Euan McColm: Thank you, The Proclaimers, for Sunshine On Leith - and for standing up for the right to 'offend'

“My heart was broken”… I was on the brink by the time Craig Reid had finished singing the opening line.

His first and second repetitions moved me closer before the emergence of his twin Charlie on those glorious harmonies tipped me over the edge and I sobbed.

“Sorrow, sorrow…”

This time, I went to Eddie, confirmed not merely but most sincerely dead 10 years ago this past July and missed daily.

A Hibs fan, he knew every word of Sunshine On Leith – long the Edinburgh club’s unofficial anthem – and the opening piano chords set me off to visit him, wherever he is.

When I got wherever that was, the song was ringing out and Eddie and I sat, watching a grainy film of ourselves – younger men, both healthy – walking up the Royal Mile towards a tea shop where we lingered, comforted by music that had unlocked a quiet but unshakeable sadness.

Back at my desk, with a laughing and a weeping eye, as the Germans have it, I thought of how this song has lightly woven itself into our culture.

The title track of The Proclaimers’ second album, released 38 years ago, Sunshine On Leith is a song for all moments, a soundtrack to weddings and funerals, a terrace anthem, an arm round the shoulder. It’s the sound of letting it all out. (And it’s for this reason I believe, sincerely, all men can benefit from listening to it.)

Other, lesser songs have threatened to become so ubiquitous in Scotland. For a while, back then, it seemed like Caledonia – mawkish nonsense for the pre-fat jabs generation – might hang around forever but, blessedly, hearings of it grow rarer.

Craig and Charlie Reid – whose marvellous new album You May Offend was released on Friday – have long lost ownership of “On Leith (metaphorically, of course. They still get the money it generates and deserve every last penny – and more).

It’s now anyone’s for the taking and useful to have around in an emergency in case you need to be reminded of the redemptive power of love (and nothing else is coming to save us. Believe me, I’ve checked). The Reids may know how to reduce us to rubble but they are also experts in careful reconstruction.

It’s been a pleasure over recent days to hear from the brothers as they promote their new record.

Not only are they songwriters of unusual brilliance, revered by peers for their mastery of the craft, they’re charming, self-deprecating men with sharply political views of the world.

For decades, that’s meant interesting contributions on the constitutional debate. Both were long-time members of the SNP and they continue to support Scottish independence.

But this time – as the title of their new record suggests – their focus is on the suffocating “cancel culture” that has not only stultified the arts but threatened everyone’s right to freedom of expression.

In an interview with The Times, the Reids shared their disagreement with the SNP’s now-thwarted plans to introduce gender self-ID and spoke of the corrosive impact of an activism which has destroyed the lives of those who dissent.

Craig dismissed trans activists a “truth-phobic”. He was not, he said, against a man identifying or dressing as a woman, but very much opposed to agreeing these things actually made him a woman.

While Craig spoke out about the cancellation of the comedy writer Graham Linehan over his outspoken rejection of trans ideology (“None of his pals stood up for him”) Charlie shared his views on the actors Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson, made multimillionaire stars through their involvement in the Harry Potter film series before turning on JK Rowling, the woman who’d created the characters with whom they’d become synonymous.

Having spent part of an evening in the company of one of those stars, I nodded along with Charlie’s condemnation of “those f***ing bairns who Rowling made massive fortunes [for]”.

There was, of course, a backlash to the Reids’ remarks. Some trans activists declared, online, that they would no longer be supporting the work of The Proclaimers. I don’t know the scene but I’d have been hugely surprised if, before last week, the “queer” clubs of the UK had been bouncing each Saturday to the sound of Throw The ‘R’ Away.

Any vitriol directed in the Reids’ direction was nothing compared with the abuse high-profile women such as Rowling or, more recently, the singer Roisin Murphy continue to endure for having had the temerity to speak up in favour of women’s rights.

Nonetheless, we should be grateful that they put themselves out there not simply in defence of Lineham, Rowling and others who have come under attack for their positions on trans ideology but of the right to speak freely without fear.

You May Offend is not only the name of The Proclaimers’ excellent new record, it’s an important principle that we’re in grave danger of surrendering to activist groups from both the left and the right.

We used to understand that, just because someone was offended, they were not necessarily right. Now, we are asked to walk conversational minefields, auditing our views, checking them off against those on the approved list.

It’s exhausting and we’ve never needed more voices of dissent.

So thank you, Craig and Charlie Reid. Thank you for Sunshine on Leith, for speaking up in defence of truth, and for all the beauty and kindness you have shared down the years.