Tory minister slams SNP blogger over homophobic tweet
Scottish Secretary David Mundell has blasted a homophobic tweet by a pro-independence blogger.
The Scottish blogger Wings Over Scotland posted a message on Twitter about the out minister’s son, Oliver Mundell, who is a MSP for Dumfriesshire and was addressing the Scottish Conservative Party conference.
The blogger wrote: “Oliver Mundell is the sort of public speaker that makes you wish his dad embraced his homosexuality sooner.”
David Mundell, who came out in January 2015, shut the comment down.
“This sort of behaviour has to be called out. We’re not going to face down homophobia unless we call out people who practice it,” the Scottish Secretary retorted.
Oliver Mundell, who was elected into the Scottish parliament last year, called the comment “absolutely disgusting and unacceptable”.
He said: “It is really important they call out this kind of behaviour. There are lots of reasonable people within the independence movement. But there are still some unpleasant figures who get given airtime by senior people within the SNP.
The MSP added that it was their job to call out those who are “offensive and unpleasant”.
“This is an individual who has interacted with SNP MSPs and MPs, and distributed material in the last independence campaign. There is duty for all of us in politics to call out those within their own ranks who are offensive and unpleasant,” Oliver Mundell added.
He went on to explain that he had received a lot of abuse online in the past, and called that a Scotland that nobody wants to “live in”.
He said: “I get a lot of abuse online. There are certain individuals you don’t want to give oxygen to but sometimes comments people make just cross the line.
“For other families who have gone through similar situations, comments like that make it more difficult for people to be who they are,” he said. “I don’t think that’s the kind of Scotland anyone wants to live in.”
