Nicola Sturgeon and Val McDermid among 200 to sign letter against far right

Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon and the wife of former first minister Humza Yousaf have signed a letter which insists that the far right are not “defenders of women”.

Ms Sturgeon and Nadia El-Nakla have put their names to the letter, which seeks to “reject the far right’s racist lies about ‘protecting’ women and girls”.

It has been backed by 200 women and organisations, with other signatories including actress and comedian Elaine C Smith, authors Val McDermid and Denise Mina, and musician and actor Clare Grogan.

MSPs and councillors have also put their names to it, along with musician Iona Fyfe and leading trade union figures, including Andrea Bradley, the general secretary of the EIS teaching union, and Roz Foyer, the general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Council.

The open letter from the group Women Against The Far Right Scotland has been made public ahead of a launch event in Glasgow on October 7, where some of those who have signed will speak.

It comes amid growing concerns over immigration, with protests having taken place outside hotels used to house migrants.

Ms Foyer said the letter showed that women across the country “stand united against the poison of the far right as, collectively, we see through their lies and faux concerns”.

She stated: “Let’s be absolutely clear: those who claim to care about women’s safety while spreading hate against migrants and refugees are not our allies.

“They are predominantly men using the safety of women and girls as a smokescreen to peddle division, bigotry and racism.”

Another signatory, Cat Murphy, the executive director at feminist organisation Engender,  said: “We know from history that false claims of ‘protecting women and girls’ have been used to terrorise and oppress people of colour and other marginalised groups.

“As feminists that work every day to support communities across Scotland, we need to push back against these damaging lies and distortion with everything we’ve got.”

Amina, the Muslim Women’s Resource Centre, is one of the organisations to have backed the letter, with its chief executive Mariam Ahmed saying: “At Amina, we know that racism, misogyny and violence are interconnected forms of oppression that harm women and communities.

“The far right do not protect women, they exploit fear and division to push their own agenda.

“We stand in solidarity with survivors, with refugees and migrants, and with all women and girls.

“Scotland must reject racism and unite to demand real action to end violence against women.”