Labour students under fire for ‘offensive’ AK-47 tweet
Post was in support of Labour leader
A tweet by Stirling University Labour Society backing embattled Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard and bearing the silhouette of an AK47 rifle has been criticised by the party.
The AK-47 image with the words “Defend Richard Leonard” and “Now and Forever” was posted by the Stirling Uni Labour account on Tuesday night in support of Mr Leonard - a Stirling University graduate - who had faced calls earlier that day from three Labour MSPS to resign.
Former Stirling Labour MP Dame Anne Mcguire, tweeting in response, told Stirling University Labour to “delete this tweet immediately”.
On the same night, the Stirling University Labour Society account also published a tweet which called North East Scotland Labour MSP Jenny Marra “scab”.
She had called on Mr Leonard to resign on Tuesday, following similar calls from her MSP colleagues James Kelly and Daniel Johnston.
The Stirling University Labour tweet about Ms Marra stated: “Time we ran TERF [Trans Exclusionary Radical
Feminist] scabs like Jenny Marra out of the party”.
The Uni Labour group have since issued a statement apologising for the rifle tweet which also says that a member intended to publish it to a personal account, not the group.
A Stirling Constituency Labour spokesperson said: “We completely condemn the use of such imagery and the sentiments expressed in these social media posts.
“They are offensive and have no place in our political discourse. This was made clear to the society and they have deleted the tweets and apologised.”
According to recent polls, Scottish Labour is currently in distant third place behind the SNP and the Conservatives. The party polled 9.3 per cent in last year’s European elections.
Mr Leonard said this week he will stay on as Scottish Labour leader until May’s Scottish Parliament elections.
Stirling University Labour Society did not respond to our request for comment, but, in an apology statement posted on their Twitter account, they say the gun image was a “play on an old meme template”.
They pointed out that they have now drawn up a social media policy “to ensure this does not happen again”.
The statement adds: “We want to emphasise that [the gun] tweet was not an attempt to incite violence, but a play on an old meme template which would state ‘Defend Post Punk’.
“This does not live up to the standards of our society or party.
“Having investigated this situation, it has emerged that this was the result of someone accidentally posting on the wrong account, meaning to post on their personal Twitter, however accidentally posted on the society’s account.”