Commons apology over Western Isles ‘slur’

An SNP MP said he has received an apology from the Leader of the Commons over an online petition which contained “offensive and defamatory” comments about the Western Isles.

Angus MacNeil said Sir George Young wrote: “I am sorry that the e-petition which made offensive comments about the Outer Hebrides was allowed on to the site by departmental moderators.”

It added: “The petition should not have appeared on the site, as it contained material which was both offensive and defamatory.”

The petition, created on 17 August and posted on the UK government’s e-petition site, read: “All rioters and looters from the recent troubles in English cities should be banished to the Outer Hebrides for five years.

“This would be much, much cheaper than keeping them in expensive prisons, saving the taxpayer money.

“Five years of being forced to live in the Outer Hebrides with none of the comforts of English city living… will put them on the straight and narrow.”