Double standards in plea for ‘respect’

THE SNP’s deputy leader yesterday called for a respectful General Election debate – amid growing pressure on Nicola Sturgeon to discipline a senior MP over online slurs.

Angus Robertson said at Prime Minister’s Questions it was important that the ‘tone and conduct’ of debate is appropriate and that opponents are ‘respected’.

But a Scottish parliament motion has called for the First Minister to suspend MP Pete Wishart.

Mr Wishart encouraged followers on Twitter to ‘vote till you boak’ in a bid to have Tory candidates finish last in next month’s council elections.

He shared a message claiming those who back Scotland remaining in the UK are ‘w **** ’; while the SNP and others who favour independence are ‘good guys’.

Yesterday, a motion by Tory MSP Murdo Fraser, signed by 23 MSPs, urged Miss Sturgeon to take ‘immediate steps to condemn Mr Wishart’s behaviour and have the SNP whip withdrawn from him’.

As Miss Sturgeon refused to respond, Mr Robertson called for ‘respect’. He said: ‘The tone and content of democratic debates, including in a General Election, are very important to all of us, so does the Prime Minister agree political opponents are not “saboteurs” and that all elected mainstream parties and parliamentarians have a mandate and that that should be respected?’

But when asked if Miss Sturgeon would condemn her MP’s online abuse, the SNP only attacked Mr Fraser’s ‘faux outrage’.

Last night, Mr Fraser said: ‘Nicola Sturgeon made a very clear statement last week about the need for senior politicians to show respect to others and for political debate to be constructed in a respectful tone.

‘If these words are to have any meaning, she needs to be prepared to back that up with action. Pete Wishart’s comments, when he used a four-letter expletive to describe Conservatives and members of other proUnion parties, were a disgrace. I have had several of his constituents contact me concerned by what he said.

‘If he is not prepared to apologise, Nicola Sturgeon needs to take disciplinary action.’

A spokesman for Mr Wishart said: ‘This is a desperate and pitiful attempt from Murdo Fraser to deflect from some of the appalling Right-wing views and comments of Con- servative council candidates, including here in Perthshire, who are acting more like a Scottish Ukip.

‘This is nothing but faux outrage from Murdo Fraser. He might want to reflect on some of the inflammatory comments he has made in the past on social media.’

The Tories have made Mr Wishart’s Perth and North Perthshire seat a key target in June’s General Election.

Tory MEP Ian Duncan is set to be named as candidate. If successful, he would stand down from the European Parliament – meaning the next candidate on the party’s list, Iain McGill, would become an MEP between June and Britain’s formal exit from the EU in spring 2019.

Asked yesterday if Mr Wishart was vulnerable, Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson said: ‘I think Pete’s vulnerable to himself. We will be giving that one a right good go; sometimes business and pleasure can mix.’

‘The comments were a disgrace’