JK Rowling has accepted an apology from Scots MP Natalie McGarry seemingly bringing to an end a three weeks impasse after becoming embroiled  in a social media row. 

Natalie McGarry, Glasgow East MP, had accused the Harry Potter author of backing a “misogynist Twitter troll”. Ms Rowling then said Ms McGarry would have to apologise if she could not justify her accusation or could face legal action.

But there was no obvious sign that Ms McGarry,  who resigned the SNP whip last year, would comply with the author's request to provide a donation to her children’s charity, Lumos.

The Herald:

Ms McGarry, who resigned the SNP whip last year following allegations of missing cash from the accounts of the organisation Women For Independence, turned her Twitter settings to private after the spat with Ms Rowling

But last Saturday she began commenting publicly once more on the micro-blogging site.

But nearly all the independent Glasgow East MP's historical tweets were no longer available, including her messages in the online row with the Harry Potter author.

Ms McGarry wrote: “Regards a previous discussion with JK Rowling, I apologise for using a screen grab which didn’t give context to the conversation.

The Herald:

“The particular screen grab from JK Rowling didn’t give the correct context to her relationship with a tweeter, so for that, I apologise.

“In the context of my last two tweets, I give and continue to give and donate to charities and organisations in Glasgow East and abroad.”

A spokesman for Ms Rowling: "JK Rowling accepts Natalie McGarry’s apology and is pleased the matter has now been drawn to a close.

"We’re not in a position to comment with regards the charity donation."

The author's agent had previously written to Ms McGarry seeking an apology and a charitable donation.

A spokesman for the author said immediately after the spat that "at present" JK Rowling is not taking legal action against Natalie McGarry.

"Instead, her agent has written to Ms McGarry spelling out the consequences of defamation on Twitter, and requesting an apology and a donation to JK Rowling’s children’s charity, Lumos," the spokesman said.

The Herald:

The writer repeatedly challenged the MP to explain how she has "defended misogyny and abuse" and demanded an apology in a social media row that lasted six hours.

Ms Rowling had raised the prospect of potential legal action after facing the accusation that she supported the Twitter user.

In conversation with Ms McGarry, she wrote: “You aren’t some random hater, Natalie. You’re an elected politician and you’ve accused me of supporting abuse and misogyny.”

During the Twitter spat, Ms McGarry apologised for "any misguided inference" that Ms Rowling supported misogyny or abuse.

But then she subsequently retweeted an image that had been altered to wrongly suggest Ms Rowling had responded "you're a good man" to an offensive tweet sent by a Tweeter operating anonymously.

Later on, she added: “You don’t appear to understand how Twitter or defamation works. I’m going to help you out with the latter.”

Ms McGarry's online accusations came about after she discovered Ms Rowling conversing with the anonymous tweeter who the MP claimed was a troll. The tweeter was also being followed on Twitter by the author.

Ms McGarry resigned the SNP party whip last November after police named her as part of their investigation into allegations that £30,000 of donations had gone missing from WFI. Ms McGarry, who co-founded WFI in 2012, denied any wrongdoing.

The Herald:

The Herald: