Outrage as Reform councillor shares stage with 'neo-Nazi' at Falkirk protest

The National

3 days ago

Protesters from the group Save Our Future and Our Kids Future demonstrated against "uncontrolled immigration" outside the Cladhan Hotel on Saturday, with Stand Up To Racism (SUTR) Scotland holding a counter-demonstration.
According to witnesses and despite the group rejecting links to the far-right, attendees included several individuals openly displaying fascist symbols.
The event was organised by a group led by Connor Graham who gained notoriety in 2019 after biting a police officer during an altercation.
The group's name itself echoes extremist slogans used by white nationalists, most notably the so-called 'Fourteen Words' coined by American neo-Nazi David Lane. The primary slogan in the Fourteen Words is: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children".
At the start of the rally, a handful of men performed Hitler salutes (above), and one man was seen with a large Black Sun tattoo on the back of his head — an emblem widely used in neo-Nazi circles (below).
Another group held a banner reading 'Kill 'Em All: Let God Sort Them Out'.
Claire Mackie-Brown, Reform UK Falkirk councillor for the Upper Braes, went on to share the stage with Patriotic Alternative member Richard McFarlane, who told the crowd that white people will be a minority in the UK 'by the 2060s'.
Mackie-Brown quit the Tory party last February, and joined Reform UK in March this year.
READ MORE: One man arrested at Falkirk asylum seeker hotel protests
PA has been described as a far-right, fascist, neo-Nazi and white nationalist hate group. At the heart of its ideology is the 'white genocide' myth, with the group actively campaigning for the mass deportation of immigrants.
The speeches ranged from conspiratorial to openly fascist. One speaker dismissed democracy altogether, claiming that 'all politicians are paedophiles" while McFarlane reiterated claims of 'white genocide".
(L-R) Claire Brown and Robert McFarlane (Image: Supplied) At one point during his seven-minute speech, McFarlane asked the crowd, "did any of you vote to be overrun by migrants?'.
He added: 'We need to give them the fingers, and say we are white, we are British, we are proud and that we are not scared anymore,' he tells the crows, before listing two demands: an end to all mass immigration and the start of a deportation process to 'send all the illegals back'.
He concludes with: 'Keep Britain White, Keep Britain British'.
The video of the speech is stamped with PA branding and the group's logo throughout.
Addressing Mackie-Brown's attendance, the witness said they "do not believe that there could have been any way she was unaware of the actions of other demonstrators, and so thought that this group of neo-Nazis, fascists, conspiracy theorists, and violent far-right thugs, was a good audience to be speaking to".
A Reform UK spokesperson said: 'Councillor Claire Brown was there to represent Reform and her concerned constituents, she is not responsible for the other people attending and will continue to stand up for residents on this extremely important issue'.
READ MORE: Far-right protest in Falkirk met by anti-racism counter-demo outside asylum hote
Once the UK's largest fascist organisation according to anti-racism charity HOPE not hate, PA has since splintered.
The group was previously involved in anti-migrant protests in Erskine and unfurled a 'white lives matter' banner at the top of Ben Nevis in 2021.
We previously wrote about how PA and Unity News Network (UNN) – one of the most popular sources of information for the far right in the UK, which is run by a Scot – signed a joint declaration encouraging supporters to support and infiltrate Nigel Farage's party.
Racist banners, flyers and posters created by the group were recently displayed at the Clydebank Bandstand. Similar banners were also attached to railings in front of the council chambers in Dumbarton and in Hamilton town centre during the Scottish Parliament by-election earlier this year.
Patriotic Alternative has been approached for comment.