The 38 Degrees website moved to remove campaigns calling for the sacking of public figures after being accused of "fudging" over its reason for banning a petition to have pro-Union broadcaster Neil Oliver removed as president of the National Trust for Scotland.

But while banning some, the site has so far kept others, including a call to remove the Queen and the British monarchy.

Mr Oliver is notorious amongst hardcore nationalists for describing the uncertainty caused by the prospect of a second referendum as a “cancerous presence” and describing Alex Salmond as a “round, wrecking ball of a man, shaped only to do damage”.

The Herald:

The banned petition

And the 38degrees.org.uk petition site shared by nearly 5000 which called for Neil Oliver's removal was "disabled due to inappropriate" content after nearly 1000 had supported it in less than a day.

The 38 Degrees website said it removed the Neil Oliver petition backed by nearly 1000 in one day as it "calls for an individual to lose their job" in breach of its terms and conditions.

It said: "Neil Oliver was appointed by members of the National Trust, not members of the public."

But the site was accused of a "fudge" on social media with one Twitter user pointing to a series of campaigns calling for public figures to be fired.

At the time, there were campaigns available on the site calling for the sacking of, among others, a host of various public figures including Mark Sampson as England women's coach, BBC's Scots political editor Laura Kuenssberg, celebrity Jeremy Clarkson and Scots football manager David Moyes.

The Herald:

Petition banned on Tuesday

But the petition site said it would have a clear-out of petitions that breach its terms and conditions after it was told of examples where campaigns to sack public figures had been allowed to be hosted.

Trish Murray, campaigns manager at 38 Degrees said that they would take action to remove other calls for public figures to be fired.

She said: "It’s since been brought to our attention that there are other petitions on the 38 Degrees site that call for individuals in unelected positions to lose their jobs.

"We’re in the process of removing any historic petitions that break our Terms and Conditions - as we do as the need arises."

Petitions highlighted by the Herald including the Mark Sampson petition were "disabled due to inappropriate content" on Tuesday, echoing what happened to the Neil Oliver campaign.

The Herald:

But others the Herald did not highlight including other historic calls to sack Jeremy Clarkson remain as does a campaign for the "removal the elitist, unelected and unaccountable British Monarchy and the Queen as our Head of State".

The Herald:

But this is among the sacking petitions that remain

The original 38 Degrees petition calling for Mr Oliver to be sacked stated that his "politically biased views in no way make him an ideal candidate for this position".

Vitriolic petition supporters described him as a "total pompous ignoramus" and "a traitor". One comment described him as "poison to Scotland".

A separate petition opposing his appointment has now been signed by over 6000.

Mr Oliver, who was born in Renfrewshire, wrote an article in May, last year in which he referred to the independence referendum as a “hate fest”.

The Herald:

Last year the TV presenter best known as a presenter of several BBC documentary series, including A History of Scotland, Vikings and Coast revealed he quit using social media after being subjected to “vicious” abuse from pro-independence supporters.

A 38 Degrees spokesman said: "We're in the process of removing any historic petitions that break our T&Cs."