John Swinney: Some anti-asylum protestors are falling foul of hate crime laws
John Swinney warned voters that backing Reform UK at the election would be a ‘disaster’ for Scotland.
John Swinney has claimed some who protest against hotels housing asylum seekers are falling foul of hate crime legislation, while describing some who are anti-immigration are “racist”.
The First Minister said the rise in popularity for Nigel Farage and Reform UK is a “disaster” for Scotland, adding that many who are concerned about immigration levels are “intolerant of people from other countries”.
Mr Swinney’s comments came just hours before Mr Farage unveils Reform’s candidates for the upcoming Holyrood election, and details his party’s manifesto.
During an interview with BBC Scotcast, Mr Swinney said some who are flirting with the idea of voting Reform are “fed up” with the current state of politics, but said there are others “who genuinely hold views with which I profoundly disagree”.
He said: “There are some views in there that are intolerant of people from other countries, other races, racist views.
“There will be some in there, but a lot of people are angry, fed up with the state of society, and I take responsibility for that as First Minister.”
He added: “I am trying to explain to those people that the politics of Farage will be a disaster for our country if we go down that road.”
The SNP has a longstanding policy of welcoming migrants coming into Scotland, as they believe it can plug worker shortages in certain industries - however, immigration concerns are becoming a more prominent priority for voters.
Mr Swinney said: “I don’t think there is a rational argument against immigration in the circumstances Scotland faces today because we have a shortage of the working age population.
“Every single sector says ‘we are short of skills and people’. Because of the nature of the make-up of our population, we need to be pragmatic about that. Attracting others to come to Scotland is the rational argument for immigration and I don’t see a rational argument against it.
“There will be some who are against immigration because they have racist views.
“I’m not surprised, because if you go back to the1970s when there was a rise of the national front which set out many of these racist ideas, I was going to anti-racist marches just as frequently as anti-nuclear marches, so these sentiments have not been far away from us, but we are back there now.”
During his interview he also spoke about anti-asylum protests being staged outside hotels housing asylum seekers up and down the country.
He warned that some of those protesters are potentially committing hate crimes.
Mr Swinney said: “I’ve got a hotel for asylum seekers in my constituency in Perth, and there are demonstrations there frequently outside the hotel.
“There are people carrying banners which in my view are absolutely and totally repugnant, banners, now I have to be careful how I articulate this, but worthy of investigation in relation to hate crime legislation.
“Some of these people are local people in Perth, but a lot are bussed in from around the country. The same faces show up in Perth, then Falkirk, then Aberdeen.”
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