NICOLA Sturgeon has condemned a senior SNP councillor for claiming Scotland had been “under the heel of foreign influence for 300 years”.
Dave Doogan, deputy leader of SNP-run Perth & Kinross, and a former caseworker for Perthshire MSP John Swinney, also blamed the “redcoats” for “an island of coffins”, an allusion to the British Army.
Ms Sturgeon recently criticised Labour London Mayor Sadiq Khan for comparing Scottish nationalism with racism, calling his remarks “spectacularly ill-judged” and “an insult”.
At First Minister’s Questions, Tory Murdo Fraser asked her reaction to Mr Doogan’s remarks in last week’s Perthshire Advertiser.
Mr Doogan reportedly told councillors: “Let us not reflect on concerns that we have been under the heel of foreign influence and power for 300 years.
“The island of Britain is no longer subject to the actions of quislings who may seek to see smaller cultures extinguished on an island of coffins by redcoats”.
Mr Fraser continued: “Given the First Minister’s comments about Sadiq Khan’s language, does she believe Cllr Doogan’s comments were appropriate, or does she apply one standard to members of other parties and a different standard to own?”
Ms Sturgeon replied: “I apply the same standards to everybody. Let me be clear: no matter who they come from, I condemn any comments or language that are in any way, shape or form racist or anti-English.
"That is not what my party or the movement that I am part of is for or represents. I will practise the values I hold dear, and I expect everybody to do likewise.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel