Ian Blackford, the leader, for now, of the SNP group at Westminster, has apologised to an English photographer he accused of travelling to Scotland to enjoy himself.
It turns out that Ollie Taylor was perfectly entitled to be where he was. Taylor moved to Scotland a few months ago – although he is still English, a major downside in the eyes of some of the most fanatical members of the SNP who listen to Blackford.
Blackford deleted the original post – detailed here – and has since tweeted:
“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.”
Ollie Taylor – tremendous photographs available on his website – told the Press & Journal last night:
“I think if I was in a public position like Mr Blackford I would have at least messaged to ask about the situation, he could have saved himself a bit of embarrassment to be fair. The picture is taken about five minutes from my house up here, after I moved in the summer. I really think he was trying to stir up public hatred with this, I have friends in each of the countries across the UK and some of the stuff going around on social media makes me feel like it is every man for themselves.”
