A former SNP Holyrood candidate has claimed “anti-Muslim racism” is seeping into Scottish education because language policies treat ethnic minorities as inferior to white Scots.

Nighet Riaz, an academic at the University of the West of Scotland, said Gaelic was promoted and given millions of pounds in ring-fenced public funding while the traditional languages of non-white groups were sidelined in schools. She said that there was a lack of Urdu teachers, with schools unable to meet the needs of large Pakistani communities, particularly in Glasgow.

Dr Riaz was a regional list candidate for the SNP at the 2016 Holyrood election, endorsed by Alex Salmond, the former party leader, and Robin Sturgeon, Nicola Sturgeon’s father, but was not elected. She is an SNP equalities officer for