SNP politician ‘insults veterans’ with pro-independence poppy
A SCOTTISH nationalist MSP has been accused of politicising remembrance commemorations after she wore a proindependence “peace” poppy at Holyrood.
Michelle Thomson, the SNP backbencher, attended a hearing of Holyrood’s finance committee yesterday wearing a white poppy with a pin badge depicting the logo of the Yes campaign in the 2014 referendum.
Pro-independence campaigners have continued to use the logo since Scots voted in favour of remaining in the UK, with Ms Thomson deploying her custom-made poppy as Nicola Sturgeon continues her drive to hold a second referendum next year.
Ms Thomson said she had not intended to cause offence, and that she had only attached the Yes badge as a makeshift solution after she found herself without a safety pin.
However, service veterans claimed that her decision to use an overtly political symbol was distasteful and offensive.
Bruce Wilson, a former Royal Marine captain and Armed Forces veterans spokesman for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, said: “This is an insult to veterans. It seems like there is nothing the nationalists won’t slap a Yes sticker on.
“Regardless of whether you choose to wear a white poppy or a red one, this is a symbol of solemn remembrance, not a stunt to publicise your narrowminded political cause.”
White poppies are distributed by a pacifist body, the Peace Pledge Union.
The organisation says the white poppy represents victims of all wars, rather than just members of the British Armed Forces.
Some anti-war campaigners have claimed that the red poppy has become associated with militarism. A spokesman for Ms Thomson claimed that she had only attached a political symbol as her white poppy had disintegrated.
“Her white poppy will be affixed in the usual manner in Parliament.”