Nicola Sturgeon has been urged to consider the position of an SNP MSP who said he would not speak up for constituents who support loyalist parades and Scotland remaining in the UK.
John Mason, who represents Glasgow Shettleston, made the comments in a tweet on Wednesday after he called for Orange Order marches to be “restricted or ended”.
Scottish Tory MSP Annie Wells has called on the First Minister to consider whether Mr Mason is “fit to represent the SNP” and to sit at Holyrood.
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In his tweet, Mr Mason wrote: “I am happy to represent every constituent on issues like housing and to discuss all sorts of issues with constituents.
“However, I will not be speaking up for constituents who want lower taxes, orange marches, keeping Scotland in the UK, etc.”
In a letter to the First Minister, Ms Wells wrote: “As MSPs, we have a moral duty to assist everyone, regardless of their political or religious beliefs.
“Consider for a moment your outrage if I said I won’t help another independence supporter.
“I can only imagine your sheer indignation, rightly in this case, if I said that.”
She added: “Of course, no Scottish Conservative would refuse to help a constituent purely because of their political or religious beliefs.
“Therefore I am requesting that you consider if Mr Mason is fit to represent the SNP and more importantly, is he fit to be an MSP?
“If he will not represent the 55% of the country who are pro-UK, then he doesn’t deserve to be in the Scottish Parliament.
“Mr Mason must agree to represent all his constituents – or resign immediately.”
The remarks were also criticised by councillor Frank McAveety, who held the Glasgow Shettleston seat until 2011 before losing it to Mr Mason.
His charge sheet of appalling comments keeps growing. If this is the kind of representative Nicola Sturgeon is happy to endorse, I can't wait for the 2021 election, where the unionists that Mr Mason refuses to represent can have their say. pic.twitter.com/huMtpiFehJ
— Annie Wells MSP (@AnnieWellsMSP) January 17, 2020
On Twitter, he said: “I represented the seat for 12 years as MSP and serve as a Labour councillor for Shettleston.
“Never adopted such an attitude and it is absolutely insulting to the good people of the constituency. John should apologise now.”
Jim McHarg, grand master of the Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland, called Mr Mason’s comments “morally repugnant”.
He told the Glasgow Times: “While he remains free to promote his own political agenda, he should also recognise the obligations he has to all his constituents, not just those who share his own narrow opinions.”
Speaking to The Times newspaper, Mr Mason defended his comments and said he believes there are too many marches in Glasgow.
“I am an elected representative who was voted for based on my party and, to a lesser extent, personal policies and beliefs,” he said.
“The SNP and I are supporters of Scottish independence.
“I am certainly not a proponent of lowering taxes, which inevitably means cutting public services, and I consider, as many of my constituents do, that there are too many marches in Glasgow which are linked to sectarianism.”
He added: “Of course, some of my constituents do hold opposite points of view.
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“Some would like to cut taxes, some oppose Scottish independence and some would want more Orange marches.
“However, as an SNP MSP I have been elected by the Glasgow Shettleston constituency as a whole on a particular mandate.
“Likewise, I have many unionist colleagues in the Scottish Parliament and I do not expect them to speak out for Scottish independence, even if their constituents want them to.”
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