First Minister John Swinney has warned of a “rising tide of the spread of hateful rhetoric” in Scotland following unrest in Glasgow and Greenock. Tensions erupted after a knife attack in north Belfast on Monday night, with police reporting that members of the public were “attacked because of the colour of their skin” in Scotland’s largest city. Officers also sustained injuries during clashes.
Swinney's Response to Sarwar
Responding to Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar during First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, Mr Swinney said: “There is a rising tide of the spread of hateful rhetoric in our society and it is inciting people to behave in a reckless and aggressive and thuggish fashion in our society.” He added: “Scotland is a welcoming country and I will exercise the leadership, as I know Mr Sarwar will do, to make sure that Scotland always remains a tolerant, welcoming and inclusive country.”
Mr Sarwar condemned the Belfast attack but stressed there is “never any justification for that to turn into violence, racism and disorder on our streets.”
Attack on Reform UK
The First Minister accused Reform UK of “stirring up of hatred within our society.” The party’s leader in Scotland, Malcolm Offord, urged Mr Swinney to adjust local authority housing rules to “put local Scots first,” while also condemning the violent scenes. “Let me address the terrible riots we have seen in Belfast,” Lord Offord said, adding: “First to condemn the brutal and unprovoked attack on Stephen Ogilvie, second to echo his family in saying that violent protest is not the answer.” However, he noted “a very real problem with immigration.”
Sudanese man Hadi Alodid, 30, appeared in court on Wednesday charged over the Belfast knife attack, in which Mr Ogilvie is said to have lost an eye.
Mr Swinney hit back, saying: “Mr Offord is trying to pursue an issue on immigration at the same time as his party is associated with the stirring up of hatred within our society and I just want to call it out for what it is.” He reiterated his refusal to co-operate with Reform in Parliament due to their incitement of racial hatred.
Criticism of Thomas Kerr
The First Minister also criticised Lord Offord’s deputy in Holyrood, Thomas Kerr, who urged people to protest peacefully on Wednesday. Mr Swinney said: “At the same time I was making it abundantly clear that nobody in the current context – although they have got democratic rights – nobody should be out protesting last night, given the climate that we are in.” He noted that in Greenock, police officers were attacked, two sustained minor injuries, and police vehicles were damaged. “Mr Offord should condemn his colleague Thomas Kerr right now.”
Lord Offord refused to condemn his deputy, stating: “Thomas Kerr was very, very clear yesterday in the interviews he gave that there was no line to cross into violence, but a right to protest remains valid.” Speaking to journalists later, Mr Kerr said Mr Swinney had taken his comments “out of context” and accused the First Minister of trying to “turn this into a political bun fight.”
Scottish Green Co-Leader's Remarks
Scottish Green co-leader Gillian Mackay asked Mr Swinney what he had to say to Reform, which she said had “fanned the flames of hate.” She accused the party of branding new Scots as strangers, attacking multilingual school children, and scapegoating migrant communities. She also referred to reported antisemitic comments by a Reform Scotland member. Mr Swinney responded: “I have seen the comments to which Gillian Mackay refers and I am horrified by their contents.” He urged Reform to distance themselves from such rhetoric, or they will be known as “the people that incited racial tension within our society in Scotland.”
Other Leaders' Reactions
Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay said his party “wholeheartedly” condemned the violence and “ugly scenes” in Glasgow. Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton stated: “The heat and the hate stoked by bad actors online and amplified by voices in this chamber do not reflect the welcoming and internationalist country that I recognise. If they seek to gain advantage by trying to divide the people of Scotland, then they underestimate the people of Scotland and they will fail.”
