Most race attack victims `are white': The English Exiles

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Louise Thomas

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The Braveheart phenomenon, a Hollywood-inspired rise in Scottish nationalism, has been linked to a rise in anti-English prejudice.

English couple Frank (right) and Sandra Walters took legal action following events which they claim drove them out of Scotland.

They said that rubbish was dumped outside the door of their Galloway home and placards were put up saying: "English Out".

The couple took action against a local pub after they received a legal letter saying they were barred.

Last November, the Commission for Racial Equality asked the Scottish Office to set up a register of racist incidents after a series of attacks on English children in playgrounds north of the border.

Reports linked a rise in attacks on English people to the success of Braveheart.

The CRE discovered that most calls to its new Scottish helpline were from English people.

But some Scots feel that discrimination also flows in the opposite direction. Computer expert Murray Ingram, a Scot living in Exeter, unsuccessfully claimed racial discrimination by his employer BT after being told his accent sounded "harsh and aggressive" on the telephone.