I’ve supported United I can’t remember religion ever being an issue either for the club or their supporters.

Sadly the club’s response to yesterday’s events can only be described as pathetic. Here’s their statement:

Dundee United are aware of the actions of a small section of the crowd who chose to not respect the minute's silence before this afternoon's match at Ibrox.

As a club, ahead of the game we reached out to advise our supporters of the pre-match arrangements with the expectation that the minute silence would be observed.

That’s it. No apology, no condemnation of the supporters’ behaviour, no recognition that the club’s name has been dragged through the mud.

The day after the Queen’s death I was actually in Dundee having travelled north for the United-Hibs match that was scheduled for the Saturday. I arrived just as it was announced that all football matches in Scotland (as in England) had been postponed as a mark of respect.

In over half a century I have never begrudged a single penny I have spent attending matches at Tannadice or following the team to places like Inverness, Stranraer or Arbroath.

As any true supporter must, I’ve stuck with the club through thick and thin and I came to terms long ago with the fact that the club’s success under Jim McLean in the Eighties will never be repeated in my lifetime or anyone else’s.

But last night, reading the reports from Ibrox, I asked myself for the first time whether I want to ever again sit among the type of morons who abuse a 96-year-old woman who has just died.

Likewise, do I want to continue to support a club whose directors failed to condemn such behaviour in fear, perhaps, that they might alienate some of those so-called fans?

I am left with the uncomfortable thought that some of United’s supporters are no better than the Celtic supporters who held up banners saying ‘Fuck the Crown’ or the Shamrock Rovers supporters who thought it equally acceptable to ‘celebrate’ the Queen’s death in song.

That’s not what I signed up for 53 years ago and if those are the type of supporters United are willing to tolerate perhaps the club is no longer one I want to follow.

The question is, why are they behaving like this? Most clubs have their lunatic fringe but United’s has traditionally been very small and violence involving United fans is almost unheard of.

When away from home the supporters can be boisterous but in my experience they are generally good-humoured and never threatening.

So why the animosity of some United fans towards the Queen and/or the monarchy and if it’s not driven by religion (which I’m sure it isn’t) is it due to something else?

As it happens Dundee is arguably the most pro-nationalist city in Scotland but that’s a relatively recent phenomenon.

There are currently two Dundee constituencies represented in the House of Commons, Dundee West and Dundee East.

From 1950 to 2015 Dundee West was in the hands of Labour which supports the union.

Dundee East has been a little more fluid, being held by Labour from 1950-1974 and again from 1987-2005.

From February 1974 to 1987 however the seat was held by the Scottish National Party which regained it in 2005.

Today both Dundee seats are held by the SNP.

Is there a link between Scottish nationalism and the sentiments expressed by some Celtic and Dundee United supporters this week?

It’s hard to say but there’s no doubt in my mind that politics in Scotland has become increasingly toxic with social media fuelling the nationalist flame.

Growing up in Scotland in the Seventies I experienced none of the pro-nationalist, anti-English sentiment you hear today. That came later.

Of course there was some anti-English feeling long before devolution (which gave the nationalists an even bigger platform for their grievances).

In my experience, though, having lived in Scotland from 1969-1980 and again from 1992-1999, it wasn’t until the Nineties that virulently anti-English views became more prevalent, especially in the media, which is one of the reasons I left and returned south.

So what am I trying to say? I’m not sure but I’m certain of one thing. The reaction by some Dundee United supporters to the Queen’s death would not have happened 30 or 40 years ago and in my view it comes down to a lack of strong leadership at almost every level in society.

In Scotland it’s arguably exacerbated by a lack of respect in nationalist circles for UK institutions.

Sadly, the one person who did show extraordinary leadership for an unprecedented 70 years is the one being targeted for abuse in the wake of her death.

Shame on everyone involved but especially those who, wilfully or inadvertently, have helped create the toxic culture that now exists.

Thankfully there are still millions of decent people out there, including nationalists and republicans, but it’s the royalists whose day it is tomorrow and if you don’t agree with them or dislike the monarchy switch off the TV and hold your tongue or walk away from the keyboard at least until the funeral is over.

Is that too much to ask?

Comments

[Pat Nurse]

I totally agree Simon.

There has been something rotten brewing in the heart of the country for a couple of decades now and I think it comes from leadership.

If leaders promote hatred, as Sturgeon's SNP does against the English , then the mindless mob is sure to follow.

It happens to those with certain lifestyles too. Never did I ever hear anyone who smoked being abused until the Government sponsored adverts "If you smoke you stink..." gave the official go ahead to the intolerant and small minded to be as openly rude as they could be.

And who would ever have been abusive and derogatory against the overweight before Government lobby groups began the fat shaming campaigns that made others fear that the overweight were costing them NHS money and time.

The same vile sense of being entitled to be as rude, inconsiderate or uncouth as they can be against the Queen now she is dead comes from that same mind-set that thinks abuse is cool because it has been made trendy.

We need a new culture of tolerance to rise up in this country to enable us all to get along and respect differing views and opinions, but if Governments and authorities refuse to nurture it because divide and rule suits their ideological politics, then there isn't much hope for the future.