We do indeed, and I dread the day they come out. One day they will, and it won't really be a huge surprise, but till then we can take comfort in the fact the general overall mood is against it, and more open towards immigration. Top to bottom, and back.
We had a FM who was very pro immigration. Mostly in student form, to fund free university tuition, and stressed it often and showed a welcomeness. He turned to be a bit of an alleged sex pest, but the mood stuck. The next FM then really had it cut out for her, but went out her way to reassure the public often, in the build-up to brexit, the brexit vote, and the aftemath, and the public generally accepted that. And through covid too. She turned out to skim off the top, but the messge stuck. The next one was himself of an asian background and a muslim, and that was seem as welcome openess. He turned out to be useless, but the perception stuck. The current dude, who knows, but he has kind eyes and a pleasant demeanour, so can't mean much harm right?
Plus, all 4 party leaders recently got together when these riots happened and jointly addressed the public to assure people they should feel welcome and safe and there was no place for intolerance. Which I thought was a really admirable thing from all.
So yes, while without doubt have our nutters, they are kept at the fringes, where they belong. Both by the prevalent public mood of society, and that of the politicians, which is a significant contrast of the last couple of UK governments.
It is of courese worth highlighting, there is a huge difference in scale and it is far easier for Scotland to have that attitude, without the numbers that big English cities see. I would like to think things wouldn't be too different with increased numbers particularly as we regularly acknowledge the country needs and relies on immigration, but who knows. I've been dreading seeing it break out here and it's maybe too soon to speak, but what I say about the overall mood, I genuinely think/feel.
