Scotland’s First Minister has taken aim at a Reform UK councillor’s claims that Sharia Law was being brought to Glasgow, branding the comments “ludicrous, absurd and divisive”.
Glasgow councillor Audrey Dempsey made the comments to Sky News at a meeting of the party’s local branch.
She said: “When they arrived in this country and they were fitting in with our culture, our values and learning our way of life, that would be more than welcome”.
When she was asked about the meaning behind “our way of life”, Ms Dempsey responded saying: “Instead of coming and trying to inflict their culture on other people here, like Sharia law, for instance, they’re trying to bring that here, that’s just not something we celebrate”.
On who she believes is bringing Sharia law to Scotland, Ms Dempsey said it was “the asylum seekers, some of the asylum seekers, the legal migrants”.
She added that “you just have to walk through the streets of Glasgow city centre, any given day”.
The Reform councillor claimed there was “stacks of evidence online” with “migrants … posting themselves, videos of them saying they’re coming to the land of milk and honey, they’re coming to take over”.
She further said she was unsure what she believed in regards to her comment on migrants coming to “take over”.
First Minister John Swinney said he didn’t ‘believe for a moment’ that migrants were bringing Sharia law to the country’s biggest city
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PAHowever, First Minister John Swinney said he didn’t “believe for a moment” that migrants were bringing Sharia law to the country’s biggest city.
“That’s what I think is the danger of where we are just now, that absolutely ludicrous, absurd and divisive comments have been made by the far right that have the risk of undermining community cohesion in Scotland,” he added.
“Scotland has been a welcoming country, is a welcoming country.”
Mr Swinney said Scotland was a country “where we attach the greatest significance to cohesion within our communities”.
“That’s why my leadership in Scotland is all about,” he added.
“I want to give that principled, values-based leadership that will resist those messages from the far-right.”
Ms Dempsey quit Scottish Labour after a race row.
She joined Reform after previously being slammed for “scaremongering” communities.
Audrey Dempsey was previously a Scottish Labour member
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She repeated false claims of rising anti-white racist attacks on teachers and pupils in Glasgow.
However, Ms Dempsey was unable to provide evidence to back her claims and sat as an independent before joining Nigel Farage’s party.
She was suspended by Labour in April 2024.
Ms Dempsey said she wanted to make “real change” with Reform.