THE TORIES are under pressure to suspend James Heappey, their candidate in Wells in Somerset, after he told a schoolgirl to “f*** off back to Scotland”.
Heappey has since apologised, and claimed the remark was supposed to be “humorous”.
But Nicola Sturgeon has called the comment symptomatic of the “extremism” at the heart of the Tories.
Heappey was speaking at a debate in March with sixth-formers at Millfield School in Somerset when they started talking about Scottish independence.
One teenage girl, originally from north of the Border, said she would vote Yes in a referendum to leave the UK.
The Tory, who was the sitting MP at the time, said “well, why don’t you f*** off back to Scotland.”
The girl told her father, an SNP supporter, who contacted staff at the £12,000-a-year school.
Speaking to reporters yesterday morning, the First Minister said: “I think it’s appalling behaviour for any adult to show to any young person, but particularly somebody who has been an MP and is standing for the election again,” she said.
“I think the Tories really have some big questions to answer about the conduct of some of their candidates and elected representatives.”
She cited two newly elected Tory councillors in Stirling who have both come under fire for bigoted and offensive posts on Twitter.
“I mean here in Scotland we’ve seen the Tories elect councillors, many of whom have been exposed for racist views on social media in the past, sometimes in the not-too distant past," she said.. We’ve seen two councillors in Stirling exposed for really outrageous and offensive remarks on social media.”
“So I think the Tories have got a real issue here with extremism and really divisive conduct on the part of [their] candidates and elected representatives. I think they’ve got a duty to sort it out.”
Alistair Majury was unmasked as notorious Twitter troll @Mulder1981 last week, and his colleague Robert Davies was revealed to have posted a number of racist tweets likening black people to cannibals.
In a statement Heappey said: “I made a comment – intended only as a joke – but it was inappropriate and I am deeply sorry for any offence caused. I wrote to [the pupil] soon after the school brought her concerns to my attention and apologised unreservedly.”
SNP candidate for Glasgow North West, Carol Monaghan, said that was not enough and called on Theresa May to suspend Heappey as a candidate.
“Mr Heappey’s protests about it being a joke just don’t cut it. This sort of offensive and abusive language has no place in our politics,” Monaghan argued.
Liberal Democrat Tessa Munt, who was the area’s MP until Heappey took the seat off her in 2015, said she was shocked by the Tory’s remarks.
Munt said: “School is meant to be a safe place.
“We send our children to school in the expectation that they will be treated fairly and with respect by people in positions of power.
“I am utterly shocked that the then MP has used bullying, racist and abusive language to dismiss a teenage schoolgirl engaging in political debate.”
Her colleague in Holyrood, MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton, also came to the girl’s defence: “Ruth Davidson needs to immediately disown the actions of her Conservative MP colleague. Once again a senior Conservative manages to help the SNP by being obnoxious.
Pro-Union voters should back the Lib Dems, he argued, as they are capable of opposing independence “without swearing at children.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel