First Minister John Swinney has warned of a 'rising tide of the spread of hateful rhetoric' in Scotland following recent unrest. Tensions erupted in Glasgow and Greenock after a stabbing 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 condemns Reform UK
Responding to Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar during First Minister's Questions on Thursday, Mr Swinney stated: '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. 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 emphasised that there is 'never any justification for that to turn into violence, racism and disorder on our streets'. The First Minister then attacked Reform UK, accusing the party of 'stirring up of hatred within our society'.
Reform UK's response
Reform UK'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. 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. Whatever is the problem, violence is not the answer,' Lord Offord said. However, he added that there is '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.
Political exchanges
The First Minister hit out at the Reform leader, stating: '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. During the election campaign I made it abundantly clear I would not co-operate with Reform in this Parliament, because of the way in which they pursue this issue, which incites racial hatred in our society.'
Mr Swinney also criticised Lord Offord's deputy in Holyrood, Thomas Kerr, who urged people to protest on Wednesday but to remain peaceful. The First Minister 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. Mr Kerr said people should get out and protest. What happened last night was in Greenock – a town very close to Mr Offord's heart – I know that police officers were attacked, two officers sustained minor injuries and damage was caused to police vehicles as the police were simply doing their duty of protecting the citizens of our country. Mr Offord should condemn his colleague Thomas Kerr right now.'
The Reform leader refused to condemn his deputy, adding: '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 after First Minister's Questions, Mr Kerr said Mr Swinney had taken his comments 'out of context', accusing the First Minister of trying to 'turn this into a political bun fight'.
Green Party and other reactions
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 stated: 'This is a party that's consistently branded new Scots as strangers, attacked Glaswegian school children who speak more than one language, and scapegoated and demonised our migrant communities. What does the First Minister have to say to those on the Reform benches who have fanned the flames of hate and actively welcome racist and antisemitic members?' She also referred to comments reported in the National which claimed a Reform Scotland member made antisemitic comments.
Mr Swinney responded: 'I have seen the comments to which Gillian Mackay refers and I am horrified by their contents. I think they are the worst of the communication in our society in the demonising of individuals, and as I have made clear in my response already to Malcolm Offord, I deplore the way in which Reform is stirring up this division within our society. I would say to Reform they should establish the strongest possible distance from that rhetoric and from the behaviour of these individuals, or they will forever be known as the people that incited racial tension within our society in Scotland.'
Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay said his party 'wholeheartedly' condemned the violence and the '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.'
