Leo Kearse claims Nicola Sturgeon’s party has “deliberately” used free tuition fees to discourage Scots from studying in England. This helps them reinforce the negative stereotype that all English people are “evil Tories” because they will inevitably come into less contact with them, he said.
There are no tuition fees for Scots studying domestically but they have to pay up to £9,250 a year to study in England.
The 44-year-old, who grew up in south west Scotland before moving to London aged 23, said: “It’s a deliberate SNP policy. There are no tuition fees in Scotland so young Scots don’t leave Scotland and don’t see that English people are actually OK.
“It’s a deliberate policy and I think it’s done a lot of damage.
“A lot of young Scots coming through are small-minded and parochial as a result of SNP propaganda.
“They could have given free tuition fees for Scots studying in England – which would be fair, as Westminster gives Scotland £14bn a year under the Barnett formula – but they don’t because they don’t want them to leave and see what England and the English are really like.”
Mr Kearse, who worked as a consultant for the Foreign Office before becoming a professional comedian 12 years ago, said that hostility towards the English has increased markedly over recent years.
When he grew up he said everyone would support the opposition whenever England were playing, but it was a laugh – “demonising” every English person wasn’t an issue.
That has all changed since the SNP – which uses wokeness as a “cover” to promote its anti-English agenda – rose to power, he claimed.
Mr Kearse, who now splits his time between the English capital and Glasgow, added: “It was always accepted that Scotland was part of Great Britain.
READ MORE: Prince William wrote angry letter to protect ‘harassed’ Kate Middleton
Mr Kearse also blasted the SNP for their “calamitous” government which has “wasted hundreds of millions of pounds” on failed policies.
But he claimed they have no “unified opposition” because Scottish Labour is a “spent force”.
He added: “I can see how people could be in favour of Scotland leaving the Union if the SNP were competent.
“But they’ve wasted hundreds of millions of pounds on their policies. If anything goes wrong then they just blame it on Westminster.
“And any successes they claim themselves.
“The danger is that there’s no scrutiny on SNP xenophobia. In England if someone is in the BNP or EDL no one’s pretending they’re not racist.
“But the SNP think they are the good guys, saving their country from the evil Tories.
“They’ve screwed up so much. A second referendum could happen but the SNP’s Achilles’ heel is that they are useless.”
Mr Kearse also said that should a second referendum take place, Scots not living in Scotland should be allowed to vote.
Express.co.uk has contacted SNP for comment.
