Labour slams 'ugly' nationalists after Glasgow scuffles

Labour has condemned the "ugly face of aggressive nationalism" in Scotland after angry hecklers jostled Jim Murphy, its leader north of the border, and transvestite comedian Eddie Izzard and forced them to abandon an election rally in Glasgow.

Mr Murphy and Mr Izzard were accosted by a couple of dozen people while walking down Buchanan Street in the city centre to meet supporters in a nearby square.

The Scottish National party, which was criticised during last year's independence referendum for the aggressive behaviour of some of its supporters towards pro-union parties, distanced itself from the incident.

"Every party in this campaign has a right to put their case to the people and should be heard respectfully," it said in a tweet.

Polls suggest the SNP will win all but a handful of Scotland's 59 seats in Thursday's general election, reducing Labour representation to a small rump.

Video of the event on Monday morning showed people, some with loudhailers, chanting: "Red Tories out!" - an insult often used against Labour north of the border.

Mr Murphy tried to turn the slogan to "Get the Tories out!" but he and Mr Izzard were soon forced to give up and head to a waiting car. As they made their way to the vehicle, there were brief scuffles.

At least one person present was wearing a T-shirt saying Scottish Resistance, a radical pro-independence group that is supporting the SNP in the election, while another person was wearing a Glasgow Socialist Republic T-shirt. Some people were seen carrying SNP leaflets.

Mr Murphy said: "This sort of aggressive nationalism should have no place in our election.

"I am all in favour of listening to the arguments of my political opponents but these people are not prepared to engage in debate. Surely we don't want to go back to the old divisions of 'Yes' and 'No' from last year?

"Scotland's streets and Scotland's flag belong to no one political party. We've just spent the past two years debating the referendum and we had a democratic vote and a democratic result," he said in reference to last year's independence referendum that the Scottish nationalists lost.

Mr Murphy said he was convinced that the "protest was clearly organised and clearly an attempt to make sure the Labour case was not heard on the streets of Glasgow".

Nicola Sturgeon, who assumed leadership of the SNP after the referendum, has sought to present her party as one that will fight for a better Scotland while welcoming people elsewhere in the UK who support its anti-austerity agenda.

Mr Izzard, who was wearing a dark blue skirt suit and large red rosette, said: "It's OK having different opinions, but everyone should be able to put their opinion forward. This aggressive, this violent emotion, why violence? Don't have violence, we should just put our point of view forward and then everyone makes their choice on Thursday."

"We're putting forward a point of view, we're asking people to vote Labour and they're scared of these words being heard," he said. "Why are they scared of that? Let everyone have their say. It's called democracy."

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