Scottish Conservatives condemn Blackford tweet

18 May 2020

The Scottish Conservatives have strongly criticised Ian Blackford, SNP leader in the House of Commons after he ‘liked’ and endorsed an expletive laden and aggressive tweet.

The offending tweet the Ross, Skye and Lochaber MP publicly endorsed stated, “Scotland. We’re shut. F**k off”.

Rachael Hamilton, Scottish Conservative shadow rural economy secretary is demanding that Mr Blackford apologises for the tweet.

Ms Hamilton is also demanding that the prominent SNP MP acknowledges that tourism is one of our biggest industries and all parliamentarians need to adopt a more constructive tone and message to ensure its survival after the Covid crisis.

This comes as tourism operators have sent an open letter to the First Minister calling for “a long term, positive and nuanced message from our politicians to support the importance of tourism.”

Rachael Hamilton, Scottish Conservative shadow rural economy secretary said:

“No parliamentarian should be using or endorsing a tweet like this – it is utterly inexcusable.

“Tourism is one of our biggest industries in Scotland, we must all work towards ensuring its future. 

“Scotland is still in a crisis, with tempers running pretty high so this kind of irresponsible and offensive language is only likely to inflame the situation.

“Mr Blackford knows that he is in a position of influence – his words and his tone encourage others to behave as poorly. 

“Mr Blackford must apologise for his disgraceful endorsement of such negative, aggressive and offensive language.”