Sky News reporter James Matthews said that asylum seekers staying at a Glasgow hotel where multiple people including a police officer have been stabbed were unhappy with the “limited WiFi” and “the quality of food”.
Matthews, the Scotland Bureau Chief at Sky News, said he had spoken to an asylum seeker “who was in the [Park Inn Hotel] when this incident took place” and that “he’s told me about limited WiFi which made it difficult to get in touch with relatives back home, the quality of food was very poor, there was little to no money given to the asylum seekers” — leading to “a great degree of unhappiness”.
Matthews added that “campaign groups” speaking “on behalf” of asylum seekers in Glasgow had said they were “desperate people getting more desperate with time”, claiming that one had committed suicide because he had “reached the end of the road in terms of his ability to cope with conditions he regarded, and many like him regard, as untenable and unacceptable”.
An April 2020 report by the left-wing Guardian newspaper says that the “untenable and unacceptable” conditions faced by migrants moved into hotel accommodation in Glasgow as part of the government’s coronavirus containment measures included “three meals a day, basic toiletries and a laundry service”, in addition to the aforementioned WiFi. A report in The National published only yesterday about the death of the asylum seeker last month — said to be a drug user — cited by Sky News in their report noted that his death was unexplained and had not been ruled as suicide.
As of the time of publication, the police have confirmed few details of the stabbing spree other than the fact that the suspect has been shot and six people injured, including a police officer who has been hospitalised — although many outlets including the BBC have reported that there are at least three fatalities.
The suspect’s identity, background, and motivation have not been disclosed at this time.