Sighthill - where a Kurdish asylum seeker was murdered

Scotland has, for the most part, had a reputation for racial tolerance. We do not have a significant problem with integration of different cultures into Scottish society.

But last weekend a young Kurdish asylum seeker was stabbed to death in Sighthill in Glasgow. Another stabbing of a young refugee, thankfully not fatal this time, occurred in the same "scheme" a couple of days later.

This particular situation has been festering and brewing for some time. FirstFoot believes and sincerely hopes that this is not racism, but blundering, insensitive local government and the consequences of such.

Sighthill is one of Glasgow's many "schemes" (vast areas of run-down public housing which are dumping grounds for the poorly educated, low skill and low paid). Unemployment is high. It is recognised by Europe as an area of social deprivation.

Thoughtfully, in order to protect the poor souls in the South East of England from dealing with the problem, the government in Westminster shipped 30,000 asylum seekers to the North of Britain.

Of the 4,500 people who live in Sighthill, 1,500 of these are refugees dumped by the government. Quite properly, they are allocated refurbished properties and given grants to buy furniture and basic living items.

Quite how this goes down with the natives who regularly have applications for Social Fund Grants turned down and can wait for months for the local authority to undertake the most minor of repairs, can be imagined.

The great shame is that the anger of indigenous residents has turned on the refugees and not on the policy makers.