Reform UK’s deputy leader in Scotland has reported one of the country’s most high-profile lawyers to police over a speech he made at a protest in Glasgow last weekend.
Thomas Kerr revealed in a post on social media site X that he has asked officers to investigate a speech made by Aamer Anwar during a counter-protest to anti-immigration demonstrators on Saturday.
Rejecting Mr Kerr’s claims, Mr Anwar accused the Glasgow MSP of wasting police time and described him as a “wannabe tartan Tommy Robinson”.
Mr Kerr told his social media followers that Mr Anwar’s comments “go beyond robust political debate and, I believe, have the effect of encouraging hostility towards a section of Scots based on their political views, nationality, ethnicity and cultural identity”.
He described the remarks as “abhorrent”, claiming Mr Anwar had described political campaigners as “terrorists” and had spoken about questioning “their culture and religion”.
“His words, I have no doubt, will contribute to increased hostility and community tensions, and I hope Police Scotland investigate the matter fully,” he added.
During his speech, Mr Anwar said “racist thugs” had sought to hold Muslims and non-white people collectively responsible for the actions of “one madman in Belfast”, in reference to the alleged attempted murder in the city in June which sparked riots.
The human rights lawyer compared the incident to the alleged anti-Muslim knife attack in Edinburgh later that month.
He told anti-racism protesters in Glasgow: “I wonder what would have happened if, in response to the knife rampage in Leith, Muslims or members of the non-white community had masked up and organised pogroms against the white community, had set fire to white people’s homes with children running for their lives.
“Would there have been sympathy for their cause? Would the mob have been called campaigners with legitimate concerns? Or would we be calling them exactly what they are: terrorists?
“We would be questioning their culture, we would be questioning their religion, we would be asking which one of their community leaders was responsible for radicalising them – starting at the top with Nigel Farage and Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.”
Responding to Mr Kerr’s report to police, Mr Anwar said he was a “wannabe tartan Tommy Robinson” and he “should know police are busy tracing those masked thugs responsible for inciting and taking part in Saturday’s race hate, attacks on police officers and innocent people of colour.”
He said while Mr Kerr claims to have called out Saturday’s violence, “several of his Reform members stood next to the thugs, many of whom were masked, whilst racist abuse, threats of violence and Nazi salutes took place”.
He went on: “I doubt Reform has handed over a single name or video of these thugs to the major investigation team at Police Scotland.
“Any decent person would be calling out the pogroms in Belfast and knife attacks in Leith, yet this great defender of free speech, Mr Kerr’s reaction to my words is to waste police time, by labelling it as hate speech.”
He added: “Will he now suspend those Reform politicians that attended the ‘Unite the Klans’ event on Saturday and assist police with their inquiries?”
Glasgow Reform councillor Audrey Dempsey has admitted to speaking at the Unite the Clans rally.
Other speakers at the event spoke of their love of being white and claimed white people in the UK were being replaced.
Police Scotland said around 1,700 people took part in demonstrations in the city on Saturday, with groups engaging in violence, disorder and hate-motivated offending.
Fifteen people have since been arrested and officers have vowed that more will come.
Police said groups engaged in violence, disorder, intimidation and hate-motivated offences, including a large group of around 100 people who made their way into the city centre.
Demonstrators were seen performing what appeared to be Nazi salutes while videos on social media appeared to show a non-white delivery driver being attacked by a group shouting “get them out”.
Chief constable Jo Farrell described the violent scenes as “disgraceful” and said Police Scotland would take further action on those who caused disorder.
First Minister John Swinney branded the protest a “demonstration of far-right hatred”, describing the disorder as “completely and utterly unacceptable”.
A video of the anti-migrant group rushing towards an anti-fascist group was shared and supported by far-right activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.
The protest was the latest in a series of anti-migrant demonstrations in Glasgow amid heightened tensions.
Police Scotland has been approached for comment.
