A FORMER SNP activist and policy adviser has apologised after making an offensive comment about the Home Secretary.
Dr Tim Rideout was suspended from the SNP after posting on Twitter that Priti Patel should be "sent back to Uganda".
The economist was a member of the SNP’s Policy Development Committee and runs a group about currency in an independent Scotland.
Earlier this month, in response to a tweet about the Home Secretary, Dr Rideout asked “So how do we send this person back to Uganda?”.
He added: “Clearly hasn’t a shred of humanity. Mind you, maybe the new refugee centre on St Helena might avoid inflicting her on anyone.”
Ms Patel was born in the UK and is of Indian and Ugandan heritage.
READ MORE: SNP policy adviser Tim Rideout suspended over ‘racist’ Priti Patel comment
Opposition politicians condemned the remarks, describing them as racist and disgusting.
As soon as the SNP wsas made aware of the comments they launched an investigation, and Dr Rideout's membership was suspended.
In a statement provided to The Herald today, Dr Rideout apologised for his comment and denied being racist.
He has also deleted the offending tweet.
He said: "I spent my school and university days in apartheid South Africa. I was so appalled by the racism that I refused to accept the system and was ultimately expelled in January 1985 because of it.
"So it is very difficult for me to hear myself described as a racist. But I realise that the language I used in a Tweet is far too close to what many people who have experienced racism will have heard far too often in their lifetimes and I realise how that will affect them.
"I apologise unreservedly to Ms Patel and to anyone else who read my words and was reminded of the kind of attacks they’ve lived with all their life."
He added: "What I don’t apologise for is my anger at what I think is the inhumanity of Priti Patel and the Tory Government.
"The Nationality & Borders Bill disregards the UK's obligations under the UN Charter on Refugees and will entirely predictably kill children, women and men as and when their boats get turned back in the English Channel.
"The final outrage is the way they have tried to shirk the moral responsibility to reach out a hand of help and welcome to Ukrainian refugees who desperately need it."
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