Minister slates councillor’s mosque visit as ‘tokenistic photo op’

0 Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg Transport minister Humza Yousaf has rejected an apology from a Labour councillor over religiously motivated hate comments.

Dumfries and Galloway councillor Jim Dempster said he was “deeply sorry” for the remark, adding he had visited a local mosque and had asked for further diversity training.

Mr Yousaf, however, dis- missed the visit as a “tokenistic photo op” as he repeated calls for the councillor to quit - adding he had now received “correspondence to suggest that Cllr Dempster’s Islamophobic slur was not a one-off ”.

Mr Dempster has already been suspended from the Labour Party pending an investigation into his comment, which was made a week ago.

In a meeting with Transport Scotland officials, the councillor said if Mr Yousaf had visited the region, “no-one would have seen him under his burka”.

Mr Dempster said: “I fully accept that my comments were totally unacceptable.

“I am deeply sorry for the offence I have caused and I offered a full and immediate apology.

“I do not believe that the comments I made reflect the actions or views that I have held during my service to my community.”

However, Mr Yousaf said on Twitter: “After making such a blatant Islamophobic slur, a tokenistic photo-op at the local Mosque is frankly an insult.

“Cllr Dempster priority seems to be to try & save his political career. I once again call on him to do the honourable thing and resign.”

Mr Dempster has said he will accept the results of the Labour Party’s investigation in his comments. 0 Humza Yousaf has called for Jim Dempster’s resignation