The Scottish Conservatives have called on Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister, to sever links between the SNP and a hate-filled blogger who has called British soldiers in Ireland, ‘legitimate targets’ and denied the holocaust.
Jason Michael McCann, known as ‘Jeggit’, is a prominent independence campaigner who has repeatedly and unashamedly promoted anti-Semitism and praised political violence online.
He is currently followed by a string of SNP MSPs and local branches including MSPs Christina McKelvie, James Dornan, Angus MacDonald, Gil Paterson, Fulton MacGregor, Emma Harper as well as the First Minister’s own SNP branch, Southside Central (Glasgow).
The Children’s Minister, Maree Todd, has already been forced to apologise after sharing a message on twitter calling Mr McCann a ‘great speaker with an important message’.
Mr McCann’s published views include ‘the holocaust was a fiction’, and, after the recent car bombing incident in Londonderry ten days ago, “The British government is trying to reignite a war in the north of Ireland. The British government will do its very best to ignite a war in Scotland. This is what the British government does.”
Mr McCann is due to start a speaking tour of Scotland, starting with an event at Airdrie tonight, Kirkcaldy tomorrow, and then 6 further events around Scotland, culminating on the 22nd March in Stirling.
Edward Mountain, Scottish Conservative MSP for the Highlands and Islands said:
“These views are utterly abhorrent and cannot be excused by the SNP because of his belief in Scottish independence.
“It’s clear that Mr McCann’s views are currently supported by a significant number of SNP MSPs and SNP local branches, despite his obvious anti-semitism and endorsement of political violence.
“Nicola Sturgeon must urgently sever all links between herself, the SNP and this appalling character.
“The First Minister must also ensure that all the events promoting this individual are cancelled, and that the MSPs and her party branches all remove their endorsement.
“If the First Minister fails to condemn this individual’s hate speech, we can only conclude that she, too, endorses it.”
