Exclusive:STUC to host summit 'to reject disinformation' over Cameron Barracks asylum seeker plan

The STUC has invited the UK Home Office, Highland Council, the local MP and MSPs, NHS Highland and Police Scotland to a meeting in a bid to “counter the false narratives permeated by the far right.”

STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer warned that the “far right” cannot be allowed “to gain a foothold in our communities any further”.

It comes after protesters gathered in Inverness to protest asylum seekers being housed at the army barracks.

STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer said: “It’s clear that local residents reject the outright disinformation being spread by those who wish to divide our communities.

“The antidote to this is clear, transparent and collaborative information sharing from all within the region, from MPs to MSPs to councillors and more. We must see everyone on the same page, bringing community members and residents with them in their plans instead of sidelining local voices.

“We’re calling for all those involved in the decision around Cameron Barracks to join our roundtable, acting quickly and decisively to counter the false narratives permeated by the far right. We cannot allow them to gain a foothold in our communities any further, using legitimate resident concerns as a smokescreen for their intolerance”

The UK Home Office announced in October that it planned to house 300 asylum seekers at the barracks in Inverness.

Both the Scottish Government and Highland Council voiced concerns about the impact the plans will have on the local area.

Local Lib Dem MP Angus MacDonald has been vocal in his opposition to the plans, as has independent MSP - and former SNP minister - Fergus Ewing.

Roughly 180 people gathered in Inverness town centre earlier this month to protest the plans.

The demonstration was organised by a group called Inverness Against Illegal Migration which asked people to “Join us in protest to stop this mass invasion of illegal migrant men.”

In response there was a counter protest from Stand Up to Racism Scotland which attracted around 120 people.

The protest followed anti-asylum seeker hotel demonstrations in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Falkirk earlier this year.

SNP First Minister John Swinney said last week that he thought some of the same people were attending the protests.

He told journalists on a visit to Westminster: “There will be a proportion of the population that is not supportive or welcoming of migrants and refugees.

“I think that’s a very small proportion. I think if you were to look at the composition of some of these protests, I think you'd find some familiar faces with them moving around the country.”

When pressed if he thought some of the protesters were coming to Scotland from England, he said: “I mean just people who generally move around the country, protesting about these things. That’s who I mean. Around Scotland and the UK.

“If you look at, for example, briefings that I've had on protests that were to be taking place in Glasgow, the expectation and the intelligence was that people were traveling from outside Scotland to be there, not all of them, some of them.”