"ALL nationalists are the same," goes the war cry of a certain brand of Unionist – very often wearing a Labour Party pin.

They seem to wish that to be the case – but it isn't, and today served up a crystal clear example of why.

Hundreds of Glaswegians turned out to protest a vile Home Office raid in Kenmure Street, Pollokshields, on Eid. They bravely surrounded and threw themselves under the immigration enforcement van.

Any reader of The National will know how often we've had to report on the disgustingly cruel approach and constant mistaken rulings of this UK Government enforcer, so this is merely the latest in a long series.

The Home Office's actions in Glasgow expose exactly why the Unionist claim that Scottish nationalism is no different than the British nationalism epitomised by Boris Johnson's Tory government is not just nonsense – but harmful.

Labour hardly have a spotless record on standing up for immigrants (see the "controls on immigration" mug). Yet it's certainly the case that, in Scotland, they have many MSPs who are consistently critical of the Home Office's hostile environment.

But the party then turns around and tells Scotland off for "narrow-minded nationalism" when we push for Scottish independence.

So let’s be clear: we need independence to be free of this unfit, immoral Home Office.

The Labour Party in England are in shambles, again. The Tories are going to be power for the foreseeable future, as they have been for so much of the recent past.

Scottish Labour’s sheer scorn for the independence movement in the face of these Home Office actions is baffling – let’s not forget that they removed a candidate from standing for election merely for supporting the right of Scotland to choose indyref2.

READ MORE: Scottish Labour drop Holyrood candidate after she backed indyref2

The protesters at that scene in Glasgow unfurled a telling banner: "If this is Team UK, we reject it."

Dawn raids, horrific detention conditions and the hostile environment are the actions of Team UK. These are not the actions that Scottish voters support – but they are the ones inflicted on us as a result of the Union. We can't choose a better path.

So, the next time a Unionist says Scottish nationalism is no different than British nationalism, let’s do two things.

Let’s remind them that with the limited powers it does have, Holyrood gave refugees and asylum seekers the right to vote. And let's remember that with the powers Unionists allow to remain at Westminster, the Home Office continues to target our nation’s people.

At the very least, the Unionist case needs to acknowledge the Yes movement's opposition to these UK Government raids.

If we'd like this to end, however, there's one answer. It’s time for independence.