Scottish Independence: 'Dishonest Numpties' Try To Pass Off London Riot Scenes As Glasgow

'Dishonest Numpties' Try To Pass Off London Riot Scenes As Glasgow
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PA/Twitter

Nationalists and Unionists have faced calls to unite to condemn "dishonest numpties" manipulating social media to suggest that tensions in Glasgow were worse than they seemed in the wake of Friday's historic referendum result.

While social media reports indicated that violent troubles continued into the early hours of the morning, a Police Scotland spokesman said groups had dwindled to sets of two and three people by around 1am, with six arrests made by the end of the tense stand off.

But amid reports of flag burning and mounting tensions in the city, BBC journalist Andrew Neil used Twitter to criticise people he said were posting images from the London riots in a bid to pass them off as Glasgow.

Glasgow was one of just four local authorities which voted for independence from the UK, while the majority of Scotland - 55% of the population - voted for it to remain in the union.

Channel Four reporter Alex Thomson described the scene as pro-Union supporters made their voices heard.

"Chants of 'Ten German Bombers', 'Rule Britannia' and 'God Save The Queen' (the latter with what many would interpret as a Nazi-style salute) rang out to the utter bemusement of onlookers."

Earlier police officers, some mounted on horses, lined up to divide the groups.

A number of people draped in union flags left the area and began spreading on to the nearby streets, with many marching down St Vincent Place as police followed.

They later gathered in George Square again, this time at the top of the square next to Queen Street Station singing Rule Britannia and a flare was let off.

Police formed a human barrier to block off the route to Buchanan Street and contain people in the square.

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Chanting in George Square in Glasgow

Roads around the square, which had had hosted pro-independence parties in the days before the referendum, were closed as police dealt with the incident.

Some Yes and No supporters online reacted with horror, saying that the demonstrations did not represent the official Yes Scotland or Better Together campaigns.

Elsewhere police said they were investigating a fire at an electrical substation in the city. A Police Scotland spokesman said: "Officers are still investigating the cause."

Jonathan Coates, assistant sports editor at the Herald newspaper, posted a picture of the blaze on Twitter but warned people speculating on the cause of the fire not to assume it was started by vandals targeting the paper for coming out in favour of Scottish independence.

"Don't jump to conclusions based on the picture I tweeted: no reason to suspect The Herald Group targeted by these vandals," he tweeted.