‘Yellow badge’ stunt promptsapology
A DELEGATE AT the Scottish National Party conference has been criticised for “insensitive” and “offensive” references to the Holocaust.
The SNP invited Australian Gregg Brain to speak on the challenges of immigration during the event in Glasgow a fortnight ago.
Mr Brain wore a yellow badge with the letter “F” on it, in what was seen as a reference to the Nazi identification system used to mark out Jews before and during the Second World War.
The “F” stood for “foreigner” in protest at the Home Secretary’s suggestion that British companies might publish lists of the foreign workers they employ.
Marie Van der Zyl, Board of Deputies vice-president, said: “It beggars belief that a delegate at a major party conference should use such symbols. Mr Brain should apologise to Holocaust survivors and their families who will be rightly shocked at such an insensitive use of a horrific symbol of genocide.”
Mr Brain denied the badge was a reference to the Shoah but apologised “unreservedly” to the Jewish community. He Mr Brain at the conference said it been intended as a nod to the foreign worker badges used by the Nazis. He said: “It had nothing to do with Jews, who were persecuted via a very differentprogramme.”HealsocontactedMs Van der Zyl to apologise. The Brain family, who live in Dingwall in the Scottish Highlands, have been involved in a long-running battle with immigration officials who said they would have to leave the UK after Mr Brain failed to find a job. The family have now been granted a leave to remain. Meanwhile Angus Robertson, the SNP’s Westminster leader, has announced his intention to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories. He tweeted two pictures last week, one of him meeting Mark Regev, Israel’s Ambassador to the UK, and another withManuelHassassian,thePalestinian Authority’s diplomatic representative in Britain. The trip is expected to take place before the end of the year. Mr Regev, who met SNP MPs in Westminster last week, said: “I welcome this delegation and hope that they have a fruitful visit to the region. I believe there is no substitute for a firsthand look, and Scottish leaders will return with a greater understanding of the issues”.