THOMAS Kerr has addressed the recent anti-immigration disorder in Glasgow.
Protests sprang up in the Cranhill and Castlemilk areas of the city outside homes where online rumours suggested people accused of criminality were living.
A 32-year-old man was arrested at the first protest, while vandalism and a projectile being thrown from the crowd were reported at the second – which police have said was as a result of “mistaken identity”.
They said an “innocent member of the public” was targeted.
The protests are the latest in months of simmering anti-immigration tensions in Scotland’s biggest city, which included racist attacks on members of the public in the city centre last month.
Police Scotland said misinformation was being spread online by bad actors, often from outside Glasgow.
Now, Kerr – Reform UK’s deputy leader in Scotland – has also warned Scots to be “very careful” about false information being spread online.
Speaking on The Sunday Show on BBC Radio Scotland, Kerr said: "People have to be very careful what they listen to and why is it they're going to protest.”
The Glasgow list MSP added: "There's two points here – firstly, turning up at someone's door is wrong. Do not do that, do not target people.
"But the second thing that we're seeing in working class communities, particularly across Glasgow, is an anger towards a political establishment that has used communities as dumping grounds for people who've come here illegally.
"That's how people feel, that's how the anger exists."
Kerr – as well as his party – have been accused by various Scottish political parties of helping to fan the flames after the latest disorder.
Speaking in Holyrood last month, Glasgow Labour MSP Paul Sweeney said that “some members of this parliament have sought to fan the flames of this division with continual talk of ‘strangers’ and calls for further protests tonight”.
He added that parliament “has a duty to calm tensions in this country and not inflame them, and to be reminded that their first duty is to their constituents and the people of Scotland and not American neo-Nazis on social media”.
Scottish Justice Secretary Neil Gray said at the time that he “fundamentally and completely” agreed with Sweeney.
It comes as Kerr has frequently used the word “strangers” to refer to people who have immigrated into Scotland.
For example, Kerr has accused the Scottish Government of “prioritising strangers over Scots”, and spoke about “allow[ing] these dangerous unvetted strangers into our country with open borders”.
He also previously told the BBC that he would encourage people to "protest", saying: "Go out and protest. Go out and make your voice heard.
"We have a fantastic tradition in this country of freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Go out there and make sure the government hears your voice, but do not vandalise, do not incite racism and do not show violence.
"Because as soon as you do that, you play into the hands of John Swinney and of Keir Starmer, who do not want to speak about massive, uncontrolled illegal migration."
