Anti-racism rally held in Scotland

Activists have taken to the streets of Glasgow to fight racism and fascism, as official statistics show religious hate crimes in Scotland have increased by a quarter over the last year.

About two thousand people assembled at Glasgow Green for the annual St Andrew’s day anti-racism march organized by the Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC), and then they rallied to Glasgow Film Theatre on November 24.

According to recent figures published by the Scottish government, there were 876 offences reported with a religious aggravation across Scotland in 2011-12, showing a rise of 26 percent when compared to data from the previous year.

Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights chair Parveen Khan told the rally, “Good words are not enough. We call on politicians, the government and public sector organizations to take real action against racism.”

Earlier in January, British Prime Minister David Cameron admitted that people from minority ethnic backgrounds still face disadvantage and there is “a lot more” to be done to end racial discrimination across the UK.