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| Version 4 | Version 5 |
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| Nigel Farage blasts 'fascist' protesters after Edinburgh confrontation | Nigel Farage blasts 'fascist' protesters after Edinburgh confrontation |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| UKIP leader Nigel Farage has described protesters who besieged him in an Edinburgh pub as "fascist scum". | UKIP leader Nigel Farage has described protesters who besieged him in an Edinburgh pub as "fascist scum". |
| Mr Farage had to be escorted from the Canons' Gait pub in a police van after angry confrontations on Thursday. | Mr Farage had to be escorted from the Canons' Gait pub in a police van after angry confrontations on Thursday. |
| He told BBC Scotland the incident was deeply racist and displayed a total hatred of the English. | He told BBC Scotland the incident was deeply racist and displayed a total hatred of the English. |
| Mr Farage called on Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond to condemn the behaviour. The SNP said the UKIP leader had "lost the plot". | Mr Farage called on Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond to condemn the behaviour. The SNP said the UKIP leader had "lost the plot". |
| Mr Farage was in Edinburgh to launch his party's Scottish campaign following recent electoral gains in England. | Mr Farage was in Edinburgh to launch his party's Scottish campaign following recent electoral gains in England. |
| Police said two men had been arrested following the protest. | Police said two men had been arrested following the protest. |
| Speaking to the Good Morning Scotland programme, Mr Farage said: "If this is the face of Scottish nationalism, it's a pretty ugly picture." | Speaking to the Good Morning Scotland programme, Mr Farage said: "If this is the face of Scottish nationalism, it's a pretty ugly picture." |
| He added: "The anger, the hatred, the shouting, the snarling, the swearing was all linked in to a desire for the Union Jack to be burnt." | He added: "The anger, the hatred, the shouting, the snarling, the swearing was all linked in to a desire for the Union Jack to be burnt." |
| The UKIP leader said the demonstrators did not represent Scotland and dismissed suggestions his party was an irrelevance north of the border. | The UKIP leader said the demonstrators did not represent Scotland and dismissed suggestions his party was an irrelevance north of the border. |
| "The fact that 50 yobbo fascist scum turn up and aren't prepared to listen to the debate, I absolutely refuse to believe is representative of Scottish public opinion," Mr Farage said. | "The fact that 50 yobbo fascist scum turn up and aren't prepared to listen to the debate, I absolutely refuse to believe is representative of Scottish public opinion," Mr Farage said. |
| Condemnation call | Condemnation call |
| He said he had heard before that some parts of Scottish nationalism were "akin to fascism" but "yesterday I saw it face-to-face". | He said he had heard before that some parts of Scottish nationalism were "akin to fascism" but "yesterday I saw it face-to-face". |
| Mr Farage also told BBC Radio Four's Today programme that the protesters were "filled with a total and utter hatred of the English". | Mr Farage also told BBC Radio Four's Today programme that the protesters were "filled with a total and utter hatred of the English". |
| "For some reason the British media has never talked about the excesses of Scottish nationalism and how deeply unpleasant they can be," he said. | "For some reason the British media has never talked about the excesses of Scottish nationalism and how deeply unpleasant they can be," he said. |
| Mr Farage did not suggest this was anything to do with the SNP as a party. | Mr Farage did not suggest this was anything to do with the SNP as a party. |
| But he added: "These people were supporters of Scottish nationalism, virulently opposed to the English, all sorts of suggestions as to what we could do with the Union Jack and I would like to hear Alex Salmond come out and condemn this sort of behaviour. I challenge him today to do that." | But he added: "These people were supporters of Scottish nationalism, virulently opposed to the English, all sorts of suggestions as to what we could do with the Union Jack and I would like to hear Alex Salmond come out and condemn this sort of behaviour. I challenge him today to do that." |
| He said: "If anybody from UKIP says anything on Facebook that is in any way homophobic or mildly racist you guys jump down my throat and demand I condemn them and expel them from the party, which of course I do. It is about time Scottish nationalism was put under the same level of scrutiny." | He said: "If anybody from UKIP says anything on Facebook that is in any way homophobic or mildly racist you guys jump down my throat and demand I condemn them and expel them from the party, which of course I do. It is about time Scottish nationalism was put under the same level of scrutiny." |
| An SNP spokesman said: "Anyone who heard the interview with Nigel Farage on BBC this morning would have thought he has completely lost the plot. | |
| "He accused the BBC of hatred when under pressure and panicked during an interview. Nothing he says can be treated with a shred of credibility and his partners in the No campaign should be embarrassed about his behaviour." | |
| 'Politics of fear' | |
| A spokesman for the Radical Independence Campaign, who helped organise the demonstration in Edinburgh, said there had been "no anti-English protest". | |
| He added: "For Farage to make such a claim is risible: it is UKIP who are stoking division. | |
| "This was about challenging someone whose party has been spouting racist, sexist and homophobic bile and gone unchallenged for months. | |
| "Everyone who opposes the politics of fear and division should unite against UKIP - whether you live in Scotland or England." | |
| John Martin, president of the Edinburgh College Students' Association, which also took part in the protest, said: "We organised yesterday's protest against Farage out of a belief that UKIP's policies are fundamentally rotten. | |
| "Their headline five-year immigration freeze is not only completely disconnected from reality, but is a policy that neither the people of Scotland nor the rest of the United Kingdom would stomach. | |
| "His regressive and repugnant ideology is not far removed from that of the BNP - just dressed in a better-fitting suit." |