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- ‘I have, for some time, really worried about the rise of Islamophobia,’ says former Scottish first minister
LONDON: Scotland’s former first minister, a Muslim, has spoken of his family’s uncertain future in the UK following a week of rioting across the border in England by far-right groups.
Humza Yousaf, who resigned as first minister in May, was the first member of a minority group to lead a devolved government in the UK, Sky News reported.
He was also the first Muslim to lead a major UK political party.
Amid violent disorder across towns and cities in England, Yousaf said that rising Islamophobia had left him debating his family’s future in “Scotland or the UK, or indeed in Europe and the West.”
He told “The News Agents” podcast: “Born in Scotland, raised in Scotland, educated in Scotland, just welcomed my third child here in Scotland, was the leader of the Scottish government for just over a year, leader of the Scottish National Party. You cut me open, I’m about as Scottish as you come.
“But the truth of the matter is, I don’t know whether the future for me and my wife and my three children is going to be here in Scotland or the UK, or indeed in Europe and the West, because I have, for some time, really worried about the rise of Islamophobia.”
Yousaf added that Islamophobia was driving the rise of far-right groups, whose members in the UK are targeting “people who are black, who are Asian, who are Muslim.”
The MSP for Glasgow Pollok added: “That, again, comes back to some of the language that’s been used far too often in our politics about people not adopting our values.
“Scotland is the country I love. I don’t want to go — let me just make that abundantly clear.”
Despite the rioting taking place across the border in England, Scotland is “not immune from racism or Islamophobia,” Yousaf said.
He also referred to former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a Hindu, and London Mayor Sadiq Khan, a Muslim, as minority success stories.
However, that “strong history and heritage of multiculturalism” is “quite literally … going up in flames,” Yousaf added.
Scottish First Minister John Swinney this week vowed to prevent rioting in Scotland.
He also met representatives from Scotland’s Muslim community at Edinburgh Central Mosque.
He said: “There is no place in Scotland for hatred of any kind, and each of us has a responsibility to confront racism and religious prejudice wherever and whenever it appears.
“People will always try to divide us — and it is imperative in these moments that we come together even stronger to stand defiant.”