EDINBURGH (Sputnik) – His remarks come as UK voters prepare to take part in a referendum to be held on Thursday that could see Britain exit the European Union.
"My serious fear is that English nationalism and xenophobia are on the march. I’ve never looked ahead and been so worried about the crisis facing British politics. This is a campaign that has thrown up the worst sets of debates Britain has ever seen and so, logically I fear as I look ahead, that we have potentially an enormous political crisis on our hands," McLeish, who also used to be a former Labour Party member, said.
McLeish said comments made 16 years ago by former UK Home Secretary Jack Straw who warned of the dangers of English nationalism were being realized during the EU referendum campaign.
Back in 2000, Straw said in an interview with the BBC that the English were "potentially very aggressive, very violent and of course we have used this propensity to violence to subjugate Ireland, Wales and Scotland."
According to McLeish, Straw’s comments remain pertinent today.
"This is the challenge to political leaders; beware of what you wish for because this idea that you can say certain things and there won’t be consequences is over… So therefore the public cannot be criticized for listening to people like [UKIP leader] Nigel Farage and [Tory MP and Brexit supporter] Boris Johnson and then forming in their own minds, not only nationalism but this horrible issue of xenophobia."
Earlier on Wednesday all of Scotland’s former First Ministers, along with the current serving First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, issued an unprecedented joint statement urging Scottish voters to remain in the European Union. Eurosceptic UK Independence Party (UKIP) is the only major political party in Scotland campaigning for an exit of the European bloc.
