MP Natalie McGarry faces legal action over holocaust claim

MP NATALIE McGarry is facing legal demands to make a donation to charity and issue a 'suitable apology' after wrongly claiming the head of new campaign to keep Scotland in the UK is a 'holocaust denier'.

Natalie McGarry was elected MP for Glasgow East in 2015. Picture: John Devlin

Ms McGarry did quickly apologise and deleted the comments from social media.

But Alistair Cameron of Scotland in the Union has now engaged lawyers and is not satisfied with the politician’s efforts to make amends.

It is the second time in recent months Ms McGarry has been forced to say sorry for social media comments. She recently apologised to JK Rowling after accusing the author of supporting online trolls.

The latest comments emerged in a tweet posted at 3.09am on Sunday morning.

Ms McGarry stated: “Leading unionist figures do know that Scotland in the Union is headed by an internet troll and an ousted holocaust denier, right?”

The MP later deleted the comments and then apologised in a later tweet. She stated: “You should be careful who is distributing your materials, but apologies etc...”

A spokesman for Scotland in the Union said: “We are surprised that an elected member of parliament would make such a false and offensive accusation.”

He added later: We can confirm that Alastair Cameron has instructed a legal firm to engage Ms McGarry and seek an appropriate apology and a charitable donation.”

Mr Cameron, a married father from Edinburgh who set up the campaign in 2015, receives no payment from his role as director. He works full time as a consultant in the financial services industry and previously served in the military.

Ms McGarry quit the SNP whip at Westminster after a police investigation was launched into allegations of missing funds from the Women for Independence campaign which she was involved with.

The Glasgow East MP now sits at Westminster as an independent while the police inquiries into the case are ongoing. Officers were called in by concerned members of Women for Independence.

The MP – who denies any wrongdoing – helped set up WFI as a small campaigning group during the Scottish referendum campaign in 2012.

Ms McGarry hit the headlines last month when it emerged she was detained by security forces on a visit to Turkey as part of a delegation. She had been detained after being seen with her mobile phone out at a checkpoint.

“It was a terrifying experience albeit it only lasted a couple of hours,” the politician said later.