THE finger has been pointed at Reform UK MSPs and their leader Nigel Farage after “race riots” broke out in Glasgow and Belfast.
People in the Scottish and Northern Irish cities were targeted because of the colour of their skin, according to police, as far-right agitators led disorder which saw arson, assaults, and clashes with police officers on Tuesday evening.
Twenty-seven people have been made homeless “because people went door-to-door to try and target foreign nationals” in Belfast, a UK minister has said.
Cabinet Office minister Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent told the Lords a two-month-old is the youngest victim who had to be moved from her home.
"I don’t think any of us will ever be able to forget the image of a nine-year-old child and their family being put in the back of a Land Rover to be rescued from violent, racist thugs who were seeking to undermine them and to undermine their very sense of belonging in a country that many of them have lived in for decades," she said.
"This is simply unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”
The violence came after two high-profile attacks which became flash points for the online right.
In Belfast on Monday, a 30-year-old Sudanese man was taken into custody after video showed him allegedly attempting to murder another man. And last week, the murder of Henry Nowak in Southampton was seized on as the 18-year-old died in handcuffs while police focused on false allegations that he had racially abused his killer.
In response to Nowak’s death, Reform UK leader Farage called for “pure, cold rage” from his supporters.
Referencing the quote on Wednesday, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tied Farage’s rhetoric to the racist rioters.
“Houses set on fire. Migrants and minority ethnic people chased out of their homes. Shouts of ‘foreigners out’. Yet again, the far-right are weaponising an appalling attack to whip up hatred against entire communities,” Corbyn said.
“When politicians demonise migrants, hatred spreads. When politicians call for ‘pure, cold rage,’ people listen. Their racist bile will not build a single hospital, help a single homeless person or lift a single child out of poverty.”
Speaking in Holyrood on Wednesday, Glasgow Labour MSP Paul Sweeney said that “some members of this parliament have sought to fan the flames of this division with continual talk of ‘strangers’ and calls for further protests tonight”.
He added that parliament “has a duty to calm tensions in this country and not inflame them, and to be reminded that their first duty is to their constituents and the people of Scotland and not American neo-Nazis on social media”.
Scottish Justice Secretary Neil Gray said he “fundamentally and completely” agreed with Sweeney.
The comments appeared to be in reference to Reform MSPs such as Thomas Kerr, the Tory defector who is now the party’s depute leader in Scotland, who has frequently used the word “strangers” to refer to people who have immigrated into Scotland.
On Tuesday, Kerr accused the Scottish Government of “prioritising strangers over Scots”, and in May, he spoke about “allow[ing] these dangerous unvetted strangers into our country with open borders”.
He also told the BBC that he would encourage people to "protest" again, saying: "Go out and protest. Go out and make your voice heard. We have a fantastic tradition in this country of freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Go out there and make sure the government hears your voice, but do not vandalise, do not incite racism and do not show violence. Because as soon as you do that, you play into the hands of John Swinney and of Keir Starmer, who do not want to speak about massive, uncontrolled illegal migration."
At Westminster, Reform MP Sarah Pochin said she had been approached by Scottish LibDem MP Angus MacDonald, who accused her of inciting violence.
Zack Polanski, the Green leader in England and Wales, said that “politicians who fanned these flames should hang their heads in shame”.
“Time and again we've seen this story play out. Single incidents used to fuel a far right narrative – and communities across the nation paying the price,” Polanski added.
The Scottish Greens called for a rejection of “far-right race riots” across Scotland.
Glasgow Green MSP Iris Duane said: “What happened in Glasgow last night, was no response to the horrific attack that occurred in Belfast this week, but yet another example of extremist groups preying on the fears of our communities.
“It was opportunistic racism by far-right figureheads who continue to use horrific incidents all around the UK as an excuse to incite violence and spread fear, and push their agenda.”
Elsewhere, communications regulator Ofcom said some of the disorder “appears to have been incited online”, adding: “This has included racially motivated incidents of violence, arson attacks on homes and vehicles, and attacks against police.”
The watchdog said it was contacting specific providers – although it would not confirm which ones – “where we believe there are specific risks around the presence of illegal content relating to the civil unrest”.
Online service providers have duties under the UK’s Online Safety Act 2023 to “assess and mitigate the risks of illegal activity occurring on their sites and apps” – content which can include stirring up hatred or provoking violence.
Labour Party chair Anna Turley said online platforms were “playing a role in driving” the unrest and suggested Twitter owner Elon Musk was one of the “bad faith actors” stoking tensions.
Musk shared lists of locations where "protests" could take place – also posted by agitator Tommy Robinson – and retweeted Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe’s post saying “millions must go”.
The far-right billionaire supported a post by Reform UK's Matt Goodwin saying it was not social media or him inflaming tensions in the UK, but “the very deliberate policy of mass uncontrolled immigration and open borders”.
