PRO-independence campaigners, English Scots for Yes, have spoken at their discomfort at the re-emergence of the ethno-nationalist group Siol Nan Gaidheal.

The organisation, founded in the late 70s by an unemployed scientologist, was kicked out of the SNP in 1982 for extremists views.

The then leader Gordon Wilson described them as “proto-fascist”.

Men in Siol Nan Gaidheal branded black T-shirts have recently been spotted taking part in pro-independence events, including last weekend’s march through Bannockburn where they carried a banner emblazoned with the words Tory Scum Out.

Their presence has upset and infuriated some activists, and SNP politicians.

Math Campbell, the convenor of English Scots for Yes, said it left him almost feeling unwelcome in a friendly movement he has been involved with since 2013.

Campbell said Siol Nan Gaidheal were not representative of the Yes movement, describing them as a “very small group of malcontents, who are using the same tactics as Britain First”.

“We’ve heard some Siol Nan Gaidheal members have defended the group, claiming it is not the same outfit that it was in the 1970s, where violent rhetoric was meted out towards English folk like us who moved to Scotland.

“They claim they have moved on from those days, when Siol Nan Gaidheal members later went on to be involved in the Scottish National Liberation Army, setting fire to houses and intimidating new Scots. We’d like to believe that claim, but the Siol Nan Gaidheal official website, right now, still contains articles saying things like ‘every English incomer is suspect, the good with the bad’ , and talking of Scottishness being linked to ancestry and birthplace, the so-called ‘blood and soil’ position adopted by fascist groups worldwide.”

Siol Nan Gaidheal did not respond to The National’s requests for a comment, but in a lengthy Facebook past, said the accusations “thrown at Siol nan Gaidheal over the past few days” had been “drawn from the ludicrously inaccurate Wikipedia page, or from a few articles on the Siol nan Gaidheal website itself, which for years now has been merely an archive of the past history of the movement.

“Most of these articles were written in the 1990s, and these days are somewhat unrepresentative of the current Siol nan Gaidheal,” it added.

The Facebook post referred readers to a 2001 article about citizenship on the website, saying this was more reflective of current membership’s views. That piece credited the English who moved to Scotland of playing “a huge part in the creation of what Scotland now is and (apart from a few individuals who have come as the direct result of the enduring hegemony of England in this unbalanced relationship) they are individuals who have legitimately exercised choice in where they live and we welcome them, recognising the huge compliment implicit in the decision to reside amongst us.”

However, older posts, which remain on the group’s website, described English born people living in Scotland as colonialists and white settlers, who impose “the lebensraum of rapacious Anglo-Saxonry”.

There are calls too for the English to be kicked out of an independent Scotland.

In 1988 Siol Nan Gaidheal claimed to have 300 members.