‘Burn aTory’
Vile tweet by Ross Greer, the millennial Green MSP who sparked outrage with Churchill slur
SCOTLAND’S youngest MSP faced fresh criticism last night, over a tweet in which he used the phrase: ‘I’d rather burn a Tory.’
Scottish Green Europe spokesman Ross Greer sparked outrage last month when he claimed Winston Churchill was ‘a white supremacist mass murderer’.
The comment about the former war leader, regarded as many by the greatest Briton in history, was widely condemned, with Mr Greer called ‘crass and simple-minded’.
Now the 24-year-old has come under fire again, with the Tories demanding he apologise
‘What have I done to make you so angry, nasty and bitter’
for comments they called ‘deeply offensive’. The latest tweet dates back to 2012, when Mr Greer was 18, several years before he entered Holyrood – although he was already a member of the Scottish Greens and a member of the Scottish youth parliament. The Green Party said he was involved in an online discussion about ‘silly campaign slogans’. Mr Greer posted: ‘Burn my bra? I’d rather burn a Tory.’
The tweet resurfaced last week, after a Twitter user, Catherine Gibson, replied: ‘May I ask why you want to burn me, what exactly have I done to make you so angry, nasty and bitter?’
Mr Greer’s tweet appears to have then been deleted but Scots Tories said he still should apologise.
Chief Whip Maurice Golden said: ‘This deeply offensive tweet was sent when Mr Greer was still a teenager. He can now show he is an adult by at least acknowledging that this kind of language is just plain wrong, and by apologising.
‘Unfortunately, Mr Greer’s comments about Winston Churchill this week suggest that neither he nor the Scottish Green Party have any such humility.’
Yesterday Mr Greer declined to apologise for his comment, but admitted: ‘Like most folk my age, I tweeted a handful of stupid things as a teenager, long before holding public office.
‘In this case, I believe I was quoting the most ridiculous campaign slogan I’d heard until that point.
‘While I was doing that the Tories were selling arms to the world’s worst dictators and implementing a benefits sanction system which has driven many to their deaths.
‘If I were them, I’d spend more time apologising for that than raking through the tweets of a then 18-year-old.’
It is the second time in just over a week that Mr Greer has faced criticism for his online activity.
Last month, the UK Conservative Party marked the anniversary of Winston Churchill’s death, saying: ‘For many, the greatest Briton to have ever lived...’ The post generated more than 1,300 retweets and 4,000 likes. However, the following day, Mr Greer responded: ‘Once again for the people in the back. Churchill was a white supremacist mass murderer.’
The insult to one of the towering figures of the 20th Century attracted condemnation from the public, politicians and experts.
Conservative MSP Edward Mountain replied: ‘Absolutely unbelievable tweet. Obviously, Ross Greer, you didn’t study history at school. Shame on you.’
Lee Pollock, interim executive director of the International Churchill Society, said: ‘The mass murderer label is thrown at Churchill because of events like the Bengal Famine.
‘It was a great tragedy, but to say Churchill caused it or encouraged it is factually inaccurate.
‘You can’t label people in history based on one aspect of their lives. That is fake history, not real history.’