A CONSERVATIVE MSP has been accused of “ignorant, divisive rhetoric” worthy of Donald Trump after claiming there are “no-go areas” in Scotland’s cities.
The SNP said Tory local government spokesman Graham Simpson said “apologise for lowering the tone” of his party’s debate on housing on Wednesday.
In a rowdy close to the session, the Central Scotland list MSP said: “We have heard some right old nonsense from members of other parties - mainly the SNP - who have said that housing is not an issue that Conservatives should talk about.
“Perhaps they are embarrassed by their own records - they certainly should be.
“That we have in our great cities sink estates, no-go areas and people sleeping rough should be a source of shame for the SNP and Labour.”
After the remark, housing minister Kevin Stewart tried to intervene, but Mr Simpson refused to give way.
The SNP said Mr Simpson’s remark was reminiscent of Donald Trump in December 2015, when the then Presidential candidate called for a Muslim travel ban and said part of London were “so radicalised” police officers were “afraid for their lives”.
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson responded to that remark with a Shakespearean tirade, calling Mr Trump a “a clay-brained guts, knotty-pated fool, whoreson obscene greasy tallow-catch” on Twitter.
SNP MSP James Dornan said of Mr Simpson’s comment: “I was absolutely staggered to hear such ignorant, divisive rhetoric enter into a Holyrood debate.
“While we know that Ruth Davidson’s Tories have lurched ever further to the right, this sort of fear-mongering nonsense should have no part to play in our democracy.
“Most people will scratch their heads at the mention of no-go areas in Scotland’s great cities.
“We have a rich variety of communities, sometimes with different challenges of their own, but we should celebrate diversity and nurture potential, not pit communities against one another.
“Graham Simpson needs to clarify his remarks as a matter of urgency.
“Can he tell us where these no-go areas are? If not, then he should apologise for lowering the tone of debate in our nation’s parliament.
“Ruth Davidson should condemn his remarks in unequivocal terms – just as she did when Donald Trump made the same divisive claim.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: “We’ve seen some ludicrous press releases from James Dornan over the years, but this one is so utterly stupid it doesn’t even deserve a response.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel