Neil Oliver speaks out about his ‘war of attrition’ with Nationalists
● Historian vows to stand up to online ‘bullies’ over his views
Historian and broadcast er Neil Oliver has spoken out about his“war of attrition” with a section of Scottish Nationalists and said he would continue to stand up to bullies in order to set an example to his children.
Mr Oliver has come under regular attack from online commentators since he came out in support of the Union in 2014, with criticisms intensifying after he described the prospect of a second independence referendum as a “cancerous presence” and Alex Salmond as a “round wrecking ball of a man”.
Mr Oliver, in an inter view with a Sunday newspaper, said he felt he had become a “lightning rod” for Nationalists and described the vitriol as ironic given he had held “very middle of the road” views all his life.
He added: “I feel as if I’m in an entrenched position in a war of attrition.
“Since 2014, I’ve been a lighting rod for the Nationalists because I spoke up in favour of the United Kingdom.
“It’ s become an article of faith now that if you’re truly Scottish you would vote for independence and therefore if you’re in favour of the continuation of the United Kingdom then you are not Scottish.
“That’s just become a binary position that’s being pushed by a section of the population. But I grew up British and Scottish. I never gave it a second thought.”
Most recently, Mr Oliver was condemned on social media after describing his “mortification and heart break” that Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his family appeared to have cut short their holiday in Applecross, Wester Ross, because they “felt unsafe” after pictures of their holiday home appeared in a newspaper.
He said :“With Boris Johnson, no one except him and his own people know why he left Scotland early to return to London. But there was certainly a perception that he’d been scared or chased out of Scotland and I thought ‘I don’t want even that suggestion about this country’.”
Mr Oliver is due to stand down as president of the National Trust for Scotland later this month after three years in the post. He said during is tenure he felt he could not speak freely on issues that mattered to him given the potential damage to the reputation of the organistion.
Mr Oliver said: “I couldn’t say anything as me.”
Mr Oliver, who lives in Stirling with his wife Trudi and their three children, said some of the comments had been “poisonous” – with many of them about his appearance.
Mr Oliver added: “I get endless comments about my hair or about my face or the way I walk or the things I do on TV and a lot of it is just vindictive, personal attack. I just won’t give into it. The longer it goes on and the more vicious it gets, the more obliged I feel I have to stand up to it.”