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Far-right group attempts to recruit students at Scottish universities

White supremacists have put up recruitment posters on university campuses in Scotland

Eleanor Busby
Education Correspondent
Monday 31 December 2018 18:20 GMT
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Far-right posters appeared on the University of Glasgow campus
Far-right posters appeared on the University of Glasgow campus (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

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A far-right group has targeted students at Scottish universities as part of a recruitment drive.

Posters for Generation Identity (GI) Scotland – which is part of a pan-European white nationalist group – appeared in the University of Glasgow and Glasgow Caledonian University this month.

The group’s central ideology claims that white people are being “replaced” by ethnic minorities in Europe and calls for non-whites to be “relocated” from the continent.

A GI poster, which was put up in a department at Glasgow Caledonian University, said: “You are not alone. Patriots walk among you. Join the patriotic revolution.”

The same poster from the white supremacist group, which primarily targets under-30s on social media, was also erected at the University of Glasgow.

Both universities in Glasgow have since removed the posters and the police were informed.

A spokesperson for the University of Glasgow said: “A poster from the organisation Generation Identity was removed and any others which appear will also be removed.

“Literature of this kind has no place on our campus.”

A spokesperson for Glasgow Caledonian University said: “Three posters were removed as soon as they were discovered.

“The university has launched an investigation and notified Police Scotland in accordance with government policy.

“Glasgow Caledonian has a zero tolerance approach to literature which appears to promote extremist views, runs counter to the values of the University and is illegal.”

A Unite against Fascism spokesperson told the Daily Record: “As traditional Nazi parties like the National Front or BNP have fallen apart, new groups like Generation Identity are a dangerous next generation of fascists.

“They are savvy with social media, produce slick videos and they do high-profile stunts, all aimed at drawing young people into their poisonous web of hate.

“They are also clever with their use of language, shying away from obvious racist statements but we can see from across the Continent that whenever they get organised, violent racist attacks follow.”

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