Blackford urged to quit after sharing ‘Holocaust’ tweet
A JEWISH campaign group has called for the SNP’s Westminster leader to quit after he appeared to compare the EU settlement scheme to the Holocaust.
The Judeo-Christian Alliance (JCA) said Ian Blackford had insulted concentration camp victims by implicitly likening their plight to EU nationals having to register to stay in the UK after Brexit.
Mr Blackford shared a message on social media earlier this week, in which a user said his family would have to ‘register’ for settled status after Brexit – suggesting the last time they were forced to do so was in Nazi Germany.
JCA co-chairman Elliot Davis demanded that Mr Blackford quit, saying this ‘appalling man’s comments should be brought up in Parliament’, as they are ‘absolutely despicable’.
Mr Davis said: ‘As someone who lost multiple family members in the Holocaust, how dare Ian Blackford besmirch and demean the memory of those and the other six million Jewish martyrs who were eviscerated by the Nazis?
‘What manner of fool co-opts the Holocaust to score cheap political points? An SNP one, it seems.’
Mr Davis said Mr Blackford should step down, adding: ‘What the hell was he thinking?’
The row over the tweet came after the Home Office caused fury last week by publishing a video online urging EU nationals to apply for settled status ‘if they want to stay in the UK’ following Brexit.
Officials set out how they could apply and the costs involved, with the system to be launched fully on March 30.
In response to the scheme’s publication last week, an anonymous Twitter user shared a picture of an elderly person’s arm with an identification number tattooed on it – appearing to be one given to Jewish people and others imprisoned in concentration camps during the Holocaust.
The user, who claims to live in France, wrote: ‘The last time my family qualified for registration and “settled status”.’
Sharing the post, Mr Blackford, MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber, said: ‘The UK Tory Government need to reflect on what they are doing and why so many feel their approach to EU nationals is so repugnant.
‘Start showing everyone, EU nationals and all others dignity and respect.’
Mr Blackford’s tweet sparked fury, with Scottish Tory interim leader Jackson Carlaw insisting that comparing the issues would anger many of Scotland’s Jewish communities, including in his Eastwood constituency.
Mr Carlaw said: ‘Hi Ian, perhaps you should reflect on this tweet context?
‘East Renfrewshire had many who moved to Scotland after the hatred of Nazi Germany. Many had been in concentration camps, including Auschwitz. I would not like to think a senior politician would compare Brexit with that.’
A Scottish Tory spokesman said: ‘This is yet another example of Ian Blackford using any opportunity to promote his own political agenda, regardless of the consequence.
‘All politicians should be extremely careful not to use or promote incendiary language. Mr Blackford’s cynical opportunism is reckless and irresponsible.’
The SNP did not respond last night to a request for comment.
In 2015 Nationalist MSP Sandra White was given a police warning and faced calls to quit after retweeting an anti-Semitic cartoon compared to the ‘very worst of the Nazi propaganda’.
Mrs White, representing Glasgow Kelvin, made a humiliating apology to a Jewish group which condemned the ‘bizarre and hateful’ image she circulated to her thousands of followers on Twitter.
The image she retweeted depicted six piglets – representing Britain, the US, Israel and terror groups Isis, Al Qaeda and Boko Haram – suckling from a large sow with the word ‘Rothschild’ on it.
It was generated by a Twitter user who Jewish campaigners said was known for distributing antiSemitic material.
Mrs White, by retweeting it, ensured her followers were able to view it. She later deleted the post.
Fury as Blackford shares Holocaust message on Brexit Daily Mail, January 1, 2019