TUV leader Jim Allister urges action on ‘up the Ra’ chants glorifying terrorism
Mr Allister welcomed the Crime and Policing Bill which would make it an offence to ‘have a banner which glorifies a proscribed organisation’.
Jim Allister has urged the Government to tackle the “glorification of terrorism” of people singing “the Republican mantra, up the Ra”.
The TUV leader welcomed that the Government’s Crime and Policing Bill would “for the first time” make it an offence to “have a banner which glorifies a proscribed organisation”.
He spoke in the Commons during the second reading of the Bill which includes a range of measures from tackling knife crime to anti-social behaviour.
Mr Allister referred specifically to clause 123, which would enable the seizure of a flag or poster which “arouses reasonable suspicion the individual who displayed it was a member or supporter of a proscribed organisation”.
“For the first time this clause will make it an offence to put on a lamp post or have a banner which glorifies a proscribed organisation.
“That’s a good thing, that’s necessary. I do welcome the fact that that is the intent.”
He added: “But that then focuses attention on the disparity of the failure of this Bill to deal with the inadequacy of the offence of glorification of terrorism, which is too limp and largely unused.
“So we now arrive at a situation where you couldn’t legally put a banner up that says, to use the Republican mantra, ‘up the Ra’ – which means up the IRA, that organisation that murdered thousands of our citizens – you couldn’t under this Bill put that up on a lamp post as a banner, and that’s good, but you can say it, under glorification of terrorism.
“So that hideous, horrible Republican mantra ‘up the Ra’, which is a chorus from a Republican song which glorifies terrorism, which says lyrics like ‘the Brits will never leave until they’re blown away’, ‘Oh, ah, up the Ra, SAM missiles in the sky’.
“That’s glorification of terrorism, of course it is. But yet, under our legislation, that is not defined as glorification of terrorism because you have to be advocating that which would emulate and encourage others to engage in terrorism.”
“Why should it be right to be illegal to have a banner that says up the Ra, but to address thousands of kids through a song, as happens every August in Northern Ireland, and sing up the Ra? That needs to be reconciled and dealt with.”
