AN SNP activist had to lock herself in a campaign office for her own safety after being terrorised by a gang of thugs.
The 12-strong group of men were walking behind an Orange Order flute band procession when they stopped to launch a tirade of abuse at a lone female volunteer inside the office in Glasgow and began banging on windows and kicking the door trying to get in.
While attacking the office in Dumbarton Road, the woman was verbally abused with shouts of “f*** your SNP”, “yous are a********” and “why don’t you get to f***” However, they fled before police arrived.
The office is the campaign headquarters of SNP candidate for Glasgow North West Carol Monaghan who is challenging Labour’s John Robertson for a seat at Westminster in the General Election next week.
Witnesses said the culprits were not members of the flute band and were “hangers-on” who were walking behind the band in support of the march.
Police have looked through CCTV camera footage from nearby shops and interviewed witnesses in a bid to identify them.
Mother-of-three Monaghan, who gave up her job as physics teacher and head of science at Hyndland Secondary School to concentrate on campaigning, said the incident left her volunteer “very shaken”.
Monaghan said: “One of our female volunteers was in the office on her own at the time and she was terrified.
“The flute band passed and this was some of the supporters or hangers-on who stopped outside the office and started kicking the door and banging on windows.
“The worst of it was that there was a single female in the office at the time. She locked the door. It was terrifying for her.
“The police were called and they responded very quickly. I have nothing but praise for the police. They were extremely good in how they dealt with things.
“They were from Partick police station and they tried to get CCTV footage from the shops and interviewed witnesses.
“They kept a strong police presence for the rest of the day and they have done that every weekend since that incident so their response has been outstanding.”
The incident was also reported to Glasgow City Council who confirmed receiving the call from the candidate.
A council spokesman said: “The matter was raised with us but it is a matter for the police and it was reported to Police Scotland.”
Since the incident on Saturday, April 18, Monaghan has insisted that none of the activists are left in the office alone.
She added: “The woman concerned is now back in the office and doing well. She was very shaken up that day but she has been heavily involved in this campaign and wants to remain so until the final moment.
“The lesson we have learned from it is no-one is in the office on their own now. There are always at least two people in the office.
“Some of the activists felt that we shouldn’t open if there are future walks going past but I was quite insistent that we do stay open and hold our heads up proudly and continue with the work we are doing.
“That kind of behaviour is not going to put us off campaigning.
“We are not even thinking about it now. It is not insignificant to the girl it happened to but in terms of our campaign it is insignificant.
“This a great neighbourhood and the support from the local people has been just fantastic. It was a real surprise and shock that this has happened because we’ve not had any of those feelings targeted towards us before now.. We opened the office at the end of January, it is our hub and a focal point for the community. We have people coming in off the street all time.”
Monaghan has been a member of the SNP since 2007 and said the referendum result gave her the passion to pursue a career in politics.
She added: “I have always been interested in politics and been a member of the SNP since 2007 and a supporter for a long time before that. It was the referendum and the couple of years during the run-up to it that really got me fully immersed in politics.”
A spokesperson for Police Scotland said: “We attended reports of items thrown at the window at 12.30pm on April 18th. Persons had disappeared before officers arrived. Assistance and advice was given.”
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 here