A campaign against an “asylum hotel” in Scotland has been hijacked by an extreme right wing group.
The Record can reveal the racist Patriotic Alternative group is spreading its vile anti-immigration views on a Facebook group set up by residents of Erskine.
The MGM Muthu Glasgow River Hotel - where it’s proposed that almost 200 asylum seekers will be housed - will be the scene of a mass protest on Sunday by the group and far right supporters. Supporters of the rabble group will come from all over Britain.
The takeover of the campaign was signalled by the appearance of PA’s Scotland organiser Kenny Smith, a former BNP election candidate, on the Erskine Against Asylum Hotel group.
One local who contacted the Record said: “I joined this group because I thought it was reasonable to state that Erskine is not the right location to bring 200 men who have recently arrived in the UK.
“I don’t support racism or have far right beliefs. But I was furious when I saw a local pressure group turn into a focal point for a group that jumps on every divisive racial issue up and down the country.
“I feel like these people are a cuckoo in the nest and they’re taking over.”
A storm erupted after it was confirmed that a consultation would take place on the placing of
174 asylum seekers in the Muthu Hotel.
Most of those housed in the former Erskine Bridge Hotel will be men aged between 18 and 40, the majority of whom have arrived from the Middle East.
The Erskine Against Asylum Hotel group was set up on Facebook last Thursday and on Monday night Smith addressed the 600 members.
He said: “We have had success in Yorkshire and Wales already preventing the swamping of vulnerable communities with hundreds of young migrant men.
“The world is a better place for the diversity of identity, culture and heritage, but we are being swamped and over run.
“Patriotic Alternative are not here to hijack or piggy back onto any local campaign. We will oppose this plan because it is the right thing to do.”
He added: “We have banners, a platform, load speaker and leaflets already sorted.”
Patriotic Alternative Scotland last year caused outrage when they staged a gathering at a memorial bench dedicated to Kriss Donald - a 15-year-old who was murdered by Asian men in Glasgow in 2004.
The extremists claimed to be defending “victims of anti-white violence” before unfurling a banner with his face on it over the M8.
In 2021, Kenny Smith launched a petition to have a bridge over the MP, between Sighthill and Cowcaddens, named after Kriss.
Last November Kenny Smith pleaded guilty to possessing excess ammunition after being issued with a firearms certificate the previous April. He was admonished at Portree Sheriff Court.
A spokesperson for the Hope Not Hate anti-fascist group said: “Patriotic Alternative have admitted that they’re keen to “jump on local issues” because their true agenda of racism and extremism is one that has no appeal outside of a small fringe of online cranks.
“Anyone who attends this demonstration will rub shoulders with violent extremists and racists and then be used for that group’s propaganda.”
When the Record accused Smith of hijacking the local campaign group for the ends of PA, he denied this.
He said: “We attend events throughout Scotland and we are changing the face of modern nationalism. We are not bad people or extremists.”
After the Record highlighted PA’s appalling track record, campaign organiser Derek Stitt said he had decided to cut ties with the shady group.
He said: “We are going to cut any ties with PA that might have been forming.
“We thought the idea of having experienced protestors would help.
“But our protest is a community one we don’t want any trouble or violence or sending out political messages.
“We just want some answers from our government or local authorities, Mears and the hotel itself as we have been completely left in the dark and we’re never consulted and still none the wiser to who exactly we have staying in the hotel.”
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