There is a “rising tide of the spread of hateful rhetoric” in Scotland, John Swinney has said in the wake of unrest.
Tensions flared in Glasgow and Greenock this week following the stabbing attack in north Belfast on Monday night, with police saying members of the public were “attacked because of the colour of their skin” in Scotland’s biggest city.
Police officers have also been injured in clashes.
Responding to Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar during First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, Mr Swinney said: “There is a rising tide of the spread of hateful rhetoric in our society and it is inciting people to behave in a reckless and aggressive and thuggish fashion in our society.
“Scotland is a welcoming country and I will exercise the leadership, as I know Mr Sarwar will do, to make sure that Scotland always remains a tolerant, welcoming and inclusive country.”
Mr Sarwar condemned the attack in Belfast, but said there is “never any justification for that to turn into violence, racism and disorder on our streets”.
The First Minister went on to attack Reform UK, accusing the party of “stirring up of hatred within our society”.
The party’s leader in Scotland, Malcolm Offord, urged Mr Swinney to adjust local authority housing rules to “put local Scots first”, while also condemning the violent scenes in Scotland this week.
“Let me address the terrible riots we have seen in Belfast,” Lord Offord said.
“First to condemn the brutal and unprovoked attack on Stephen Ogilvie, second to echo his family in saying that violent protest is not the answer.
“Whatever is the problem, violence is not the answer.”
But he added there is “a very real problem with immigration”.
Sudanese man Hadi Alodid, 30, appeared in court on Wednesday charged over the Belfast knife attack, in which Mr Ogilvie is said to have lost an eye.
The First Minister hit out at the Reform leader, saying: “Mr Offord is trying to pursue an issue on immigration at the same time as his party is associated with the stirring up of hatred within our society and I just want to call it out for what it is.
“During the election campaign I made it abundantly clear I would not co-operate with Reform in this Parliament, because of the way in which they pursue this issue, which incites racial hatred in our society.”
Mr Swinney went on to criticise Lord Offord’s deputy in Holyrood Thomas Kerr, who urged people to protest on Wednesday – but to remain peaceful.
The First Minister said: “At the same time I was making it abundantly clear that nobody in the current context – although they have got democratic rights – nobody should be out protesting last night, given the climate that we are in.
“Mr Kerr said people should get out and protest.
“What happened last night was in Greenock – a town very close to Mr Offord’s heart – I know that police officers were attacked, two officers sustained minor injuries and damage was caused to police vehicles as the police were simply doing their duty of protecting the citizens of our country.
“Mr Offord should condemn his colleague Thomas Kerr right now.”
The Reform leader refused to condemn his deputy, adding: “Thomas Kerr was very, very clear yesterday in the interviews he gave that there was no line to cross into violence, but a right to protest remains valid.”
Speaking to journalists after First Minister’s Questions, Mr Kerr said Mr Swinney had taken his comments “out of context”, accusing the First Minister of trying to “turn this into a political bun fight”.
Scottish Green co-leader Gillian Mackay asked Mr Swinney what he had to say to Reform, which she said had “fanned the flames of hate”.
She said: “This is a party that’s consistently branded new Scots as strangers, attacked Glaswegian school children who speak more than one language, and scapegoated and demonised our migrant communities.
“What does the First Minister have to say to those on the Reform benches who have fanned the flames of hate and actively welcome racist and antisemitic members?”
She also referred to comments reported in the National which claimed a Reform Scotland member made antisemitic comments.
Mr Swinney responded: “I have seen the comments to which Gillian Mackay refers and I am horrified by their contents.
“I think they are the worst of the communication in our society in the demonising of individuals, and as I have made clear in my response already to Malcolm Offord, I deplore the way in which Reform is stirring up this division within our society.
“I would say to Reform they should establish the strongest possible distance from that rhetoric and from the behaviour of these individuals, or they will forever be known as the people that incited racial tension within our society in Scotland.”
Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay said his party “wholeheartedly” condemned the violence and the “ugly scenes” in Glasgow.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “The heat and the hate stoked by bad actors online and amplified by voices in this chamber do not reflect the welcoming and internationalist country that I recognise.
“If they seek to gain advantage by trying to divide the people of Scotland, then they underestimate the people of Scotland and they will fail.”
