Protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers are racist, Scotland’s First Minister has said.

In recent months, hundreds of people have assembled outside hotels to voice their opposition to the housing of asylum seekers, with some carrying banners calling for the deaths of those crossing the English Channel on small boats.

John Swinney marched through Glasgow with the Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC) alongside other political leaders on Saturday before speaking at a rally decrying racism and the far-right.

Speaking to the Press Association after the rally during a visit to the group Glasgow Afghan United in the Maryhill area of the city, the First Minister said: “Many of the people who are participating in these protests against the asylum seeker hotels are people who are s

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