Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
City MP hits out at ‘childish’ leaflets
AN SNP politician has hit out at “childish” leaflets distributed around Dundee attacking him and a party colleague.
Flyers featuring pictures of Dundee SNP candidates for next month’s general election, Stewart Hosie and Chris Law, have reportedly been left in car parks and bus stops across the city.
The leaflets have a list of tick boxes relating to Mr Hosie, who is standing for the Dundee East constituency and Mr Law, who is looking to regain the Dundee West seat.
One flyer reportedly stuck inside a city bus stop has a picture of Mr Hosie’s face, and ticks next to words including “affair” and “divorce”.
The 54-year-old separated from his wife — Dundee City East MSP Shona Robison — last year, following reports he had an affair with Westminster journalist Serena Cowdy.
Mr Hosie, first elected as an MP for Dundee East in 2005, resigned as deputy leader of the party following the revelations.
Speaking to the Tele today, he described the flyers as “childish”.
He added: “I’m sure I’ve had worse things said to me at public meetings or hustings than some daft stickers on a bus stop or lamp-post.”
Another flyer said to have been left in a Dundee car park has an image of Mr Law, also with tick boxes next to words including “financial irregularities (but not enough evidence for a charge)”.
Mr Law, elected to the Dundee West constituency in 2015, was detained and questioned by police in September 2016 during a probe connected to his Spirit of Independence referendum campaign in 2014.
The SNP member cooperated fully with the authorities while the matter was looked into.
Following an investigation, he was cleared of any wrongdoing in January this year and the Crown Office dropped the case.
At the time, Mr Law, 47, described it as “a distressing process” but said he was “more motivated than ever” to stand up for his constituents, and added that there was “never any doubt” he had done nothing wrong.
Mr Law declined to comment on the leaflets when approached today by the Tele.
The flyers have attracted a lot of attention when shared on social media, with a picture of the flyer of Mr Hosie, posted by one Twitter user in Dundee, retweeted more than 100 times.
One user said: “They’re all over bus stops etc in Dundee. I’ll have a look out though, don’t know who’s making them.”
The mock flyer featuring Mr Law has also been posted and shared by several users of the site.
The SNP has been asked to comment on the flyers but had not responded by the time of going to press.