AN SNP MSP has apologised for being “insensitive” after linking Ukraine’s struggle for survival after a Russian invasion to Scotland seeking independence from the UK.
Michelle Thomson tweeted that Ukraine’s application for EU membership today “just goes to show what political will can achieve”, adding: “Remember this Scotland!”
She also said, bizarrely, that she was "delighted for Ukraine".
It was accompanied by a picture of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is an assassinaton target, wearing combat colours next to some sandbags as his country was shelled by Russia.
Ms Thomson was the MP for Edinburgh for Edinburgh West from 2015 to 2017, and since 2021 has been the MSP for Falkirk East.
President Zelenskyy today asked the European Union to allow Ukraine to join the bloc under a fast-track procedure.
The leaders of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia all backed the request for “immediate EU accession”.
At just before 4pm, the official Twitter account of the Ukrainian’s legislature posted a picture of President Zelenskyy signing the application, saying it was an “historic moment”.
Around an hour later, Ms Thomson then retweeted it and added the message: “Delighted for Ukraine. It’s [sic] just goes to show what political will can achieve. Remember this Scotland!”
She later deleted the tweet and apologised around 8pm tonight.
“I noted and then tweeted something earlier that was insensitive regarding Ukraine. Like everyone, my first thoughts are sympathy for the people there. Apologies if I offended anyone,” she wrote, adding a small image of a Ukrainian flag.
West Lothian Labour councillor Kirsteen Sullivan replied on Twitter: "I don’t think the Ukrainian people are ‘delighted’ as they try to survive, hour by hour, not knowing if they will see loved ones again.
"What a crass thing to tweet to try make a cheap political point, there’s no ‘if’ about it."
I noted and then tweeted something earlier that was insensitive regarding Ukraine. Like everyone, my first thoughts are sympathy for the people there. Apologies if I offended anyone. 🇺🇦
— Michelle Thomson (@MichelleThomson) February 28, 2022
Tory MSP Stephen Kerr said Ms Thomson “modelling a breakup of the UK on Putin’s invasion of Ukraine” was “not normal behaviour for a political party”.
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