JOHN Swinney has said he is "deeply concerned" about community cohesion in Glasgow after a series of far-right and anti-migrant protests which he said have threatened people's safety.
His comments come amid a surge in far-right demonstrations in Scotland this summer, with fascist-style drill squares outside newspaper offices and parliament, masked gangs attacking people based on the colour of their skin, and an Islamophobic stabbing incident in Edinburgh.
Some 1700 people took part in demonstrations in Glasgow at the end of July.
Recently, a BBC documentary also focused on violence and disorder in the city and was criticised for portraying Glasgow as a "backwater of drunks".
Asked about public safety in Scotland’s largest city, Swinney said he was “always concerned to ensure the public are safe”.
Speaking to PA, he added: “It is a fundamental priority for me as First Minister, to make sure the public are at all times safe.”
With protests having occurred over the summer, the First Minister stressed it is “important we live in a society where people are able to express their views in protest”.
But he added it was also important people do this “in a manner that doesn’t threaten the safety of anybody else”.
He added: “I am afraid we have seen some examples of behaviour that have threatened the safety of other people.”
Swinney accepted there are “a variety of issues at play” in the city.
He said: “The issues of community cohesion are issues that cause me deep concern.”
But he went on to insist that “Glasgow is a city which has much to be proud of”, saying its people had “welcomed the world” during this summer’s Commonwealth Games.
Swinney reflected: “I think if you step back and look at the whole of the city of Glasgow over the summer, you would see a city that welcomed the world to the Commonwealth Games, and did so very well and very happily and in a way that created enormous confidence in the city of Glasgow.”
Highlighting the “strengths of the city of Glasgow”, he said it had also “made its feelings known about the importance the city as a whole attaches to be a welcoming city and being an inclusive city”.
The First Minister stated: “I think the whole of the summer has demonstrated that Glasgow is a city which has much to be proud of, and the Scottish Government wants to make sure we work with the city to enhance the reputation of the city and the strength of the city and the achievements of the city and there have been many of those over the summer.”
