Dear Nigel Farage, my doctor hasn't 'culturally smashed' any part of Scotland and he probably saved my life

As a public schoolboy, according to multiple accounts, Farage was overtly racist and anti-semitic in language and behaviour. His half-denials seem based on it being a long time ago, which is true, and anyway, the BBC was still transmitting the Black and White Minstrel Show, which is not a bad debating point.

However, the BBC and most of society sorted themselves out in the intervening decades. The problem is that Farage did not. His warm-up act for a Scottish visit, that immigration has caused the “culturally smashing” of Glasgow, is absolutely in line with his alleged utterances as a young man, and throughout his life.

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The benefits of immigration

The crassness of that allegation serves one useful purpose. It can leave nobody who votes Reform in any doubt about who and what they are endorsing – a crude attempt to exploit concerns about immigration by exaggerating its negative effects and inciting fears, regardless of where that may lead.

Glasgow, for the avoidance of doubt, has not been “culturally smashed” by recent immigration any more than by the many waves that went before. There are challenges which have been exacerbated by failings of public policy, while there are also benefits that most of us depend upon to lesser or greater degree.

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My Bangladeshi uber driver is not a threat. My Syrian barber is a friendly figure. My Pakistani consultant, who happened to be doing a shift in Stornoway, probably saved my life, and so on. To lump them together in a crude pretence that they have “culturally smashed” Glasgow or any other part of Scotland is a calumny with intent to incite.

The effect is to make all immigrants and children of immigrants feel more vulnerable, which is what racists do. The political success of Reform depends on drawing in people who have legitimate concerns and perceptions but would never define themselves as racist. Farage’s comments help to clarify that line and, one hopes, limit the numbers prepared to cross it at the ballot-box.

READ MORE: How populist attacks on BBC are motivated by an Orwellian desire to hide the truth

A failure to address real problems

Revulsion towards the language and motives of Farage are not, however, enough. Our liberal society in general and Scottish exceptionalists in particular have taken far too long to recognise that there are genuine issues to address which will not be resolved by pontificating about how much more welcoming we are.

When there was little prospect of Scotland attracting large numbers of migrants, the Scottish Government preened itself on making homelessness legislation and benefit eligibility more user-friendly than in England. What it did not do was build more houses to satisfy existing demand so that when, unsurprisingly, more migrants gravitated towards Glasgow, the local authority was left to deal with a growing problem of homelessness.

The Glasgow City Council website now implores: “Glasgow has declared a Housing Emergency. We currently have 6,000-plus live applications awaiting housing and 4,200-plus households in temporary accommodation. If you intend to move to Glasgow, do not move until you have secured suitable accommodation.”

This is a real, practical challenge and it has been compounded by the usual empty rhetoric of the Scottish Government which essentially invited more migrants to head north without a clue about how they would be accommodated once they arrived. That is a political failure which must be addressed but not by turning public resentment against the migrants.

Swinney’s clumsy political manoeuvre

The disappointing news for Farage is that the vast majority of new arrivals are successfully assimilated and quickly start to make useful contributions to society, as cited above. So long as the public are reassured that their concerns are being recognised and acted upon rather than dismissed from lofty heights, there will continue to be a limited pool for Farage to fish in.

Earlier this year, John Swinney engaged in a clumsy political manoeuvre to “unite” all other parties against Reform. A pious statement was drawn up of which nothing further has been heard.

Opposition parties had the Hobson’s choice of signing up to this charade or being accused of undermining it, in full knowledge that Swinney’s real message was “if you don’t want Reform, you’d better vote for me”.

This strategy quickly fell apart when the SNP tried to run the Hamilton by-election as a straight fight between themselves and Reform. The voters took a different view and decided that the best way to serve the constituency while also defeating Reform was to vote for a Labour candidate they knew and trusted, rather than the latest identikit product of the nationalist production line.

Reform bandwagon set to stall

Something similar happened in a recent council by-election in Stranraer where Reform produced their highest share of the poll so far, with 34 per cent of first preference votes. It was the SNP vote which slumped and, in this instance, the Tory whom voters turned to in order to deny Reform its first electoral victory in Scotland. Voters work these things out for themselves and that doesn’t usually mean rewarding the SNP.

My guess is that Reform’s bandwagon will stall in the months ahead, as scrutiny increases and the Teflon wears thin. However, denunciation alone will not do the job. Realistic policies to address illegal immigration and meet the challenges created by influxes of people, regardless of where they come from, are not sops to Farage. On the contrary, they are duties which society is entitled to expect.

Farage’s language about Glasgow is a reflection of what he is and always has been. It should act as a warning while there should be no doubt that the greater danger lies in denying or ignoring genuine concerns, in order to sustain a political posture.