A TORY MSP has been slammed for an “appalling” comment about former drugs and alcohol minister Elena Whitham.
The MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley stood down from her role earlier this week due to health reasons.
She said she had “experienced a series of events leading to post-traumatic stress which has impacted my wellbeing greatly” and that she is now seeking treatment.
Following the resignation of Michael Matheson as Scottish health secretary on Thursday, Tory MSP Rachael Hamilton said on Twitter/X: “Another one of Humza Yousaf’s cabinet members bites the dust. The SNP are in free fall.”
Hamilton then responded to a tweet from Scots singer Iona Fyfe who had said: “Didn’t two of your prime ministers ‘bite the dust’ in the space of three months?”
The MSP replied again: “Two in one week. Oooft. No apology from the health secretary in his letter. The SNP is in internal meltdown.”
Whitham replied to Hamilton’s tweet with the caption “nice” while Keith Brown described it as “appalling”.
Fyfe was also among those to hit back and said: “One of those ministers resigned due to mental health. Do you think using this to score political points is appropriate?
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“Such a shame. I’d have hoped that women in politics would be supportive of one another going through mental health issues. Not use them as a number.”
SNP councillor Michelle Campbell said the comment was “disgusting” but that sadly she expected “nothing better”.
“Seems on a par with where they set the bar,” the councillor added.
Hamilton’s comments come after Whitham hit out at a hostility on Twitter/X following her resignation in a separate post earlier this week.
She said it was clear from the “animus” that “we still have such a long way to go when it comes to openly talking about mental health”.
Many others showed support for Whitham, with one commenting “ignore her Elena” while another added “well done for speaking so openly”.
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