MORE than 11,000 people have put their name to an open letter condemning the “xenophobic” rhetoric of Theresa May’s Tory government.

The letter, penned by Scots-based writers Peter Geoghegan and Chris Silver, calls on May “to put a stop to her Government’s bitter, racist and divisive language” and to “explicitly rule out any policies which are premised on dividing workplaces and communities based on where people were born.

“Foreign nationals make an enormous contribution to this country’s culture, economy, and society,” the letter says."They have long helped to shape its common heritage and identity. They are not a separate caste in our society – they are our friends, partners, colleagues, and neighbours. A country robbed of these people is a poorer country in every sense: they are a part of who we are.”

Within two days of being posted online, the letter had gone viral, jumping from 300 to 10,000 signatures. That was partly down to academics and researchers in universities and colleges sending it around colleagues. Around 400 professors, and more than a thousand doctors have signed up.

It was also partly down to the Tory party conference in Birmingham, and Amber Rudd’s proposal to make companies list foreign workers in a bid to shame them into hiring more “locals”. The resulting outrage saw the Government drop the policy.

Geoghegan and Silver are to hand in a copy of the letter and the names to the Scotland Office in Edinburgh on Monday afternoon.

“We think it’s important, the government might have rolled back on things, but it’s important to keep the pressure up on this kind of language and this idea of what society should look like," Geoghegan told the Sunday Herald.

“Universities are feeling the impact of Brexit already,” he added.

Human rights campaigner and solicitor Aamer Anwar said he signed the open letter because of the “rank hypocrisy of a Government which cries crocodile tears over the rise of racist attacks post-Brexit, whilst pandering to ideas bordering on fascism”.