Nigel Farage barricaded in Scottish pub and rescued by police riot van

Nigel Farage has been barricaded by police in a pub before being whisked away in a riot van after his visit to Scotland was hijacked by hard-Left independence supporters.

By Simon Johnson, Scottish Political Editor

16 May 2013

TELEGRAPH.CO.UK

The Ukip leader was left stranded in the middle of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, surrounded by around 50 nationalists and socialists calling him a racist, but demanding that he: “Go home to England”.

Police officers attempted to persuade two taxi drivers to take Mr Farage away from the trouble but both refused as the protesters continued to barrack the MEP with chants of “racist Nazi scum”.

A shaken Mr Farage told reporters: “We have never had a reception like this anywhere in Britain before. Clearly, it’s anti-British and anti-English. They hate the Union Jack.”

Police officers then insisted for his own safety that he enter the Canon’s Gait pub, the wooden doors of which were then locked.

The protesters continued to jeer and shout abuse, with some unveiling a 20ft banner that, referring to next year’s referendum, stated: “Vote Yes for Scotland”.

Others among the mostly young crowd serenaded Mr Farage by telling him where he should “stick your Union Jack”.

It was not clear how the stand-off would end, with some enterprising nationalists disappearing round the back of the building to check Mr Farage did not sneak out the rear entrance.

One wag joked that the Ukip leader would have to come out for a cigarette sooner or later. However, a Lothian and Borders Police riot van was spotted making its way up the usually genteel Royal Mile and stopped directly outside the pub.

After a delay of around ten minutes, the doors opened and the crowd surged forward while police ‘kettled’ Mr Farage from the building and into the vehicle safely.

The protesters cheered as the vehicle sped away. The Ukip leader could be seen behind the grilled windows speaking on his mobile phone.

Speaking in a radio interview afterwards, he said: “Normally I would love to be locked in a pub, but it was pretty unpleasant. If this is the face of Scottish nationalism, it’s a pretty ugly picture.

“This was dressed up as an anti-racism protest but it was nothing of the sort – it was anti-English thing.” Mr Farage said the protesters were “not prepared to have a conversation” and praised the police, saying the situation could have turned “very nasty” if they had not been present.

He was visiting the Royal Mile to meet the Scottish press, but some Left-wing nationalists and socialists discovered the arrangements and posted them on their Twitter accounts.

They included members of Radical Independence, a representative of which shared a platform with Nicola Sturgeon, the Deputy First Minister, at the launch of the official Yes Scotland campaign in Glasgow.

The trouble started when Mr Farage was speaking to television, radio and newspaper reporters in the Canon’s Gait about his hopes of replicating UKIP’s English success in Scotland.

About a dozen protesters entered the pub only to find their target surrounded by journalists and photographers. They appeared upset that they could not get to their quarry but as the interviews continued grew increasingly restless.

Mr Farage initially attempted to debate with them, denying vehemently that his party is racist or had any links with the British National Party. However, they responded with increasingly vitriolic abuse.

As the protesters started chanting and singing, the pub’s management asked everyone to leave, forcing Mr Farage onto the street and giving his team a major problem in trying to extricate him.

Before the trouble started, the Ukip leader told reporters his hopes of making a breakthrough in Scotland had been improved by next year's independence referendum.

“The SNP is selling an entirely false prospectus to the people of Scotland. They talked about independence within the European Union – don’t make me laugh,” he said.

“If the SNP position was they wanted to be out of the United Kingdom and out of the European Union, at least intellectually, you could respect that position.”

He said the independence debate has prompted a discussion on EU membership, saying: “We’ve got some things to say about how Scotland might be outside the European Union with a reinvigorated fishing industry. There’s a gap in the political market for Ukip in Scotland that didn’t exist last year.”

But Mr Farage admitted the “immigration argument” was not as potent in Scotland because there has not been the same influx of foreigners north of the Border as in the south of England.

The Ukip leader, who is standing a candidate in Aberdeen Donside by-election for the Scottish Parliament, said he favoured the wholesale devolution of tax powers to Holyrood.

A spokesman for Yes Scotland said: "We had no knowledge nor any involvement in this incident. Yes Scotland seeks to run a positive campaign, and we would condemn any form of intimidation."

A spokesman for Radical Independence Edinburgh said: “Farage came up to Scotland to spread his racism and bigotry here – we showed he's not welcome.

"His party Ukip have always achieved a derisory vote in Scotland but Farage thought that could change after their recent local elections successes in England.

"In 2014 we finally have the chance to get rid of the political system at Westminster that pours fuel onto the bigoted fire of Farage and Ukip Scotland wants to be a country that welcomes immigrants – but we need independence to make that desire a reality."