SNP suspends member who directed ‘vile’ anti-gay abuse at Scottish Tory leader
An SNP member who subjected Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson to homophobic abuse on Twitter has been suspended from the party, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.
The Tory MSP replied saying: “Nice. Classy. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth? Bet she’s really proud of you… *blocked*.”
First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon earlier condemned the abuse at her political rival, saying it was “unacceptable”.
Speaking this afternoon at First Minister’s Questions, Ms Sturgeon told MSPs that her party had suspended a member pending an investigation.
She said: “Can I take the opportunity to condemn unreservedly the vile, homophobic abuse that has been directed at Ruth Davidson on Twitter last night and this morning.
“The individual in question in that case has been identified and this morning suspended from membership of the SNP, pending full disciplinary process.”
The abuse was originally posted on Twitter by a user with the profile Laird O’Callaghan and username SparkyBhoyHH, who purports to be based in Edinburgh.
In a statement, Ms Davidson said: “I’m not the only politician who gets abuse online.
“I’ve previously condemned those who have racially abused Humza Yousaf as well as the torrents of sexism and misogyny aimed at the First Minister.
“A significant proportion of the abuse I receive is homophobic, and I make a point of calling out a selection of such tweets every few weeks.”
Mr Coburn, who is UKIP’s leader in Scotland and the party’s most senior gay politician, allegedly made the controversial remarks about Muslim MSP Humza Yousaf, who is Scottish Minister for Europe and International Development, earlier this month.
In a newspaper interview, Mr Coburn is alleged to have said: “Humza Yousaf, or as I call him, Abu Hamza”.
Despite issuing a lengthy apology to Mr Yousaf, Mr Coburn appeared to dismiss the row, telling the Scottish Sunday Mail: “It’s all bollocks.”
