Fascist-style Scottish demonstrators 'emboldened by Reform', SNP deputy suggests

FASCIST-STYLE demonstrations on Scotland’s streets have been “emboldened” by the likes of Reform UK, the SNP’s deputy leader has suggested. Keith Brown, the MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane and a former Royal Marines commando, spoke out after videos he said shows “thugs are openly aping fascist movements on our streets”. On June 18, around 60 men dressed in black organised into four columns, reminiscent of a fascist-era “drill square”, outside Glasgow Cathedral. They laid a “wreath to our fallen” which read “we apologise", which experts likened to the fascist “cult of the fallen” from the early 20th century. READ MORE: Reform UK claim Glasgow is 'in a crime epidemic'. But what do the stats say? Six days later, on June 24, a similar fascist-style protest was held outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, with a drill square and wreath again featuring. Both were recorded by Craig Houston, a Scottish podcaster and member of the neo-Nazi-backed Restore Britain party, although he denied any involvement in organising the fascist-style demonstrations. Elsewhere, racist rioters in Glasgow attacked people based on the colour of their skin amid disorder on June 9, and there was a terror-linked attack allegedly targeting Muslim people in Edinburgh on June 19. Grant Calder, a Reform UK activist who was suspended from the party after The National revealed his antisemitic remarks, took part in the demonstration before the racist riots in Glasgow and later defended the violence. In response to Houston’s video of the Glasgow Cathedral demonstration, Calder wrote “Hurrah for the blackshirts,” alongside a lightning emoji, an eagle emoji, and an image of the historical British fascist leader Oswald Mosley. SNP depute leader Brown appeared to point the finger at hard-right parties such as Restore and Reform. “These thugs are openly aping fascist movements on our streets,” Brown said. “That should send a shiver down the spine of anyone in Scotland who opposes these abhorrent racists. READ MORE: Economic expert debunks Jacob Rees-Mogg's 'criminally misleading' devolution chart “Let’s make no mistake though, they have been emboldened by political parties that exist in Scotland which have sought to demonise people living here and stoke division in our society. “In the Second World War fascism was driven out of Europe, we cannot give these pathetic morons even the faintest ability to regroup and inflict that horror again.” Scottish Greens MSP Iris Duane said that the “sight of blackshirt-style protests on our streets will send a chill through communities across the country”. “It is a stark reminder that the far right is growing in confidence and is becoming even more brazen,” she went on. "In recent weeks and months the far right has sought to spread fear and intimidate our communities, and we have already seen the horrific consequences of that hatred in the brutal attacks on Muslims in Edinburgh. "This is not happening in a vacuum. Far-right lies and conspiracy theories are being amplified daily by social media algorithms and pushed by too many voices in our politics. READ MORE: John Swinney responds after Kate Forbes speaks at ‘anti-woke' London conference "A lot of people are worried about where this is heading. The answer is not to appease or normalise the far right. It is to challenge and confront them and stand full square against their poison. "People of every political party – and none – must stand together against hatred and refuse to let those who trade in fear and division set the agenda." Professor Thomas Weber, an expert in the rise of Adolf Hitler at the University of Aberdeen, told The Times that the demonstrations were “an attempt to create a new political religion of violent action, aimed at mobilising Scots to commit themselves to a life of violence and murder in the service of fantasies of national survival”. “This is reminiscent of how Hitler staged National Socialism as a political religion of action,” he added. In June, after the initial disorder in Glasgow, First Minister John Swinney accused Reform UK politicians of "inciting racial division" in Scotland. “Members of the public will ask how on earth – and they say this to me when I'm out and about in the country – how has Scotland become like this?" he said. “Well, Scotland has become like this because people over on that side of this chamber, Malcolm Offord, Thomas Kerr, various others, are inciting racial division in our society, and this government will stand up to all of that.”