Leith anti-racist protest draws thousands in response to attacks

Against the backdrop of alleged anti-Muslim “terror-linked” attacks in Edinburgh, an anti-racist protest took to the streets of Leith, where some of the most disturbing incidents took place.

Last week, a man was seen rampaging on Leith Walk, brandishing two large knives, and attacking passersby. He allegedly shouted anti-Muslim slogans while being arrested.

Police later confirmed that three people were injured on Leith Walk and a 36-year-old man had been arrested.

They also confirmed that two men were also taken to hospital after being stabbed “multiple times” following prayers at Broomhouse Mosque on Friday evening. Five people in total were injured across the city.

Police Scotland said none of the injuries were life-threatening and an investigation led by counter-terror officers was ongoing.

The march – which aimed to “reclaim our streets” from the far-right – drew a crowd of thousands, chaperoned by police.

A defiant but relaxed atmosphere pervaded, with many using the opportunity to kick back on the grass and bask in the mid-afternoon sun.

Humza Yousaf was rumoured to be planning to attend, but the former First Minister ultimately did not attend.

Instead, Aamer Anwar took the spotlight, using his speech to accuse Reform UK and hard right political commentators like Tommy Robinson of inciting the attacks in Edinburgh as well as riots in Southampton and Belfast:

“And I wonder, I wonder to all those armchair commentators, all those who talk about legitimate concerns, what would have happened if, in response to the knife rampage in Leith last week, Muslims or members of the non-white community had masked up and organised pogroms against the white community and set fire to white people’s homes with children running for their lives?

“Would there have been any sympathy for their actions? Would the mob have been called campaigners with legitimate concerns or would we be calling them exactly what they are? Terrorists.

“We would have been questioning their culture, we would have been questioning their religion and asking them which of their community leaders had radicalised them.

“We know when it comes to those thugs who are on the streets of Glasgow, who are in Belfast, who their community leaders are, those who radicalise them.

“They are the likes of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon [Tommy Robinson], they are the likes of Nigel Farage, and they are the likes of that little tinpot wannabe Trump, Thomas Kerr.”

Reform UK have been accused by some of “inciting” the violence seen in Edinburgh. Nigel Farage called for “pure, cold rage” in the wake of the revelations about the murder of Henry Nowak in Southampton, while last year, he claimed that the UK was taking in undocumented male migrants of “fighting age”.

Reform has denied inciting any violence. In response to a question about the attacks in Parliament, Reform UK Scotland leader Malcolm Offord said:

“I said on the record last week, I say it again now, violence is never an answer to any problem.

“But that is not to ignore the problem, and we need a cohesive society, and right now we do not have that, and Reform is for cohesion in our communities.”

During an interview before the rally, Aamer Anwar said he holds Reform “directly responsible” for these attacks.

Addressing Reform’s concerns about community cohesion, he added: “You can put legitimate concerns to the side. There’s nothing legitimate about conducting pogroms that burns people out their homes.

“There’s nothing legitimate about carrying out knife attacks. There’s nothing legitimate about young men on our streets being mobilised by billionaires, by millionaires, and wearing masks and sieg heiling and doing Nazi salutes. What is legitimate about that?

“Mr Kerr and Mr Farage should call it out for what it is, because it’s terrorism, it’s pogroms, it’s racism.

“Have the courage to do it – of course they won’t do, because that’s their party, that’s the people that will support them.”

The trade unions were well represented at the rally, and Linda Somerville, Deputy General Secretary at the Scottish Trade Union Congress gave an impassioned speech.

Talat Yaqoob, a Scottish political activist and researcher was another of the high-profile names who spoke.

She echoed Anwar’s sentiments, and claimed the attacker’s motivations had come directly from the far-right:

“The horrific attack we saw in Edinburgh just last week in our neighbourhood, in our streets, targeted Muslims.

“The perpetrator, when caught, said that he was defending the country, protecting women and girls from Muslims.

“That is not a line that has just come from random, that is straight out of the far-right playbook.

“That is a language that has been enabled for years by our political class, by the media, by those who are complicit in capitulating to the far right.

“We must take a stand against them. We will never let them win.”

During an interview after her speech, Yaqoob said: “People are sucked in because the issues are being manipulated, it’s being weaponised.

“We’re being given simple answers to blame a community for deep-rooted issues. The reality is that we are all so many of us are experiencing poverty, precarity, more inequality, worried about our futures.

“That is being manipulated with simple answers to blame a community, but if we blame that community, these issues won’t go away. We have a lot more in common than dividers, and that’s what we need to focus on.”

The march departed from Montgomery Street Park, proceeding peacefully down Montgomery Street and onto Leith Walk, where demonstrators paused and sat down on the road. The march concluded in Pilrig Park.

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