All parties must stand against the politics of hate
We must all work together to drive out the toxic ideas of the far right, says Scottish Green co-leader, Patrick Harvie, who called for all parties to make it clear that refugees and other targeted groups are a valued and essential part of our society.
Mr Harvie’s comments followed a briefing for all party leaders by the First Minister and Police Scotland.
Mr Harvie said:
“We are grateful to the Scottish Government and Police Scotland for bringing the political parties together for this briefing.
“The far right threat has not been as prominent in Scotland as in some other parts of the UK over recent days, but there is no guarantee that this will continue and we have already been hearing concerns from communities and organisations being targeted with abuse and threats.
“While a coherent and informed police response is vital to help keep people safe, it is clearly not enough on its own.
“What the UK has been seeing is not simply criminality or mindless violence as some people have argued. It is driven by a deliberate, intentional far right movement, and the conditions which have made this possible are political - austerity, inequality, lack of hope in many parts of the country, and high profile voices in politics and the media telling people that immigrants, asylum seekers and Muslims are the cause of their problems.
“Since the causes of this crisis are political, so are the solutions. We must invest in communities, restore public services, redistribute wealth, and make it clear that refugees and other targeted groups are a valued and essential part of our society.
“We will not allow racist and fascist forces to succeed, and we must work together to drive these toxic ideas from Scottish politics and society.”