THE election agent for an SNP Scottish Parliamentary candidate has described an online depiction of David Cameron and Boris Johnson as the Moors Murderers as an "exceptionally intelligent" act.
Philomena Donnachie, who has also worked as a parliamentary caseworker for Stuart McMillan, said the Facebook post was "a very serious statement", adding the difference between the Prime Minister and London Mayor and the notorious child killers was "they (Cameron and Johnson) bury their victims in they (sic) DWP not the basement".
The comments have sparked a wave of criticism from fellow SNP members as well as from Mr McMillan, who described them as "tasteless".
But despite the posting and comments, Ms Donnachie remains a central figure in the campaign for the re-election of the Greenock and Inverclyde candidate.
According to The Herald's sister paper the Greenock Telegraph, Mr McMillan has also refused to answer questions about his aide’s online activity.
Ms Donnachie had praised the picture of Mr Cameron as Ian Brady and Mr Johnson as Myra Hindley after it was uploaded to Facebook by a fellow SNP member.
Ms Donnachie praised the picture of Prime Minister Cameron as Brady and London Mayor Johnson as Hindley after it was uploaded.
She said: “Very apt....the only difference is they bury their victims in they (sic) DWP not the basement.”
In a separate post, she added: “It is a very serious statement. Using a recognised image to deliver a powerful message is exceptionally intelligent.”
Other Inverclyde SNP members joined the online thread, with one seeking to justify the original post by saying that SNP opponents had depicted Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond as comic duo The Krankies.
Another post read: “We can’t lose our sense of humour.”
But one party member said: “Seriously how low can people sink. For such a senior member of an MSPs campaign team to say such a thing is an utter disgrace, u should be thoroughly ashamed.
“What beggars belief is that anyone let alone those I share a party membership with can find amusement in the most vile of people, shame on u all.
“Maybe it’s just me but when we start comparing political opponents to child killers we have lost.”
The Greenock Telegraph approached Ms Donnachie at Mr McMillan’s campaign HQ on Monday but she had failed to respond by this afternoon.
Mr McMillan was also asked what action he proposed to take regarding Ms Donnachie but the SNP candidate did not answer.
He also failed to respond when asked if he intended to report his election agent, and the other party members involved, to the SNP’s disciplinary committee, as he has already done regarding the Allison Black matter.
An SNP spokesman said: “Stuart does not agree with these posts, which he considers tasteless and he has made that clear to those involved.”
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