The Sash.

Speaking of sectarianism .... Mr Smith read that a new book, It's Rangers For Me?, edited by a football journalist and politics lecturer, includes an admission by Labour MSP Karen Gillon that "she once belted out choruses of 'The Sash', a song regarded by many as a sectarian anthem, which begins: "Sure I'm an Ulster Orangeman, from Erin's isle I came; To see my British brethren all of honour and of fame..."

"Gillon uses the first sentence of her contribution to the book to admit singing the Ulster anthem which commemorates the 17th-century military victories of King William of Orange's forces over those led by the deposed Catholic monarch James VII. "Yes, I have sung 'The Sash'," she wrote. "I would be a liar to deny it and I'm not a liar. And I knew the words long before I went to Ibrox. I'm not proud that some people take offence at the song, but it is not worth lying about." The MSP strongly denied being a bigot or sectarian, but defended the right of others to sing the song. "I don't think 'The Sash' is automatically an offensive song, but I am conscious that people can be offended by it. I do think people should be allowed to celebrate their heritage and where they come from. "There are a number of people who have seen me singing 'The Sash', albeit some years ago now, and I don't think it is worth trying to cover up." Gillon, who is married to a Celtic-supporting Catholic, revealed that she had witnessed "nasty and vicious" sectarian behaviour in Lanarkshire politics: "I accept that in some places in Scotland the Labour Party is associated with Catholicism. Religion is an issue for some people at a lower level in the Labour Party. "No way would people stop you from becoming an MSP, MP or a councillor because you were a Protestant, but there is certainly a perception there and we have to tackle that. I certainly wasn't going to pretend that I wasn't a Rangers supporter to get on in the party." "

As Mr Smith said earlier ... welcome to the "new" Scotland.