A FORMER Scottish Labour donor stepped in to help a controversial Tory MP after he was threatened with legal action by the SNP’s Westminster leader, it has emerged.
Ian Blackford threatened to sue Ross Thomson in April after he mockingly referred to him in a Tweet as a “simple arms dealer” following disputed reports he profited from defence deals.
It led to Mr Blackford threatening to sue the Aberdeen South MP for defamation.
His solicitors demanded a public apology and a £1000 donation to charity.
Mr Thomson subsequently apologised in a private phone call to Mr Blackford and the matter was dropped.
READ MORE: Ian Blackford threatens to sue Ross Thomson over 'arms dealer' comment
The Times reported it followed Mr Thomson getting a legal opinion from QC Roddy Dunlop.
It has now emerged Mr Thomson’s £1800 legal bill was picked up by Aberdeen property tycoon Alan Massie, who had previously given £400,000 to the Labour party.
The latest register of MPs’ interests published by the House of Commons says Mr Massie provided a donation worth £1800 in the form of a “legal opinion from Faculty Services Ltd,” the company which provides administrative support for Scotland’s advocates.
It emerged last month that Mr Massie, 52, a director of the developer Calton Rock, had abandoned the Labour party after 30 years because of disaffection with its leadership.
He also endorsed Ruth Davidson as the best Scottish leader to defend the Union.
READ MORE: Aberdeen MP Ross Thomson is no stranger to controversy
Mr Massie had previously backed former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale, who was defended by Mr Dunlop in her recent court win over Nationalist blogger Stuart Campbell.
Mr Thomson’s Tweet echoed Mr Blackford’s infamous reference to himself last year in the Commons as a “simple crofter”, despite being an Edinburgh-born financier.
A spokesperson for Mr Blackford said: “We welcome that Ross Thomson deleted his tweet and phoned Ian Blackford to apologise, even if it was only after a talking to from members of his own party.
“Mr Thomson has gained a reputation for his offensive and completely unacceptable actions.
"We hope he will reflect on this pattern of behaviour, which continues to bring the Conservative Party into disrepute.”
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