 | 'I have heard SNP supporters describe what they would like to do to English people in terms that would make a neo-Nazi cringe' Labour deputy leader of Edinburgh Council, Susan Dalgety in the Edinburgh Evening News, 2 September 1998. |  |
| 'I have heard SNP supporters describe what they would like to do to English people in terms that would make a neo-Nazi cringe' Labour deputy leader of Edinburgh Council, Susan Dalgety in the Edinburgh Evening News, 2 September 1998. | |
"Before readers start sharpening their pens and accuse me of being a Labour Party stooge (guilty), not Scottish enough (whatever that means) and feart of the seemingly unstoppable rise of the SNP (yes), can I explain my gut reaction to Alex Salmond and his boot boys?
"When I was 16, I flirted, for three months, with the notion of an independent Scotland.
"Egged on by our Latin teacher, who was a card-carrying member of the Tartan Tories, our Higher class spent hours dedating the merits of a free Scotland.
"We weren't quite sure what we were so desperate to be free of, but or stirring debates on the bravery of Denis Law, Billy Bremner and wee Jimmy Johnstoneconvinced us that Scotland could be a nation again - and it sure beat the hell out of translating Ovid.
"But by the time I left school I rediscovered my class roots and have been a passionate supporter of the People's Party ever since.
"My next brush with the separatists was much less enjoyable than my adolescent crush on my Latin teacher and infatuation with Scotland's 1974 World Cup squad.
"As a Labour activist in Wester Hailes during the Eighties, I regularly crossed swords with my SNP counterparts and soon discovered they were a mean, nasty, brutish pack.
"So mean and nasty that at one election count a group of Nationalist men physically threatened a disabled Labour woman who had had the temerity to win a defamation suit against the local SNP a few months previously.
"Poor Margaret, who is now dead, was less than five-foot tall, but she bravely stood by her ground against the bullies until her comrades arrived to rescue her.
"And this brutish behaviour was, sadly, not an isolated incident.
"I know several Labour colleagues who have felt the full force of nationalism - right in their face.
"And I have heard SNP supporters describe what they would like to do to English people in terms that would make a neo-Nazi cringe.
"Of course, not all Nationalists are woman-beaters or bullies.
"But you just have to scratch the surface of smarmy Alex and his small band of MPs and his barmy army is exposed as an assortment of oddballs, extremists and out and out racists.
"And despite Salmond's attempts to civilise the SNP - including his astonishing commitment last week to keep the Queen as head of state in an independent Scotland - there is no hiding the fact that nationalism is the last refuge of the narrow-minded bully.
"We need look no further than the buthery of Omagh to see for ourselves what happens when nationalism gets out of control. Innocent children die.
"Of course Alex Salmond is not an evil terrorist. And the ordinary members of his separatist party are not murdering thugs hell-bent on bombing their way to a free Scotland.
"But nationalism corrupts and as the blood-drenched history of Ireland proves, it can lead, all too easily, to the death of a nation and its people.
"Readers might find my gut reaction to the SNP overdramatic, but I love Scotland too much to stand by and watch it succumb to the intolerant, adolescent demands of bigots.
"It is time we saw our beautiful country through clear eyes and not through the mists of Brigadoon.
"Scotland will thrive as part of the United Kingdom.
"With our new parliament in Holyrood we will control our own domestic destiny and flourish alongside our friends and family in England.
"But separate and alone our economy would wither as businesses flee down south and the parochial prejudices of the Braveheart brigade would eventually crush our famous spirit.
"There is much more to being Scottish than joining the Tartan Army and singing the Flower of Scotland, as I found out when I was 16.
"It's time Alex Salmond grew up too."
Susan Dalgety, deputy leader of Edinburgh Council, also compared them to the Omagh bombers.
She said the butchery of Omagh and the deaths of children showed where nationalism could lead.
Last night, Mrs Dalgety offered "sincere apologies" for causing distress.
But it is understood she stood by her astonishing remarks until horrified party chiefs ordered her to withdraw them.
Mrs Dalgety's outburst came in her weekly column for an Edinburgh newspaper.
It began: "My big mouth is always getting me into trouble."
It went on to say: "We need look no further than the butchery of Omagh to see for ourselves what happens when nationalism gets out of control. Innocent children die."
While she conceded that SNP leader Alex Salmond was "not an evil terrorist", she added: "Nationalism corrupts - and as the blood-drenched history of Ireland proves - it can lead all too easily to the death of a nation and its people.
"Scratch below the almost acceptable surface of Smarmy Alex and his MPs and his barmy army is exposed as an assortment of oddballs, extremists and out-and-out racists.
"There is no hiding the fact that nationalism is the last refuge of the narrow-minded bully."
Mrs Dalgety is known to have ambitions to become leader of Edinburgh Council if the current leader, Keith Geddes, wins a seat in the Scottish Parliament.
But yesterday's attack on the SNP infuriated Labour bosses and will cast doubt over her political future.
The councillor has sparked outrage before by breaching royal protocol. In a column earlier this year, she revealed that the Queen had done a joke impression of fiery Ulster Loyalist politician Ian Paisley during a visit to Edinburgh city chambers.
SNP vice-convener Nicola Sturgeon said: "I am appalled at Susan Dalgety's revolting article.
"That she should try to use the Omagh bombing for party political purposes genuinely saddens me.
"And to try to draw a comparison between the Omagh bombers and the democratic civic nationalism of the SNP is obscene. She should resign."
Susan Dalgety, the depute leader of the City of Edinburgh Council, provoked calls for her resignation with an extraordinary attack on the SNP in a newspaper column.
Writing for the Edinburgh Evening News she said: "We need look no further than the butchery of Omagh to see for ourselves what happens when nationalism gets out of control. Innocent children die."
She also said: "I detest the Scottish National Party" and branded it a "barmy army" and "an assortment of oddballs, extremists and out-and-out racists".
She went on: "Of course, not all Nationalists are women-beaters or bullies. But scratch below the almost acceptable surface of Smarmy Alex and his small band of MPs and his barmy army is exposed as an assortment of oddballs, extremists and out-and-out racists.
"Despite Salmond's attempts to civilise the SNP ; there is no hiding the fact that nationalism is the last refuge of the narrow-minded bully. Of course Alex Salmond is not an evil terrorist. And the ordinary members of his separatist party are not murdering thugs hell-bent on bombing their way to a free Scotland.
"But nationalism corrupts and as the blood-drenched history of Ireland proves, it can lead all too easily to the death of a nation and its people."
Embarrassed Labour officials at the party's Keir Hardie House headquarters were swift to disown the comments.
They ordered her to withdraw her remarks and issued a terse apology under her name. But their attempt at damage limitation appeared to have been undermined last night by further remarks Ms Dalgety had made to a journalist on a tabloid newspaper after her article. Declaring herself unrepentant, she said she was "delighted" at the SNP's reaction.
But later, in a Labour Party press release, she said: "I regret making these remarks and wish to apologise for any offence they may have caused."
Last night Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP's vice-convener for publicity, called on Ms Dalgety to resign. She said: "I am appalled at Susan Dalgety's revolting article, which will distress many people, not just SNP members.
"That Susan Dalgety should try to use the Omagh bombing for party political purposes genuinely saddens me - particularly on the day that all parties have come together in the House of Commons to combat the evils of terrorism.
"And to try to draw a comparison between the Omagh bombers and the democratic civic nationalism of the SNP is obscene. Such gutter tactics can surely have no place in the debate about Scotland's future."
Labour's Scottish spokeswoman issued an official disclaimer: "The Labour Party totally dissociates itself from the remarks made by Susan Dalgety in today's Evening News."
Last night, a party spokesman said there had been no discussion over whether she would be disciplined.
She is not the first Labour figure to attack against the SNP this year. George Robertson, the Defence Secretary, described the party as "snake-oil peddlers" while Jim Murphy, the MP for Eastwood, compared them to "sewer rats".
But the Labour spokesman said: "Nobody has compared the SNP to terrorists. The general reference to terrorism and to Omagh in particular has not gone down well with the party hierarchy."
Labour Councillor Susan Dalgety surprised her colleagues by announcing she was taking up a job as a political journalist while holding on to her seat until May.
Ms Dalgety, 42, who is no stranger to controversy, said that she would exercise "minimal commitment" to her council business in the intervening period with her new employers expecting her to start on March 1.
She will join the political team of her local newspaper, the Edinburgh Evening News, reporting on the debates of council committees, where she once made the news.
She said yesterday that she had discussed the matter in her Wester Hailes ward where she would continue to hold surgeries.
"I will have a minimal commitment, there will be a cross-over between journalism and politics until May," she added.
"I have been a local councillor for seven years and I don't feel that people should do more than two terms in local government."
Last night, the Scottish National Party said that Ms Dalgety would be treated like a "leper" by both politicians and journalist, if she pursued her short-term plans.
Ms Dalgety, who has edited the Wester Hailes Sentinel since 1986, was forced to apologise to the SNP in September when she branded supporters "out-and-out racists" in her weekly column for the Edinburgh Evening News and used the Omagh bombing as an example of what was wrong with nationalism.
SNP chief executive Mike Russell said that he was "astonished" at the development. He added: "She will be treated like a leper, it will be an impossibility for her to perform her role impartially and accurately.
"I understand that people change careers but there is no breathing space between Susan Dalgety the Nat-basher and Susan Dalgety the political correspondent."
Leader of the Tory group, Daphne Sleigh, said that Ms Dalgety was putting her colleagues in a difficult position.
She said: "This is a conflict of interests, both for opposition politicians and those in her own group"
Her decision came as a surprise to her fellow councillors, who had widely believed she would succeed council leader Keith Geddes, if he made it to the Scottish Parliament.
Mr Geddes, who has become embroiled in a row over Labour's selection process, said yesterday that Ms Dalgety's political aspirations had not been frustrated by the delay over his selection.
He said: "We are all very surprised by Susan's decision but, given that journalism has always been her first love, and her background in journalism, then I suppose it was an obvious choice for her. Nevertheless, we are all sorry to lose such a talented councillor." - Jan 20
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