Extremists thought to be ‘protest’ group
RIGHT-WING extremists are believed to be behind posts urging citizens to break the law to attend so called ‘free movement’ antilockdown protests in Glasgow.
They are among several advertised on social media urging people to ‘join the UK Freedom Movement’.
They are asking people to “bring a picnic play some music and let’s have some fun.”
However, lockdown rules mean people in Scotland are still not allowed to meet up with people from other households and mass gatherings are banned.
Police Scotland have told people not to gather in parks and the leader of Glasgow City Council, Susan Aitken, has branded those behind it as “far-right wing bams” who are “not welcome in Glasgow.” She urged: “Steer well clear, folks, let the police handle it.”
It is unclear from the notices, which have been circulating online, exactly who is promoting the protests and no-one has applied to the city council for permission to hold an event in any parks.
They would obviously be refused as there is not gatherings allowed under lockdown.
The only clue to who could be behind the posts is in the reference to the UK Freedom Movement.
A company called Freedom Movement Ltd is registered at an address in London and the sole director is a Jayda Fransen as has been suggested in many social media posts.
Fransen is a former deputy leader of Britain First and was sentenced to 36 weeks for religiously aggravated harassment in 2018.
Several posts call for protests around large UK cities, including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen with identical wording.
They state: “We say no to the Coronavirus Bill, no to mandatory vaccines, no to the new normal, and no to the unlawful lockdown.”
A group called UK Freedom Movement was started by a Richard Inman. Inman supported Tommy Robinson when he was charged then convicted of contempt of court.
There is however nothing on the UK Freedom Movement website about protests.
Alternatively with no-one taking responsibility for the post it could be anyone with an agenda to stir up social unrest and civil disobedience.
With no contact details available it was not possible to contact either UK Freedom Movement or Freedom Movement Ltd for comment.