MALCOLM Offord, Thomas Kerr, and other Reform UK politicians are “inciting racial division” in Scotland, the First Minister has said after two days of racist disorder.
On Tuesday, gangs of masked men marched through Glasgow targeting people based on the colour of their skin , and on Wednesday a demonstration outside a hotel in Greenock saw police officers attacked.
NEW: First Minister John Swinney has ferociously called out Thomas Kerr at FMQs for his comments encouraging people to 'protest' after violent disorder across Northern Ireland and Scotland pic.twitter.com/PZcCa8hHij
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Speaking at First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, John Swinney pointed the finger at Reform UK’s Scottish leader and his MSP group for acting in a way “which incites racial hatred in our society”.
Offord had used his first question to talk about “thousands of the immigrants who arrive illegally in the UK [who] when granted leave to remain there then come specifically to Scotland”.
The Reform MSP said people would present “as homeless because local authorities here have less discretion than in England about how they allocate accommodation”.
He went on: “Now as a result, councils across Scotland are being forced to indefinitely pause the allocation of permanent accommodation to local Scots who've been on social housing waiting lists, in some cases for years, in order to provide temporary accommodation to the new arrivals instead.
“So my question to the First Minister is will he now restore to Scottish local authorities their powers to put local Scots first?”
Responding, Swinney said: “Mr Offord is under a misconception about the local connection rules because the local connection rules that were changed by this government in 2022 did not change local connection rules for refugee households.
“The local connection rules in relation to refugee households have been in place for, I would think, in excess of 20 years in the current context. So Mr Offord is just fundamentally wrong in the point that he puts to me.”
The SNP leader went on: “But there is a deeper point that is exposed by the question that Mr Offord puts to me, and that is that 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.
“I just want to call it out for what it is, because during the election campaign, I made it abundantly clear I would not cooperate with Reform in this parliament because of the way in which they pursue this issue which incites racial hatred in our society.”
Offord claimed that Swinney had “thrown false accusations”, going on: “Whatever is the problem, violence is not the answer. But that is not to ignore the problem.
“The reality is there's a very real problem with immigration which was created by the Tories and now exacerbated by Labour. We politicians have created this unrest in our society, and if we the politicians don't fix it democratically, other less savoury actors will fill that vacuum.”
Swinney said: “I fear that the issues around less savoury characters are not too far from home.
“On Tuesday there was disorder in the streets of Scotland and particularly in the city of Glasgow which I unreservedly condemn, and I condemned it yesterday.
“At the same time as I was condemning it, Thomas Kerr, sitting beside Mr Offord, was saying to people that it was important that people went out and protested last night … And what happened last night?
“Well, 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 UK Scottish leader stood by his deputy, before suggesting that Swinney had questions to answer over the racist violence.
“It was the First Minister who was wearing a t-shirt saying I welcome refugees while advocating open borders. We can't have this, these are the consequences,” Offord said.
“We're asking you to reapply local connection rules, which you can do to help alleviate the pressures on this big issue, social housing. It will rebalance the system once again to put our own people first.”
Swinney responded: “I think what parliament and the country has just heard for the first time in this parliamentary session is exactly what I was warning about during the election campaign.
“Because the language that's been used about ‘strangers’, about creating division between people who walk the same streets of our country …
“Members of the public will ask how on earth – and they say this to me when I'm out and about in the country – how has Scotland become like this?
“Well, Scotland has become like this because people over on that side of this chamber, Malcolm Offord, Thomas Kerr, various others, are inciting racial division in our society, and this government will stand up to all of that.”
At the end of FMQs, Reform UK MSP Helen McDade claimed that Swinney using the word "racist ... increases the risk I am at as a public figure".
She asked for the First Minister to "say to my face he thinks I'm a racist".
The Presiding Officer said that he was not aware of Swinney calling any individual Reform MSP a racist, and told McDade that she had improperly used the point of order rule before closing the session.
