A TORY MSP has said that a Scottish Government minister should be investigated by police for having “instigated” an attack on Conservative offices in Aberdeen which saw them vandalised with Nazi and QAnon symbols.
Douglas Lumsden, who was elected to represent the Tories on the North East Scotland list in May, was speaking in Holyrood on Wednesday afternoon when he made the “outrageous” claim.
The Tories had tabled a debate on the economy in north east Scotland, with much of the focus being on a just transition away from fossil fuels.
The Conservative Party have consistently claimed instead that the SNP-Green Scottish Government will “abandon” the industry.
Speaking in the chamber, Lumsden and his colleague Stephen Kerr began taunting Patrick Harvie, who was listening to the debate in his capacity as a Green Minister.
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After asking if Lumsden would give way, Kerr asked: “How embarrassed must the SNP be if it brings the Green Minister into the chamber to listen to the debate but does not let him speak?”
Lumsden replied: “It is probably a good thing that we do not hear him speak, but I am glad that he is here, because I want him to address something that I will say later on.”
The Tories’ exchange led Harvie to interject, saying that he would speak if they would give him the floor.
The Green co-leader then said: “I am grateful to the member for giving way. The Conservatives, not necessarily here, but at Westminster, are still selecting as candidates - as politicians - people who are outright climate deniers and who have moved on from supporting Brexit to opposing lockdown and are now forming the net zero scrutiny group to oppose climate action UK-wide.
“How embarrassed are the Tories about that?”
Lumsden, the Tories’ shadow minister for public finance, replied: “The most embarrassing thing is that we have a Scottish minister who uses language like that and who has been put in charge. It is unbelievable.
“Perhaps Patrick Harvie should take note of Sir Ian Wood’s comments last week, when he said that politicians should ‘reflect carefully on their public statements on oil and gas and the impact they have on investment in the industry’.
“I draw attention to the comments of the Green minister Patrick Harvie, who joins us today, calling supporters of oil and gas in the north-east ‘far right’.”
Harvie did not use the term far right, but “hard right”.
Making this clear in the chamber, the Minister said: “I suspect that the member knows that I did not use the words ‘far right’ and that he is well aware that he is misleading the chamber.
“If my suspicion is wrong, I will apologise, but, if he is aware that he is using words that I did not use and that I used the words ‘hard right’ to describe him and his party, not anybody else, then I suspect that he should withdraw his comments.”
Rather than withdraw his comment, Lumsden proceeded to double down, blaming Harvie for an attack on two Conservative offices in Aberdeen that saw them vandalised with Nazi and QAnon symbols.
Lumsden said: “Only a few hours [after Harvie branded him and his party hard right], my constituency office was vandalised, with swastikas spray-painted on the door and windows.
“The police are treating that as a hate crime. I am not telling the police how to do their job, but perhaps they should consider that a member of this Parliament instigated that attack.”
Michael Matheson, the SNP’s Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, said Lumsden’s accusations were “outrageous”, according to the parliamentary report.
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