THE First Minister has hit out at elements of the “mainstream media” after they were accused of being “culpable” of promoting bigotry and creating the conditions for far-right riots in England and Northern Ireland.
In a statement to Parliament on MSPs’ first day back after summer recess, John Swinney warned that Scotland was not “immune” to the forces which led to unrest elsewhere in the UK.
He told MSPs: “It is absolutely unacceptable for anyone to live in fear of leaving their home, or to feel nervous about sending their children to school, or to be afraid to use certain public services or transport. Justice has been done in the English courts, with sentences reflecting the serious criminality perpetrated.
“To date, Scotland has not had to deal with incidents of a similar nature, despite the attempts to organise these via social media.
“But we must continue to be vigilant against ideologies that can lead to such violence; we cannot take the view that we may be immune from related disorder occurring on our doorsteps.”
In his statement, Swinney laid the blame for the riots at the door of social media companies and far-right agitators.
Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said it was “not only” social media companies responsible for spreading racist material but also the traditional media.
He said: “It is not only social media that is responsible for the promotion and proliferation of hatred against immigrants, against asylum seekers and against Muslims.
"These attitudes have also been deliberately cultivated by large swathes of the mainstream media in the UK and by successive UK governments, and politicians from a number of different parties are culpable for that.”
Harvie (below) argued that when “community cohesion is […] weakened” the far-right are able to gain a foothold.
He urged the First Minister to ensure that the “the burden of that falls on the wealthiest” and not “on our communities” if Labour imposes a new era of austerity on the UK.
Swinney replied: “There have been many comments made in the mainstream media and by politicians that I would never, ever, ever want to be associated with because they represent an ideology that I find repugnant, but I accept the reality that it’s there, which is why it’s so important that we exercise the political leadership that in Scotland we reject that ideology and we reject it right across this parliamentary chamber."
He added that it was "to the credit of all parties" in the Scottish Parliament that they worked to "foster a climate" where far-right ideology was rejected.
On the austerity comments, Swinney said he agreed with the Scottish Greens that it was important to “recognise the damage of austerity”, adding: “Austerity is damaging our communities and the fabric of life, that’s why it’s got to come to an end and I want to ensure that is the case in Scotland.”
Last week, Prime Minister Keir Starmer (above) gave a speech reflecting on the riots and accused the Tories of having left a “societal black hole” as well as an economic one.
In response to Swinney’s statement, outgoing Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross raised concerns about the early release of prisoners from Scottish jails and cuts to police officer numbers, which the most recent figures show are at their lowest levels since 2008.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar echoed Swinney’s comments that Scotland could not be “complacent” to the risk of far-right violence erupting north of the Border.
Swinney also spoke about false online rumours which had circulated in response to an alleged stabbing in Stirling over the summer – which led to Police Scotland taking the unusual step of identifying a man arrested as being white and local to the area.
