Row over anti-English racism link to independence referendum But Ms Mitchell said: "I am concerned that amid all the positive statistics is the fact anti-English sentiment appears to be on the increase. Although this still accounts for a small proportion of incidents, it is one of very few that is clearly moving in the wrong direction. With that in mind, it is essential as we approach next year's referendum that all sides keep the debate measured and fair. It's impossible to say if the referendum has had a direct bearing on these worrying statistics but clearly anti-English rhetoric doesn't help. Roseanna Cunningham, the Scottish Community Safety Minister, said that although there had been an increase in anti-English incidents, over the last four years the average level has "remained consistent." She added: "One racist incident in Scotland is one too many - and all racist behaviour should be utterly condemned. However, the Tories" baseless attempt to play politics with such a serious issue is deplorable." The figures covered all incidents that were deemed to be racist by the victim or any third party and covered the final financial year of Scotland having eight forces before they were merged. They showed there were 4,628 attacks in 2012/13, down from 5,389 in the previous year. The ethnic groups most likely to be the victims were Pakistanis and white British, with them each accounting for 23 per cent of incidents. Seven of the eight forces, with Strathclyde the exception, were able to provide a breakdown of the "white British" category between the four home nations. These more detailed figures focused on the ethnicity of complainers and victims, a smaller total than the number of attacks. They found that the proportion who were white and Scottish remained the same at 13 per cent. As well as an apparent increase in attacks on the English, the figures said the proportion of victims and complainers who were white Welsh or Northern Irish increased from less than one per cent to two per cent. But the Scottish Government said the number of incidents with English victims had fallen from 84 to 57 over the past three years in the six police force areas that had collected this information all through this period. Glasgow topped the table for the overall number of racist incidents, with 20.5 per 10,000 people, followed by Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Stirling.