A Glasgow man with alleged ties to a loyalist paramilitary group was filmed apparently offering to arrange killings for cash, according to a new undercover investigation by Al Jazeera.
The investigation, carried out by the international news outlet, claims the man also has connections to Britain’s anti-migrant protest movement, raising serious questions about the links between far-right activism and organised violence in Scotland.
Footage obtained as part of the sting reportedly shows the individual making offers to arrange murders in exchange for money. The claims have sent shockwaves through communities already on edge following a summer of anti-immigration unrest that swept across several parts of the UK.
The Al Jazeera investigation is part of a wider probe into far-right networks operating across Britain, and the Glasgow case is being held up as a stark example of how extreme elements within these movements may be operating well beyond protests and online abuse.
The man is said to have links to a loyalist paramilitary organisation, groups which have long been a source of concern for Scottish and UK security services. Loyalist paramilitaries, while most commonly associated with Northern Ireland, have known networks and sympathisers across the west of Scotland, particularly in and around Glasgow.
The timing of the revelations is significant. The UK saw a wave of far-right disorder during the summer, with riots and anti-migrant protests breaking out in towns and cities across England and Scotland. Mosques were targeted, hotels housing asylum seekers were attacked, and minority communities were left frightened in their own neighbourhoods. Police forces across the country made hundreds of arrests in the aftermath.
Critics and community leaders have long warned that the organised nature of some of those protests pointed to deeper, more dangerous networks at work behind the scenes. This latest investigation appears to lend weight to those concerns.
Scottish authorities have not yet publicly commented on the specific claims made in the Al Jazeera footage, but Police Scotland has previously stated that it takes the threat from all forms of extremism seriously, including from the far right.
Anti-racism and community groups in Glasgow have called for an urgent response from both Police Scotland and the Scottish Government following the emergence of the footage. Many have pointed out that while much of the political focus after the summer riots centred on online misinformation and English cities, Scotland was never immune to the same dangerous undercurrents.
Glasgow has a complex history when it comes to sectarianism and paramilitary-linked activity. Loyalist groups have staged marches and demonstrations in the city for decades, and tensions around immigration and identity have, at times, been exploited by far-right organisers looking to recruit and radicalise.
The Al Jazeera investigation is expected to put fresh pressure on the UK Government and devolved administrations to examine how far-right and paramilitary-linked networks are being monitored and disrupted. Civil liberties groups will likely raise questions about the use of undercover journalists in such stings, but for many, the content of the footage will be the more pressing concern.
For residents and community workers in Glasgow, the footage is a troubling reminder that extremist activity does not always look like a noisy street protest. Sometimes, campaigners warn, it goes much further underground than that.