Anti-immigration activists from England due to travel to Glasgow for protest, claims "patriot" group

Anti-immigration activists from England are due to travel to Glasgow for a protest later this month, amid fears of more street violence this summer.

Unite the Clans Scotland (UTC), a group branded far right by critics, is organising a “peaceful” anti-immigration protest in Glasgow on 25 July.

Various “patriot” groups are due to attend the rally including Britain First, a racist and Islamophobic political party with a history of invading mosques.

According to UTC, activists from England will travel north for the Glasgow Green protest which is due to take place two days after the Commonwealth Games start.

UTC – which rejects claims it is far right – posted on Facebook: “We at UTC, alongside groups from Perth, Dundee, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Falkirk, and many more across Scotland, as well as at least three groups from England, will be standing together at Glasgow Green on 25 July at 12 noon.” The Ferret requested the names of these groups but did not get a response.

Tensions are high in Glasgow following a series of protests over alleged sex crimes by migrants. Angry crowds gathered in Cranhill on Tuesday and dozens of residents gathered in Castlemilk on Wednesday evening. Last week, similar disorder took place in Royston, Glasgow, in response to an alleged sexual assault.

Anti-racism groups have expressed concerns that “extremists from elsewhere could seek to inflame tensions”. They accused far right actors of using “horrific attacks on women to infiltrate local communities to build their far right street movement”. 

Police Scotland said misinformation was being spread online by bad actors, often from outside Glasgow. Five police officers were injured during the protests.

Far right groups have previously been accused of exploiting people’s concerns over asylum seekers to promote white supremacy, racism and anti-Muslim views. One far right activist who travelled from England to Glasgow this week for a protest was arrested for an alleged hate crime after shouting “f**nian c***s”.

In 2023, white supremacists from England travelled to Erskine for demos, as reported by The Ferret, including a man linked to a banned neo-Nazi terror group who was later jailed.

Far right group aimed to recruit Erskine locals over asylum seekers

A far right group behind anti-asylum seekers protests in Erskine was trying to recruit “disgruntled locals” and is a “threat and risk” to public safety, according to a police intelligence report. A briefing by the National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC) marked “official sensitive” reveals protests held by Patriotic Alternative

The FerretBilly Briggs

There has already been violence in Glasgow this summer. Trouble erupted last month with masked activists dressed in black attacking people of colour. At one point worshippers in Glasgow Central Mosque had to be locked inside for safety as marchers appeared to be heading there.

Tensions heightened after videos emerged of protests in Glasgow and Edinburgh which commentators claimed were reminiscent of 1930s fascism and the “blackshirts”. Supporters of the “silent protests” rejected those claims and pointed out the demos were peaceful.

Scotland has so far avoided the disorder that England witnessed in 2024 when mobs rioted and set fire to a hotel housing asylum seekers. 

But there is concern that far right agitators could exploit the situation. Omar Afzal, director of public affairs at the Scottish Association of Mosques, said: "The prospect of organised anti-immigration groups travelling from elsewhere in the UK to Scotland, at a time of heightened tensions, is of deep concern.”

He added: “We have every confidence that Police Scotland will take the necessary steps to protect public safety and ensure that anyone intent on intimidation, violence or criminality is dealt with robustly. Scotland is stronger when we stand together against hatred in all its forms."

Scotland is stronger when we stand together against hatred in all its forms. — Omar Afzal, Scottish Association of Mosque

The campaign group Stand Up To Racism said: "Unite The Clans have shown their true intentions time and time again unashamedly displaying their far right demonisation of refugees, asylum seekers and our other neighbours. We invite everyone to the counter protest called by Stand Up to Racism Glasgow and Women Against the Far Right Scotland to show that we oppose racism and fascism in Glasgow."

Police Scotland said people have the right to express their views lawfully and to protest peacefully but that anyone seeking to “exploit events to break the law, promote racism or violence” will be dealt with “decisively and robustly”.

The force said that while most protests are peaceful, there have been instances where people with criminal records attended with the aim of inciting disorder. “There has also been mistaken identity, including in Castlemilk, where the home of an innocent member of the public was targeted,” said Assistant chief constable Alan Waddell who urged people to “think carefully” about what they read online due to the amount of misinformation.

"Recent protests in Glasgow have focused on registered sex offenders and people perceived to be sex offenders,” he continued. “Registered sex offenders are managed robustly and effectively. These arrangements provide a comprehensive response to a complex issue, using professional assessment and risk management.”

He added: “‘Outing’ registered sex offenders on social media or physically confronting them significantly affects the ability of police and partners to manage risk effectively. It also undermines the measures already in place to protect the public. It also requires additional policing resources, reducing our ability to respond quickly and effectively to other calls for assistance from local communities.”

These women were abused by far right groups who claimed to want to protect them. But they fought back

Women have been leading the fight against the far right in Scotland but anti-racism activism has come at a high personal cost with at least 14 having been publicly abused and threatened. But they are resolute in the face of intimidation and say they will continue defending human rights.

The FerretBilly Briggs

On Thursday, Glasgow City Council urged the public not to share “false information” after claims that a care home was being turned into asylum accommodation. A social media post claimed it was being refurbished “for asylum seekers and illegal immigrants” and encouraged residents to protest.

The council had to confirm that the planning application is for additional bedrooms, an improved entrance lobby and extra car parking spaces with no change of use.

Judith Sijstermans, a politics lecturer at Aberdeen University who researches the far right, said: “While groups like Unite the Clans show that there is a distinctly Scottish symbolic and organisational structure to the far-right in Scotland, it is important to remember that the Scottish far-right only operates semi-autonomously from the British and global far right. Because of the strong social media base of these groups, the Scottish far right is open to UK and global influences and often echoes the images and language of far-right groups that operate across the UK and the world. 

She added: “We have seen this in the past with viral moments in Scotland spurred on by figures like Tommy Robinson, but we have also seen that the movements are distinct — with the summer 2024 protests around the murders in Southport having limited effects in Scotland. The fluidity between these organisations leads to cross-pollination of individual members — with individuals involved in far-right groups in Scotland also travelling to protests in England — and as Unite the Clans is suggesting, some English far-right actors travelling to Scotland to take part in Scottish events.”