A FORMER SNP presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament has been labelled "appalling" after causing anger by suggesting that being born in Scotland does not necessarily make someone Scottish enough.
In a now deleted tweet, Tricia Marwick, said “Scottish birth not alone does a Scotsman make” adding that “sometimes it signifies a Scotsman on the make”.
Ms Marwick was SNP MSP from 1999 to 2016 and held the apolitical role of presiding officer from 2011 to 2016.
Ms Marwick is also currently the chair of NHS Fife.
Her comments, labelled “dreadful”, were directed at journalist Fraser Nelson who was actually born in Cornwall in England – but grew up in the Highlands.
Ms Marwick reacted after Mr Nelson tweeted about the Crown Office asking his publication to “further censor” the testimony Alex Salmond gave to the Holyrood committee investigating the procedure used to handle complaints made against him.
Mr Nelson, the editor of the Spectator magazine, replied saying: “I actually was born in Cornwall, to a Glaswegian serviceman posted in RAF St Mawgan.
“While raised in the Highlands I guess I was never quite properly Scottish. How could you tell?”
“Scottish birth does not alone a Scotsman make” - charming. Tricia Marwick is an ex-presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament. And has just deleted the tweet. pic.twitter.com/SkxIRWPqU8
— Fraser Nelson (@FraserNelson) March 18, 2021
Ms Marwick later acknowledged his response and apologised for insinuating where Mr Nelson was born, but not for her remarks, which she has deleted.
Scottish Conservative chief whip, Miles Briggs, said: “This was an appalling comment for this former SNP MSP and presiding officer to make who should clearly have known better than to pander to the most extreme wing of her party.
“While she might have hastily deleted the post, it shows you don’t need to scratch much below the surface to see the ugly face of nationalism.
“There is no place for this sort of language in the political discourse in Scotland.”
Scottish Lib Dem campaign chair, Alistair Carmichael, said: "The mask slips again. Underneath the veneer of 'civic nationalism' there remains an unpleasant and divisive politics.
"Wherever in the world and whenever in history it has been tried it always ends in division and exclusion.
"If the SNP take us back to another independence referendum, then we can expect a lot more of this."
Labour MSP Neil Findlay said the comments were “dreadful”.
He added: “What the hell is going on in our country when we have a former presiding officer of our national parliament coming away with stuff like this?”
A spokesperson for NHS Fife said: “The tweet issued last night and subsequently deleted by Tricia Marwick was posted in a personal capacity on her own social media account."
The SNP has been contacted for comment.
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