The Daily Telegraph

Westminste­r leader of SNP apologises for ‘vigilante’ tweet

- By Daniel Sanderson SCOTTISH CORRESPOND­ENT

THE SNP’S Westminste­r leader has apologised after he was accused of trying to “stir up hatred” against an English photograph­er who he wrongly suggested had broken coronaviru­s rules.

Ian Blackford questioned why Ollie Taylor, a freelance photograph­er, had posted a photo of the northern lights over Caithness, after mistakenly assuming he lived in England.

He wrote on Twitter: “As you live in the south of England and travel to Scotland is only for permitted reasons I am sure there will be a valid reason as to why you are posting a photo from the north of Scotland last night?”

Mr Taylor had actually moved to Scotland in September to work on a book.

The MP later deleted the tweet and issued an apology, claiming he had been attempting to represent constituen­ts who were concerned about people breaking rules.

However, Nicola Sturgeon was yesterday urged to condemn the “vigilante” attack. Alex Cole-hamilton, the Liberal Democrat MSP, said Mr Blackford was guilty of “singling out and bull ying a private citizen who had relocated here from England”

Meanwhile, the photograph­er told The Press and Journal newspaper that Mr Blackford could have simply messaged him privately if he had concerns about his actions.

Mr Taylor said: “I think if I was in a public position like Mr Blackford I would have at least messaged to ask about the situation, he could have saved himself a bit of embarrassm­ent.

“The picture is taken about five minutes from my house up here, after I moved in the summer.

“I really think he was trying to stir up public hatred with this, I have friends in each of the countries across the UK and some of the stuff going around on social media makes me feel like it is every man for themselves.”

Responding to Mr Cole-hamilton at Holyrood, Ms Sturgeon said Mr Blackford had shown “grace and dignity” by apologisin­g for the attack, which he tweeted to his 100,000 followers.

Mr Blackford said: “I will continue to stand up for my constituen­ts who frequently raise these concerns with me but I recognise that it was wrong to query an individual on Twitter and I apologise to [Mr Taylor] for my earlier post, which I have deleted.”

 ??  ?? Ollie Taylor’s image of the northern lights at Caithness prompted an angry response from Ian Blackford, for which he has apologised
Ollie Taylor’s image of the northern lights at Caithness prompted an angry response from Ian Blackford, for which he has apologised

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