BOXER Josh Taylor has said he 'stands by' deleted tweet branding the SNP’s leadership of Scotland a 'fascist state'.

 The undisputed light-welterweight champion of the world caused some controversy when he retweeted a video by GBNews journalist Dan Wooton.

The video showed police officers removing disgruntled patrons from a pub that was closed, with the customers arguing that the venue was still open.

When the 31-year-old boxer from Prestonpans shared the footage on his own social media page, he branded Scotland under the SNP’s leadership as a ‘fascist state’ claiming it is a ‘terrible state of affairs’.

Now after he was challenged by various twitter users over his response to the video, Taylor has since deleted the original post.

However, he did reply to one person who opposed his view and said ‘still stands’ by what he said.

He said: “Still stand by what I said. Can’t be a**d with all the t***s like you, night night.”

The original caption of the video by Dan Wooton said: “Sturgeon is criminalising people having a good time. 

“Scots must stand up to this Covid hysteria before she divides society for good. “

Prior to his extraordinary allegations, the world champion with four belts has previously promoted 'anti-vax' views on social media.