SCOTLAND is at an “inflection point” amid rising anti-immigrant rhetoric and far-right protests gaining traction, an expert has said.
Aubrey Westfall, professor of political science at Wheaton College, in Illinois, who wrote a book on the politics of immigration in Scotland, said that it could “go either way”.
While Westfall set out that Scotland is generally more open to migrants than south of the Border, she noted that housing asylum seekers in hotels had become a flashpoint issue.
Protests organised by far-right agitators have been held outside of hotels in Perth, Falkirk and Aberdeen in recent months, while over 100,000 people joined a rally in London led by Tommy Robinson on Saturday.
At the march, Tesla billionaire Elon Musk called for “revolutionary change” via video link, and has now been accused of incitement.
And, we previously told of outrage after the Saltire was "weaponised" as part of an anti-migrant campaign, organised by an ally of Robinson.
While Scots tend to support migration, as polling has previously shown, Westfall points out that it is “impossible” to counteract the level of misinformation being spread by the far-right on social media, particularly by politicians who are seen as “the elite”.
“It's not just coming from local sources,” she explained. “It's an international regime of misinformation, and there's all that evidence too that the far right, the groups across Europe and across the world, cooperate with each other.
“They find tactics that work, they find rhetoric that works, and they tell each other. “It's impossible, I think, for the establishment to really effectively fight against.”
Westfall explained that she thinks Scotland could “go either way” as anti-immigrant rhetoric, emboldened by social media and the rise of Reform UK, takes hold in England.
“Look, it just takes one bad incident, and this could tip in one way, or if we take decisive action, it can tilt in the other way,” she said.
“The problem is, especially in the UK wider context, that pro-immigrant messaging, it's just not as resonant.
“It doesn't activate that fear reaction that the anti-immigrant campaigners exploit. It's not as exciting. “It doesn't tap into pre-existing prejudices that we all know exist in Scotland, right?”
Westfall insisted that the “battle is not lost”, pointing to the anti-racism campaigners who turned out to counter-protest in Falkirk.
In London on Saturday, thousands of people turned up to counter-protest Robinson’s “Unite the Kingdom” event.
“I think there's great pride actually in those counter protesters and that's actually exceptional,” she said.
“You don't see that kind of mobilization in other countries. That's why I had the Kenmure Street protest on the front of my book, because I thought it was so striking.
“We should keep our eyes on those people, but really it needs to be a concerted campaign, and an organised one.”
Westfall argues that Scotland generally seeks to “distinguish” itself from England, particularly in regards to immigration.
She added: “It's entrenched in the national identity to not be like England. If England is racist and anti-immigrant, then Scotland is prepared to not be those things.”
In Perth, when protests were held outside of a hotel housing asylum seekers, local political leaders issued a joint statement in solidarity with migrants, urging residents to reject “misinformation”.
Westfall added that she had concerns some right-wing politicians may see an opportunity to exploit growing anti-migrant sentiment for political gain, breaking the current political consensus.
“I think if that happens, that way lies destruction,” she said. “I think the electorate needs to keep their politicians accountable.
"They need to reject that kind of rhetoric, because, as we've seen all over Europe, it's so quickly spins out of control.”
We told how around 110,000 people were estimated by police to have gathered in Whitehall, London, for the Robinson-led event, which faced counter-protests by around 5000 anti-racism campaigners.
Musk told the crowd that a “dissolution of Parliament” is needed and said “massive uncontrolled migration” was contributing to the “destruction of Britain”.
His comments were condemned as “incitement” by the husband of murdered MP Jo Cox.
And, following the assassination of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed at a Utah Valley University event on Wednesday, his widow said her “cries” will “echo around the world like a battle cry”.
Erika Kirk vowed to continue her husband’s work, adding: “You have no idea what you have unleashed”.
Robinson used the murder of Kirk to mobilise support ahead of the rally in London.
In a video to supporters about the Kirk killing, Robinson discussed “the bastard who has murdered him, or the organisation, the corporation, or the government it is that has killed him”.
