RUTH Davidson has compared a planned protest by the pro-independence All Under One Banner (AUOB) group to the fascist rioters who stormed the Capitol building in Washington DC.

The leader of the Scottish Tory MSPs in Holyrood has come under heavy fire on social media since making the “disgusting comments” in a tweet on Thursday afternoon.

Her comments came after AUOB announced their plans to call a protest outside the UK Government’s new office building in Edinburgh.

Called Queen Elizabeth House, the building was branded “colonial” by AUOB, who said they would demonstrate against “this massive 'overlordship' initiative”.

AUOB added: “This is one of several targeted protests that are coming.”

The Scotland editor of right-wing magazine The Spectator, Alex Massie, commented on the announcement: “All very normal.”

READ MORE: 'Beneath contempt': Yes groups reject Unionist comparisons to pro-Trump extremists

It was in reply to Massie’s tweet that Davidson wrote: “Yes, if only there were any recent international examples of flag waving nationalists marching on government buildings....”

The clear reference to the attempted fascistic coup of January 6 in the US was condemned by AUOB’s national organiser, Neil Mackay.

Mackay said: “It is a UK Government building not a Scottish Government building, and comparing peaceful Scottish protestors to the atrocities seen in America is a disgusting comment for Ruth Davidson to make.

“No one has ever been killed on an AUOB demonstration.”

Five people, including police officer Brian Sicknick, died in the Capitol riots incited by former US president Donald Trump.

The National:

Responding on Twitter to Davidson's comment, the SNP's Chris McEleny shared a photograph of pro-Brexit campaigners outside Westminster in 2019.

Those protests, which were held around fears Theresa May's Brexit deal was "too soft", saw EU flags burned and five arrests made.

Another user shared a photo of an AUOB march alongside one of unrest in Glasgow's George Square on the day the 2014 referendum result was announced. The user invited Davidson to "compare and contrast" the two scenes.

In the immediate wake of the Capitol riots, many Unionists took to Twitter to draw the same comparison as Davidson now has, between the American fascists and members of the Yes movement.

One example was Scottish Labour’s Ian Smart, who wrote: “A facist [sic] rabble is a facist rabble. Unless it is a Scottish facist rabble. Whereupon it becomes ‘civic and joyous’.”

Speaking then, the SNP condemned such comments as “ludicrous”, “illiterate” and “beneath contempt”.

READ MORE: 'Furious' Ruth Davidson orders the BBC to stop calling her 'Baroness'

Davidson will be stepping down from Holyrood in the May elections and will be taking up a seat in the House of Lords.

However, she is reportedly sensitive that the peerage will not play well with Scottish voters. Davidson complained to the BBC last September after she was referred to as “Baroness” in one of their broadcasts.

Queen Elizabeth House is a seven storey, 190,000 square feet office space which will bring together almost 3000 civil servants.

It is designed to house ten UK government departments and aims to "build a stronger civil service outside London".