A FORMER SNP MSP and Holyrood presiding officer has been criticised for claiming St Andrews University students are “poor souls who failed to get into Oxbridge” and “anti-Scottish”.

Tricia Marwick, who was presiding officer from 2011 to 2016, reacted with fury to a satirical article by The Saint, a student newspaper at the Fife University that poked fun of Nicola Sturgeon.

Ms Marwick, who is also the chair of NHS Fife, reacted angrily to the article that said Scotland “would quite like to fleece England for all he’s worth” and said the First Minister would “put Beelzebub off his cornflakes”.

The article added: “Some say there’s a special place in hell reserved for Nicola Sturgeon, but I reckon she’d get turned away at the door for being too scary.

“Denied the pleasure of frolicking in the flames, and never one to take ‘No’ for an answer, the lovely Ms Sturgeon has evidently decided to make Hell a place on Earth, and turn the once green and pleasant(-ish) land of Scotland into the ultimate Braveheart tribute act.”

The Saint, which is independent of the university, insisted the article was meant to be satirical but received a social media backlash from independence supporters.

But Ms Marwick claimed that the publication “just buys into every stereotype we Fifers have of them”.

She added: "Poor souls who failed to get into Oxbridge display every prejudice; anti Scottish and anti women.

“They are not a Fife university. At best pathetic wee trolls."

In response to the backlash including from Ms Marwick, in a statement, the Saint newspaper said: "We previously claimed here to regret our decision to publish: a statement which we have since chosen to retract.

READ MORE: Ex SNP presiding officer labelled 'appalling' over Scottish birth comments

"The Saint recognises the offence this article has caused. The author’s intent was to satirise those who participate in an ill-informed manner in the Scottish Independence debate."

Scottish Tory spokesperson for the constitution, external affairs and culture, Donald Cameron, said: “The irony is, while attempting to speak out about prejudice, Tricia Marwick displays her own all too clearly.

“St Andrews University is a world-famous institution we should be proud of, and perhaps this ill-judged rant reveals more about the SNP than they realise.”

In a statement, Fife LibDem politicians Wendy Chamberlain and Willie Rennie, said: “It was one article, published by one student out of several thousand students and staff at St Andrews. It does not represent the views of staff and students.

“It was therefore wholly unacceptable for the chair of NHS Fife to trash the whole university with offensive remarks too.”

In March last year, Ms Marwick was labelled "appalling" after suggesting that being born in Scotland does not necessarily make someone Scottish enough.

In a tweet, Ms Marwick, said “Scottish birth not alone does a Scotsman make” adding that “sometimes it signifies a Scotsman on the make”.