SNP hit by ‘racist’ row as its only Chinese councillor quits party
THE SNP’s only Chinese councillor has quit the party after claiming she was subjected to a ‘racist attack’ and ‘bullying’.
Yen Hongmei Jin, 29, alleged she was forced to resign after party bosses failed to protect her against ‘discrimination’ from local members.
It comes after she received what she described as a ‘rude’ and ‘vulgar’ email in February in response to a Burns Night f undraising event she had organised.
Miss Jin, who represents Dumfries’s Lochar ward on Dumfries and Galloway Council, claimed she had been targeted for setting up the traditional event without having Scottish roots.
She said she had raised the matter with the party’s headquarters in Edinburgh, but was left disappointed that no action had been taken almost six months on.
SNP insiders have told the Scottish Daily Mail that Miss Jin was hopeful of becoming a Holyrood candidate in Dumfriesshire, but found herself up against senior Nationalist MSP Joan McAlpine.
Miss McAlpine, Alex Salmond’s former parliamentary liaison, secured the support of the former First Minister and was nominated unanimously to contest the seat in 2016.
Miss Jin now plans to run as an independent candidate next year and has reported the matter to Police Scotland.
She said: ‘I was organising a Burns Night. One member replied to me with a very rude and vulgar email attached. It’s a reply to my invitation and sent directly to me.
‘Because I’m involved in a multicultural campaign they know we have lots of multicultural people in our branch.
‘He is accusing me of not being Scottish and organising a Scottish event. I was quite shocked.
‘To me it’s a racist attack and discrimination and undermining my position and abilities.
‘I forwarded the email to the branch convener at the time and t he branch convener forwarded it to the corporate and compliance manager at party HQ.
‘I wanted some reassurance from the party, but they completely ignored my complaint. They asked for the original email and then I had no further response.
‘At l east they could have contacted me to say that this is being dealt with.
‘I just feel isolated. They are trying to shove it under the carpet.
‘If the party knows about it and they don’t take any action, how can they prove that they are not discriminating?
‘The way I’ve been treated is definitely racist. It’s disgusting. I have handed it in to police.’
Miss Jin, who was born in China’s Zheijang province but moved to Scotland in 2003, stepped down from the party last month citing ‘irreconcilable differences’ and unfair practices in MSP candidate selection.
She added: ‘The SNP has let me down and consistently failed in its duty of care towards me, especially over a racially abusive email I received earlier this year.
‘It takes strength to stand up against evil and I’m doing it for myself and thousands of other people from other cultures who compose this country.’
One local party source told the Mail: ‘At the AGM of the SNP constituency association of Dumfriesshire they refused to recommend Yen as a candidate for next year’s Holyrood election.
‘The cracks are appearing in the SNP and if they do not recognise them they will regret it in a few years – or maybe next year.’
An SNP spokesman said: ‘We understand that this now a police matter and it therefore would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.’
A power struggle has erupted ahead of next year’s Scottish parliament elections – which polls suggest will produce a landslide victory for the Nationalists – among seasoned activists who all want their names on ballot papers.
One SNP insider said that the ‘real fight’ was the internal selection contest, as winning the seats in May’s election will be ‘easy’.
An unprecedented battle has erupted in the Edinburgh Western seat, where the sitting MSP Colin Keir is being challenged by no fewer than five other members who want to oust him.
And a row has broken out in Eastwood, East Renfrewshire, where former minister Stewart Maxwell was the sole nominee – after a popular local councillor was reportedly blocked from standing.
‘Trying to shove it under carpet’