Jonathan Brocklebank reflects on how balaclavas, once associated with extreme activities like armed robbery or paramilitary actions, have become commonplace among teenagers and protesters for various reasons, often linked to intimidation or protection from identification. He notes specific instances in Glasgow where e-bikes are used by youth involved in drug dealing and theft, as well as during violent bonfire celebrations, highlighting the garment's continued association with criminal activities despite its new role in fashion and political statements.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-17,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
When I was growing up in the last century three groups of people wore balaclavas.
asserted
groups → grow → balaclavas
Only one had legitimate reasons.
asserted
one → have → reasons
These were expeditionaries crossing the Arctic tundra or scaling the planet’s highest peaks in blizzard conditions.
asserted
These → cross → conditions
We didn’t come across many on city centre high streets.
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We → come → streets
Balaclavas appealed to this demographic because they served two purposes which facilitated their crime.
asserted
which → appeal → crime
They scared the living daylights out of folk behind counters.
asserted
They → scar → counters
And they concealed their identities.
asserted
they → conceal → identities
For them the balaclava was part of a highly deliberate paramilitary uniform worn during combat operations and theatrical funeral processions.
asserted
balaclava → wear → operations
The idea was to project the chilling authority of an illegal army while keeping the faces of its soldiers hidden from the state.
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idea → project → state
Unless you happened to be halfway up Mount Everest or out for a dander around the North Pole, this woolly headgear spelled trouble – a whole mess of it.
asserted
headgear → happen → it
How times change.
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times → change → ?
Today a garment once synonymous with intimidation and bloodshed has been casually colonised by teenagers who fancy a spin down their local high street on an e-bike.
asserted
who → colonise → bike
It’s the apparel of choice for ordinary Joes who happen to have particular views on immigration.
asserted
who → ’ → immigration
In November, it’s what many kids enjoying Bonfire Night like to wear when they are lighting their fireworks.
asserted
they → ’ → fireworks
There are pop stars who perform in them.
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who → be → them
Audiences are supposed to admire their chutzpah.
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Audiences → suppose → chutzpah
The full-face covering becomes a fashion accessory.
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covering → become → ?
One thing hasn’t changed.
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thing → change → ?
Balaclavas still spell a whole mess of trouble.
asserted
Balaclavas → spell → trouble
Those teens on e-bikes and e-scooters: does anyone suppose their masks are in place because they feel the cold?
asserted
they → suppose → cold
Balaclavas still spell a whole mess of trouble
In Glasgow, drugs are sold by kids using a taxpayer-funded e-bike hire scheme to transport them from one deal to the next.
asserted
drugs → spell → next
In other UK city centres, a cyclist on an e-bike often signifies someone is about to have their iPhone or handbag stolen.
asserted
iPhone → signify → bike
Those politically engaged immigration philosophers may have valid points to make but they cover their faces to intimidate and to protect themselves from identification when their rhetoric spills over into racist abuse, as it usually does.
uncertain
it → engage → abuse
They are not lighting sparklers in the back garden.
asserted
They → light → garden
They are rampaging through residential areas, throwing lit fireworks at people, cars and houses.
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They → rampage → people
We had them in my street a couple of years back – an army of black-clad urban terrorists with no agenda beyond destruction and chaos.
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We → have → destruction
In the circumstances, it’s gratifying to note that politicians and Police Scotland are waking up to the common denominator in this litany of ill-intent.
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politicians → ’ → intent
Nationalist MSP David Linden warns that groups of young men dressed all in black and wearing balaclavas are ‘terrifying’ communities.
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groups → warn → communities
David Kennedy, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, says police must ‘do more on face coverings’ and that officers should have ‘powers to remove them, to see who the individuals are’.
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individuals → say → them
All this sounds swell on paper, and it is certainly encouraging to note the element of curiosity creeping into police thinking on the preponderance of masked menaces in our midst.
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it → sound → midst
Comforting as it would be to imagine an officer’s hand coming down on a shoulder and the ceremonial unveiling of the ne’er-do-well – who would have got away with it if it weren’t for the pesky coppers’ new powers to remove balaclavas – the reality is it is never going to happen.
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it → imagine → balaclavas
For the Scooby-Doo law to work, an officer actually has to approach the wearer of the face mask.
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officer → work → mask
When was the last time you saw this happen?
asserted
this → see → ?
For ‘operational reasons’, the standard practice is one of hanging back and hoping things don’t get too out of hand.
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things → hang → hand
It’s what happens when football fans run amok in city centres; it’s what we see when anti-immigration protests threaten to turn into race riots; it’s in the Police Scotland playbook every Bonfire Night.
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it → ’ → playbook
‘What are you doing sitting in the van?’ a resident in my area asked officers as her street went up in flames, the culprits in plain sight.
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street → do → sight
‘Following orders’ was their response.
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response → follow → orders
Is it credible to suppose that a force as chronically risk-averse as Police Scotland is suddenly going to alter its entire operational DNA?
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force → suppose → DNA
Will officers really pile out of their transits mob-handed and enforce these new statutory powers on a hostile crowd?
asserted
officers → pile → crowd
It is pure fantasy – laced with nostalgia for what policing used to be.
asserted
policing → lace → what
…and 26 more, not listed.
The Aporia
