Recording the life at hand through photography
Just Another Saturday
Back in September, I wrote about a series of immigration protests taking place across Scotland, particularly in towns outside the main cities. One such location was Falkirk.
The Cladhan Hotel in Falkirk, which houses around ninety asylum-seeking young men, had been the scene of regular weekly standoffs between pro- and anti-immigration groups, with numbers bolstered by travelling supporters from both sides of the political debate.
The media eventually stopped covering the story, and the travelling supporters drifted away, leaving local residents to face each other. While both sides stood across the road from each other outside the hotel, their respective social-media pages continued to trade claims and counterclaims of insults, intimidation, and other anti-social behaviour — none of which inspires much hope of reconciliation.
Although I don’t live in Falkirk, I understand the situation, and it worries me. Normally, these left-versus-right confrontations take place in city centres, usually Glasgow, where participants are largely anonymous. Regular attendees may recognise familiar faces, but they are unlikely to live in the same communities — or on the same streets. In Falkirk, however, many of them do. And while Falkirk is a relatively large town, I live in a much smaller rural one, which also has an empty hotel on the outskirts and a handful of community social-media pages. What has happened in Falkirk could happen anywhere: a community bitterly divided over circumstances it cannot control, providing fertile ground for those from outside the area who want to push their own political agendas — including activists and paid YouTubers.
It was against this backdrop that I recently returned to Falkirk, this time to document the Falkirk Unity March and Rally. It was organised by the pro-immigration group Falkirk For All and supported by local organisations and travelling groups that share its politics. At the same time, a large anti-immigration rally was held outside the Cladhan, organised by the local group Save Our Futures And Our Kids’ Futures, which also attracted supporters from elsewhere. In addition, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage held an event just outside the town — though he insisted he wasn’t capitalising on the unrest.
Both sides set out their aims publicly in the days beforehand. Peace and unity were the official themes, though the expectations among myself and my photographer colleagues were somewhat different — an impression reinforced by a huge police presence, the largest I’ve seen outside a major city event.
The Unity March, which set off from the grounds of the magnificent Callendar House, was largely uneventful, aside from a few counterdemonstrators encountered en route to the town centre. But tensions escalated when marchers proceeded to the Cladhan to confront the ongoing protest there — essentially left meeting right. Insults were exchanged, along with a few bottles, flares, and eggs. It was not a pleasant situation to be in, and once I had enough photographs for the story, I left.
Similar demonstrations have taken place in Inverness, with more planned for Perth and Aberdeen — and likely, at some point, again in Falkirk.
Many factors are at play here, too many to unpack in one article, but one thing is clear: there is a complete absence of political competence at all levels. We are living through troubling times, and I despair for our society.
