SNP councillor: I’ll send English MP ‘homeward’

An SNP councillor has been accused of using divisive language after saying he would send an English-born Tory MP “homeward” in a campaign video.

Luke Graham, the MP for Ochil and South Perthshire, was targeted by Graham Lindsay in a video on Facebook. Picture: Wikimedia

Graham Lindsay, the SNP education spokesman on Clackmannanshire Council, made the comment about Luke Graham, the MP for Ochil and South Perthshire, who was born in Swindon.

Mr Lindsay is seeking nomination to be the SNP candidate that will face Mr Graham at the next general election.

In a video on Facebook, Mr Lindsay said: “I believe I’m the right person to expose Luke and his harmful policies and send him homeward. This is my patch. I love this place and I deeply care about the people who live across this community.”

Mr Graham, who was elected in 2017, has an English mother and a Scots-Irish father. He left a job in New York to move to Scotland and campaign in the 2014 independence referendum, and first stood in Ochil and South Perthshire in 2015.

He said: “The mask has slipped – this is the kind of negative, divisive language at the heart of the SNP. If Mr Lindsay wants me to go home, he can pay for my taxi to Auchterarder. It’ll be a cheap trip.”

A ballot to choose the SNP challenger for the seat opened on Friday, with a result expected at the end of this week.