Scotland no exception to UK fascist threat, say activists
~ Scott Harris ~
A ‘Unity Rally’ in Glasgow meant to bring together the Scottish far right, unionist and nationalist, faced a much larger counter-protest by antifascists on Saturday (20 September). At least two antifascist protesters and one steward were physically assaulted over the course of the day. In one of these incidents, a small group of black-clad men—likely members of “anti-antifa” Rangers ultras groups—directly attacked autonomous antifascists on Bath Street, targeted for wearing face coverings. Additionally, a number of fascist provocateurs were forcibly removed from our counter-protest throughout the day by stewards and other protesters.
The counter-protest was called by Stand Up To Racism, with another call-out from the Gaza Genocide Emergency Committee. Anarchists, communists and other autonomous antifascists were also present to counter the fascists, as well as to deter potential breakaways from targeting asylum seeker accommodation or antifascist-aligned venues in Glasgow, like they did in September 2024.
Some of the biggest names in Scottish fascism appeared at the ‘Unity Rally’, from Reform councillor Thomas Kerr to SDP leader Craig Houston and Richard McFarlane of the neo-nazi Patriotic Alternative. The key organiser, however, was missing—podcaster John Watt, who after pocketing over £1,300 over GoFundMe for “paid entertainers, dancers, marketing, equipment, flags, banners” that never came to be, quietly dropped out following his exposure as a repeat domestic abuser by anti-racists.
Watt has been travelling up and down the country to attend and film racist protests. While these have been particularly threatening in Falkirk, Dundee and Aberdeen, an attempted far-right protest in Edinburgh was significantly outnumbered by counter-protesters two weeks ago.
In Glasgow, while both sides of the protest thinned out as the day moved on and the rain began pouring it down, the counter-protest always outnumbered the ‘Unity Rally’ significantly. At times, the fascist side of the barriers seemed absurdly laughable, with its astroturfed Christian evangelism, banners honouring Charlie Kirk, and a suspicious amount of English flags. Only an hour or two after their protest began, all the ‘big names’ of the Scottish far right had packed up and left, leaving a few dozen fascists to point at counter-protesters menacingly and, eventually, have a short scuffle with the police, leading to one arrest.
While proud of their efforts on Saturday, Scottish antifascists remain concerned about the far right’s ability to openly hold rallies in city centres, assault counter-protesters and easily get away with it. “It’s more crucial than ever to build up our organising skills and militancy”, said a participant, “we also need to dismantle narratives of Scottish exceptionalism when it comes to the rising tide of street fascism in the UK”.
