For immediate release
Thursday 3 December 2025 20:00 hrs
Comment by Robina Qureshi on Nigel Farage's attacks on Glasgow schoolchildren
Farage's Racially coded attacks have no place in a civilised society
When a political figure, mired in accusations of antisemitism and racism going back to his schooldays, deliberately targets Glasgow schoolchildren, the response from national leadership becomes a matter of human rights, not party politics.
Have no doubt that Nigel Farage's racially charged attacks on children of colour and on those from refugee and immigrant families will be felt mentally and physically in school playgrounds across the city by many Glasgow schoolchildren.
It is telling that more than 1400 Glaswegian schoolchildren speak Gaelic as a first language, yet they are not the target of his outrage. Gaelic speaking children are overwhelmingly white. This exposes that his attack is not about language, it is about race.
For Scotland's First Minister, John Swinney, publicly naming this for what it is, "quite simply racist" carries essential weight. His intervention signals that children cannot be dehumanised for political gain and that the state has a duty to safeguard them from racially charged hostility.
Clear pushback from the country's highest office strengthens the confidence of schools, local authorities and safeguarding bodies to protect affected pupils. It also reassures minority communities that their rights and dignity are not negotiable. At a time when xenophobic rhetoric is being mainstreamed, unequivocal leadership is indispensable. Scotland's values must be defended precisely when they are being tested.
Rarely does the racism that deeply affects our lives get expressed as racist tropes. Mostly that destruction is done structurally and often very politely. The problem we have is that racism has been made respectable so it's difficult to discern except by those forced to suffer it.
Racially coded phrases and words that pretend at neutrality but clearly are designed to portray people of colour, refugees and migrants as a negative in our society have to be exposed and called out. We have to hold the line. Migration is what Scotland is made of going back hundreds of years. Right across civic society, John Swinney has gained immeasurable respect as being one of the few political leaders to hold that line and not capitulate to racism, as others have done. The vast majority of this country find these views abhorrent. Scotland is nothing but a nation of migrants going back hundreds of years. We have a strong tradition of protest. Quite simply, there is more of "us" than "them".
Robina Qureshi
https://www.paih.org/farages-racially-coded-attacks-have-no-place-in-a-civilised-society/
ENDS
Notes for editors:
Positive Action in Housing is a Scottish refugee homelessness and human rights charity based in Glasgow. Through our Room for Refugees programme—the UK's longest-running refugee hosting scheme—we provide safe shelter for refugees and asylum seekers in crisis, including Palestinians.
Website — https://www.paih.org
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