Abusive cybernats

THE suspicions voiced by Better Together campaign chairman Alistair Darling, in an interview with The Scottish Mail on Sunday, that the abusive behaviour of the ‘cybernats’ is centrally orchestrated are controversial but credible.

While Mr Darling refrained from accusing either the Yes campaign or the SNP of organising the vitriolic attacks by independence supporters online, the implication is clear, especially since the SNP has urged activists to bombard online media sites with pro-independence comments.

If the Yes campaign wants to convince the public of its blamelessness, it needs to mount a more credible defence than its absurd claim that more independence supporters have been abused online than No voters. The poisonous climate generated by the cybernats could cause lasting divisions in Scottish society.

In a letter to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland yesterday, the Queen expressed the hope that people ‘will work together’, whatever the outcome of the referendum, and urged the Kirk to play a role ‘in healing divisions’.

As the ultimate symbol of national unity, the Queen is right to be concerned about divisions being created by intemperate campaigning. Cybernat abuse must be contained if Scotland is to remain a united and democratic country.