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Tongs Ya Bas: The Explosive History of Glasgow's Street Gangs

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Gary Barton, 46, a local activist who ran for the council, believes in giving young people something to do to stop them wanting to fight. He starts investigating the Tong on his own, despite the police's warnings. Because of this investigation, he gets into a fight with a Tong member. Sale is about to be killed when Lee, the criminal's wife saves him. Lee was forced to marry the man and, hating him, decides to aid in his demise before another innocent person is killed. Realizing the woman is in danger for defying the will of the Tong, Sale tells her to stay at his place.

THEN she asked if she could paint my toe-nails as apparantly I have "nice big nails" - and I again obliged... Weapons seized from the homes of gang members in The Calton during a police raid in 2008 (Image: Mark Runnacles/Glasgow Live)

The policy was even praised by then Prime Minister David Cameron who gave it as an example of a way to fight gang violence in London after the riots that took place there that year. Joe Pyke, 77, has lived in the area for 50 years and recalls running the gauntlet from nearby Gallowhill when he ventured into Calton to court his wife as a teenager. It was during this time that the drug trade really started to get a grip of the city. Being in a gang was suddenly no longer just about territorialism or the thrill of the violence. This was about protecting your patch and therefore protecting a profit. Read More Related Articles If a possibly-fictional child-eating vampire wasn’t bad enough the 60s brought a real monster into the Gorbals.

Sorry, bit of a weird thread... and I'm probably at risk of losing many 'man points' here but here goes But tensions were starting to rise. A few shouts rang out, food was thrown and then, at the end of the film, the Calton gang leader McCabe, who would go on to become known as Terror McCabe, stood up and shouted the immortal lines “TONGS YA BASS” at the top his lungs before leading a charge towards the outnumbered Spurs. Read More Related Articles By now there had been a cultural shift in the city, it was a lot less harsh and conservative as it was in the 30’s young people were no longer as confined to their own community. MacFarlane, 53, added: "David's lawyers were concerned we might end up in court if slogans like Tongs Ya Bass belonged to someone.I'm a fan of the old Gorbals Story movie from 1948 and thought it would be a good idea to do a more modern version." Stop searches have increased 180 per cent during the last four years and the police are aware that old affiliations may die but new ones spring up. If former members of the IRA can sit in parliament, why can't members of the Calton Tongs be in the Calton swimming club, football club or whatever, instead? There is nothing here - schools have closed, churches have closed. Alternatives for these kids is the only option." Early scenes serve to establish the family life of the MacLean's. Sometimes these seem rather idealistic, such as family gatherings and sing-songs. The singing seems to be a motif for happier times; it doesn't return until directly after Malky's death in a comical children's sing-a-long at a Saturday matinee. Although family life is not disregarded, never can adults successfully communicate with the youngsters. The attempts by an American uncle to have some influence over the boys is ineffectual, and the mother seems to have little control over them. Also there curiously seems to be no intervention by the police into the gang violence. But where did it originate? How did a group of teenagers from The Calton come up with such an iconic name that would go on to define the area for so long? How did 'Tongs ya bass' become the unofficial motto for gang fights in Scotland even being immortalised in TV and film including the Glasgow movie Small Faces.

The Sunday Mail revealed last year that Wanted star McAvoy was lined up to play a young MacFarlane. This coincided with a resurgence of street gangs at the turn of millennium, many of whom had been active in the city for 50 years, and a new wave of so called “ned culture” that was apparent all over the west of Scotland. The growth in technology meant feuds were being taken outside of the schemes and the city centre at weekends could resemble a battle ground.There is a well-executed, pardon the pun, killing at an ice-rink, but I was otherwise unconvinced by the dialogue and thought there was an over-dilution of the way things really were (for instance, I didn't see one razor-slashing) and I can guarantee that the language and actual violence of the times was much stronger than we see here, although I can understand this may have been done for certification purposes. No clichés. No insult to your intelligence. Just a story, well told, superbly acted, and superbly shot. This film is a textbook on how to make a good drama. Just one of many superb films from the UK (another recent good one was The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner) that we've been deprived of over here until now.

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