TOP Nat Ian Blackford has deleted a tweet in which he grilled an English photographer over travel to Scotland – and apologised after realising the snapper lives in the Highlands.
Ollie Taylor shared an incredible snap of the Northern Lights over Caithness yesterday.
But this afternoon, Blackford – the SNP’s leader at Westminster – shared the post, looking for a “valid reason” why the photographer was in the north of Scotland.
He said: “As you live in the south of England and travel to Scotland is only for permitted reasons I am sure there will be a valid reason as to why you are posting a photo from the north of Scotland last night?”
The MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber, 59, came under fire for publicly quizzing Taylor about potentially breaking lockdown restrictions after quote tweeting the picture to his near-100,000 followers.
Some social media users accused him of “bullying” the photographer.
After being told the snapper had moved to Scotland in September, Blackford deleted the tweet.
In a new post, he told followers he feels “very strongly” about people breaking travel rules.
But he admitted he was “wrong to query an individual on Twitter” – and apologised to Taylor.
Blackford wrote: “As the local MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber I know my constituents feel very strongly about the breaking of travel restrictions that we see across the highlands and islands, which puts people’s lives and our public services at risk
“I will continue to stand up for my constituents who frequently raise these concerns with me but I recognise that it was wrong to query an individual on Twitter and I apologise to @OllieTPhoto for my earlier post, which I have deleted.”
Bookies slash odds on Nicola Sturgeon quitting as FM before end of 2020
But some on Twitter were less than impressed with his apology, blasting Blackford for posting before he had all the facts – while others drew comparisons with Margaret Ferrier, who had the whip suspended by Blackford for her ill-fated coronavirus trip from Glasgow to London and back.
One wrote: “Who do you think you are, creating a pile on a member of the public who was sharing a great photo?”
Another said: “Maybe do your homework next time rather than shoot your bolt so fast.”
A third said: “The guy has relocated to Scotland, if he’d done a bit more research he’d have seen that.”
One of Blackford’s constituents agreed with his MP’s stance on breaking travel rules, but said: “Starting random social media pile-ons without any knowledge of their personal situation is just completely wrongheaded and counterproductive.”
And another branded his original tweet a “disgraceful thing to say,” but added: “Respect for the apology.”
Others also praised Blackford for realising his mistake and offering an apology.
One said: “Kudos to you for apologising. If the person involved accepts, then, case closed and move on. Everybody has messed up on Twitter at least once.”
Another replied: “We’re all human and we all make mistakes.”
Did you miss our previous article...
https://trendinginthenews.com/covid-19/spending-review-2020-what-to-expect-from-rishi-sunak-on-20-universal-credit-boost-and-pay-freezes
