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The Glasgow 2014 XX Commonwealth Games and Scottish independence: “political truce” or political truth(s)? Stuart Whigham St Mary's University & Loughborough University. Aims.

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  1. The Glasgow 2014 XX Commonwealth Games and Scottish independence: “political truce” or political truth(s)? Stuart Whigham St Mary's University & Loughborough University

  2. Aims • Critically explore reaction to appeals for a political ‘truce’ in Scottish independence referendum campaign during the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games • Critique responses from various organisations regarding apolitical nature of the 2014 Games drawing upon past analyses of sporting mega-events • Reflect upon the political ramifications of the hosting of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, in light of the independence referendum

  3. ‘Scotland’s Future’ and 2014 - political narratives of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the independence referendum

  4. PhD Research ‘Scotland’s Future’ and 2014 - political narratives of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the independence referendum • Aims of project: • Critically examine predominant political narratives which emanate from political discourse in relation to 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and Scottish independence referendum • Scrutinise extent to which staging of the Commonwealth Games in Scotland is exploited politically in relation to debates about Scotland’s constitutional future

  5. PhD Methodology- Narrative Analysis • Analysis centres on production and dissemination of political narratives / discourse relating to both Commonwealth Games and independence referendum • Scrutinises content of official party political communication sources and the production processes underpinning its creation • Importance of developing coherent narratives to sustain effective political campaigns acknowledged in recent studies of political communication (Roberts and Crossley, 2004; McNair, 2011) • Negrine (2008) argues coherence required to communicate effectively in ‘post-modern / professional’ era of political communication

  6. PhD Methodology– Discourse Analysis • Draws upon Habermasian notions of ‘public sphere’ to consider shifting nature of political discourse and dialogue in contemporary public life • Emphasis placed on importance of considering both the ‘impact’ and ‘effects’ of political communication (Seymour-Ure, 1974; Negrine, 2008) • Consideration of political and societal factors impacting upon these processes using principles of critical discourse analysis to evaluate content, structure and production of political communication (Fairclough, 2001, 2009; Wodak and Meyer, 2009)

  7. A Commonwealth Games ‘Truce’?

  8. Lord McConnell’s Appeal • Former First Minister of Scottish Parliament (2001-2007) • Labour Life Peer in House of Lords as Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale (2010 to present) • First Minister during unsuccessful bid for 2008 UEFA European Championships and successful bid for 2014 Commonwealth Games

  9. Lord McConnell’s Appeal McConnell appealed for political ‘truce’ inScottish independence referendum campaign during Glasgow 2014 Games (McConnell, 2014). McConnell suggested that there are: “genuine concerns that the Games, and the image of Scotland, could be damaged by attempts by either side – for and against – to use the Games to promote their cause, or to use the venues for campaigning. There is a real possibility that worries over politicisation will distract organisers, athletes and performers in their preparation.” (McConnell, 2014).

  10. This got me thinking… In what ways have the Commonwealth Games been intertwined with politics in the past? Is this appeal for a ‘truce’ a personal opinion… or political posturing? How will the other political parties respond? Who would benefit from a truce? Should the 2014 Commonwealth Games be apolitical?

  11. The Politics of the Commonwealth Games? Neglected topic compared to Olympic Games (Carter, 2011; Palmer, 2013)… but some past examples: Shifts from ‘British Empire’, ‘British Empire and Commonwealth Games’ and ‘British Commonwealth Games’ (Houlihan, 1994; Whannel, 2008) Protests against South African apartheid regime: Barring of South Africa from Commonwealth Games Federation in 1961 (Kidd, 1988) 1977 ‘Gleneagles Agreement’ to prevent proposed boycott of 1978 Edmonton Games (Coghlan, 1990; Houlihan, 1994; Jeffreys, 2012; Kidd, 1988; Whannel, 2008) Boycott of 1986 Edinburgh Games by 32 African, Asian & Caribbean nations (Coghlan, 1990; Macfarlane, 1986; Monnington, 1993; Whannel, 2008) Strategic use for image promotion and future event springboard – Kuala Lumpar 1998 (Van Der Westhuizen, 2004; Whannel, 2008), Delhi 2010 (Curi et al, 2011; Majumdar, 2011; Majumdar and Mehta, 2010)

  12. Personal or Political? • The ‘personal’ blog… emphasising the ‘I’… “That is why I have called today for a break in campaigning by both sides in the campaign for the referendum on Scottish Independence in September 2014, to cover the two weeks of the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games… To stop and work together for 2 weeks should not be beyond us, and I hope both campaigns will sit down and agree to do so.” (McConnell, 2014)

  13. Personal or Political? …versus the ‘political’ log… House of Lords speech on 8/1/14: “From the very beginning these Games—the bid, the operation, the organisation, the preparation and now their actual execution—have been conducted on an all-party basis in Scotland at all levels of government. Therefore, it is critical at a time when Scotland faces a huge choice in September about its future that, for that two-week period in July and August, the two contesting points of view in Scotland for a yes or no vote in a referendum due to take place seven weeks later set aside their differences, call a truce, put an end to public campaigning and do not exploit the Games but instead put Glasgow and Scotland first, join together and make sure that these are the best Commonwealth Games ever. ” (Hansard, 2014)

  14. Responses to the ‘Truce’? Shona Robison MSP, Cabinet Secretary for the Commonwealth Games, Sport, Equalities and Pensioners’ Rights: “How would you stop meetings happening in Peterhead or the Borders? Why would you do that? It would be unrealistic to do that… Politicians of all persuasions across the debate will enjoy the Games, will be involved as appropriate but I don't think there is any willingness or desire to hijack the Games… Everyone wants it to be a success and that will be a sporting success… We have worked through a general election, through a Scottish election, through a local election and despite rigorous debate through those elections we still manage to sustain cross party working around the Games… Athletes should not be brought into the political debate on either side of the referendum… I don't think that would be fair.” (BBC, 2014; The Herald, 2014)

  15. Responses to the ‘Truce’? Blair Jenkins, Chief Executive, Yes Scotland: “The Commonwealth Games promise to be a wonderful spectacle to be enjoyed by people at home, in the rest of the UK and all over the world.But we are also engaged in a vitally important debate about our country's future and it is unrealistic to halt the campaign for two weeks, especially so close to the referendum vote.Of course, people will be focused on the Games and that is as it should be. But there will still be a demand for information from both sides in the independence debate and it is our role and our responsibility to provide it.” (The Herald, 2014)

  16. Responses to the ‘Truce’? Blair McDougall, Campaign Director, Better Together: “This is an important intervention from a respected former first minister.He is absolutely correct to say that nobody should use the Commonwealth Games as a political tool to get votes in the referendum.Whilst it's hard to see campaigning draw to a halt completely, there is no doubt that we should focus our energies on making the Games a great event for Scotland.” (The Herald, 2014)

  17. Responses to the ‘Truce’? Tavish Scott MSP, Sport Spokesman, Scottish Liberal Democrats: “If the SNP try to use Scottish athletes to score partisan political points on independence, they will be booed by people the length and breadth of Scotland. It is revealing that Alex Salmond today cannot find anything wrong with politics and the Commonwealth Games running in parallel. I suspect that is all Scotland needs to know about what will happen this summer.“ (The Herald, 2014) Liz Smith MSP, Sport Spokeswoman, Scottish Liberal Democrats: “Sport should never be politicised. It is vitally important that all people in Scotland, whatever their views about the referendum, get right behind our Scottish athletes and that the Commonwealth Games is not used as a campaigning forum.” (The Herald, 2014)

  18. Responses to the ‘Truce’? House of Lords debate 8/1/14 (Hansard, 2014): “As the wise counsel of the noble Lord, Lord McConnell, indicated when he talked about the caution that we should exercise, politicking and sport do not mix. The noble Lord’s warning about the constitutional and political debates that will be taking place in Scotland at the same time as the Commonwealth Games should be heeded.” (Lord Purvis of Tweed, Liberal Democrat) “A number of points were raised about a truce, including by the noble Lord, Lord McConnell. I have to say that this is very much a matter for the two sides in that debate to decide upon, but my hunch is that most people are going to be rather more interested in the sport and the athletes than in political exchanges.” (Lord Gardiner of Kimble, Conservative) 9 other participants did not discuss suggested campaign truce…

  19. Beneficiaries of a ‘Truce’?

  20. Beneficiaries of a ‘Truce’?

  21. An Apolitical Games? Conclusions: All uses of public money carry political responsibility – 2014 Commonwealth Games no different Cross-party support renders political point-scoring difficult – but why so common in sports events? Little concrete evidence of political implications of sporting success and failure... ‘feel-good factor’? Inconsistent messages from political parties FMQs relating to ticketing problems already posed McConnell responsible for supporting initial Games bid Failures more significant than successes???

  22. The Glasgow 2014 XX Commonwealth Games and Scottish independence: “political truce” or political truth(s)? Stuart Whigham St Mary's University & Loughborough University

  23. References British Broadcasting Corporation (2014) ‘Scottish independence: Call from ‘truce’ during Glasgow 2014’, BBC News Online. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-25645859. Accessed on 25/1/2014. Carter, T. (2011) Interrogating athletic urbanism: on examining the politics of the city underpinning the production of the spectacle. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 46 (2): 131-139. Coghlan, J., (with Webb, I.) (1990) Sport and British politics since 1960. London: Falmer. Curi, M., Knijnik, J., and Mascarenhas, G. (2011) The Pan-American Games in Rio de Janeiro 2007: consequences of sport mega-event on a BRIC country. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 46 (2): 140-156. Fairclough, N. (2001) The discourse of New Labour: Critical discourse analysis. In M. Wetherall, S. Taylor, and S.J. Yates (eds.). Discourse as data: A guide for analysis, London: Sage, pp229-266. Fairclough, N. (2009) A dialectical-relational approach to critical discourse analysis in social research. In R. Wodak, and M. Meyer (eds.) Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis (2nd ed.), London: Sage, pp. 162-186. Herald (2014) ‘Shona Robison rejects calls for indyref debate truce during Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games’, Herald Scotland Online. Available at: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/shona-robison-rejects-calls-for-indyref-debate-truce-during-glasgow-2014-commonwealth.1389179849. Accessed on 25/1/2014.

  24. References HL Deb (2013-14) 750 col. 1571-1586 [online] [viewed 30 June 2014]. Available from: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201314/ldhansrd/lhan92.pdf Houlihan, B. (1994) Sport and international politics. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf Jeffreys, K. (2012) Sport and politics in modern Britain: the road to 2012. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Kidd, B. (1988) The campaign against sport in South Africa. International Journal, 43 (4): 643-664. Macfarlane, N., and Herd, M. (1986) Sport and politics: a world divided, London: Collins. Majumdar, B. (2011) Commonwealth Games 2010: the index of a ‘new’ India, Social Research, 78 (1): 231-254. Majumdar, B., and Mehta, N. (2010) Sellotape legacy: Delhi and the Commonwealth Games. Noida: Harper Collins. McConnell, J. (2014) ‘Glasgow 2014 can be the best ever Commonwealth Games’, Lords of the Blog. Available at: http://lordsoftheblog.net/2014/01/08/glasgow-2014-can-be-the-best-ever-commonwealth-games/. Accessed on 25/1/2014. McNair, B. (2011) An Introduction to Political Communication (5th ed.). London: Routledge.

  25. References McNair, B. (2011) An Introduction to Political Communication (5th ed.). London: Routledge. Monnington, T. (1993) Politicans and sport: uses and abuses. In Allison, L. (ed.) The changing politics of sport (pp125-150). Manchester: Manchester University Press Negrine, R. (2008) The Transformation of Political Communication. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Palmer, C. (2013) Global sports policy. London: Sage. Roberts, J.M., and Crossley, N. (2004) Introduction. In J.M. Roberts, and N. Crossley, (eds.). After Habermas: New Perspectives on the Public Sphere. Oxford: Blackwell. pp1-27. Seymour-Ure, C. (1974) The Political Impact of Mass Media, London: Constable. Van Der Westhuizen, J. (2004) Marketing Malaysia as a model Muslim state: the significance of the 16th Commonwealth Games, Third World Quarterly, 25 (7): 1277-1291. Whannel, G. (2008) Culture, politics and sport: ‘Blowing the whistle’ revisited. London: Routledge. Wodak, R., and Meyer, M. (2009) Critical discourse analysis: history, agenda, theory and methodology. In R. Wodak, and M. Meyer (eds.) Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis (2nd ed.), London: Sage, pp. 162-186.

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