Temperatures are rising across Scotland and I am not talking about the weather.

People across predominantly working-class communities have been taking to the streets. In Cranhill, Castlemilk, Easterhouse, Possil, the Gorbals and more, they have gathered to call out, what they believe to be, a threat to the safety of women and children in their area.

Part of the build up to this has been some despicable and reprehensible incidences of sexual violence, the perpetrators of whom, I hope – without prejudicing any investigations or inquiries ongoing – will be swiftly and robustly brought to justice.

Demanding safety in your community is, without doubt, unobjectionable. It’s correct and defendable that people should stand together against violence, hatred and persecution. The trade union movement does it every year in our annual St Andrew’s Day anti-racism, anti-fascism march and rally.

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What does become objectionable, however, are the agitators and disruptors using sexual violence against women as a launching pad to spill vile anti-migrant rhetoric, wrapped within toxic nationalism and fuelled with blatant disinformation.

For the purposes of clarity: working class women do not need, nor want, the vigilante protectionism of........

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