THE SNP has insisted abuse and threats “have no place in political discourse” in the wake of a unprecedented open letter written by the editor of the Sunday Herald.

Neil Mackay said the paper and its journalists had faced “an outburst of anger on social media” over its coverage of a pro-independence march in Glasgow earlier this month.

A front page photo showing the rally walking past a small group of unionist protestors attracted criticism for being unrepresentative of the day’s events.

Mr Mackay accepted this as a “fair criticism”, but condemned a barrage of complaints which misrepresented the paper’s reporting.

He wrote: “Some of the language used towards staff was also threatening and clearly unacceptable. Staff were shouted at over the phone, and foul language used towards them. One email said staff should be skinned alive.

“And there was a constant refrain that the Sunday Herald was some treacherous, false friend to the SNP and the Yes movement.”

He added: “Some of the criticism levelled at us has had the feel of a complete disconnect from reality, and has echoes of the worst of the online world as exhibited by the Trump campaign and its dissemination of lies as fact.”

READ MORE: An open letter from the editor of the Sunday Herald to readers upset by last week's front page

Insisting the Sunday Herald – The Herald’s sister paper – remained true to its pro-independence position, Mr Mackay said it was “disheartening that SNP figures do not speak out to condemn such distortion of the truth”.

He added: “By maintaining their silence, they are allowing lies to poison the body politic. Staff in this paper have had many conversations with many senior elected figures in the SNP who are as disgusted by the conspiracy theories of the Yes fringe as any right thinking person would be – so we would ask them: when you see your supporters lying and bullying, have the courage to stand up and call them out; failing to do so betrays any claims by the party that it stands up for what is right and fair and decent.”

It came as former first minister Alex Salmond took to Twitter to say he had cancelled his subscription to the paper “after the truly bizarre coverage of the Indy march in Glasgow”.

His comments were posted after the Sunday Herald published a front page story in which the widow of murdered spy Alexander Litvinenko called on Mr Salmond to give up his TV show on the Russian channel RT.

Spy widow Marina Litvinenko: Alex Salmond should give up his show on Russian 'propaganda' station RT

Marina Litvinenko called the channel a “propaganda-style” station, but praised Mr Salmond as a “people’s man” and insisted she believed he meant well. Mr Salmond dismissed the story as a “smear piece”.

An SNP spokesman said: “The SNP condemns abuse of any kind and will continue to do so. A free press and well-informed political debate are essential components of a healthy democracy. Scotland is fortunate to have both. Abuse and threats have no place in political discourse, or anywhere else.”