Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

JIM SPENCE: Chris Law heckling at pro-Palestine protest in Dundee confirms world I knew as a boy has changed dramatically

The MP for Dundee West was berated and shouted down in a confrontational manner.

Dundee West MP Chris Law.
Dundee West MP Chris Law.

As a boy, my Saturday mornings were spent taking the bus to town to the arcade in Shore Terrace.

It was there I’d buy Superman comics and generally mess about with my mates.

A highlight was watching the verbal jousting in the City Square between members of the public and the various speakers who frequented it, pontificating on their chosen subjects from their soapboxes to whoever was listening.

On any given Saturday there would be everything from communists to religious proselytisers to end-of-the-world doomsday merchants, holding forth and giving as good as they got from the various hecklers who would be arguing the toss with them.

Between feeding the doos and generally larking about, it was all really background noise to me and my pals and there never seemed to be any real menace involved.

I may have been too young and too naive to appreciate any underlying tensions but it always seemed to be more a form of street entertainment than to offer any real hint of aggro.

‘World has changed’

But watching recent events throughout the UK in light of the desperate Israel Palestine conflict, including the very hostile reaction to Chris Law’s address in that same City Square on Saturday, there’s no doubt that the world I knew as a young boy has changed dramatically.

The MP for Dundee West, in trying to offer a balanced view of the current horrors in the Middle East, was berated and shouted down in a confrontational and bellicose manner by those around him who objected to his condemnation of the terrible atrocities committed on both sides.

They wanted his denunciation to apply to one side only.

Thousands of pro-Palestine protesters in London at the weekend. Image: Ray Tang/Shutterstock.

In London and elsewhere too it looked to me like siren voices were drowning out those airing any view which didn’t correspond with their chosen narrative.

But what worried me most was the feeling that some of what I was seeing was driven by religious fervour and belief – and not just a debate over disputed historic injustices.

If this is the case then we are heading for very troubling waters.

‘And you’re a Catholic’

I remember the first time I was approached and asked to stand for Westminster in the Dundee West seat by an SNP MP.

We met in a café in the Perth Road and after a long discussion I asked him why they wanted me.

He mentioned all the expected stuff about having a local profile knowing many folk throughout the city and so on – and then he whispered almost conspiratorially.

“And you’re a Catholic.”

I don’t know how he knew that but I do know I found it both amusing and perplexing.

From memory I suggested that if the Catholic community had ever been told by the Vatican or priests how to vote, those days were long gone.

I thought, until recently, religion and politics were separate bedfellows.

I’m not daft enough not to know individual politicians and activists will have their views shaped by their various religious views but we need to make sure no religion of any hue drives government policy on this or any other issue.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer. Image: PA

Sir Keir Starmer is finding his leadership of the Labour party under pressure from some MPs and activists and has suspended senior MP Andy McDonald for the use of the phrase “From the river to the sea”, which many Jewish people find threatening and racist.

The current crisis is set to cause enormous grief, misery and loss of life unless some miraculous agreement can be found to halt the madness.

The last thing needed is religion stoking tensions further.

Conversation