CONTROVERSIAL SNP Westminster group leader Ian Blackford has been pressured into issuing an apology after targeting a photographer on social media for posting a picture of the night sky which he tried to insinuate broke the current lockdown restrictions.
Retweeting a post by Ollie Taylor, Blackford attempted to shame the photographer to his 98.9k followers by wrongly assuming that he was from the South of England and had travelled to Scotland in contradiction of lockdown laws.
In a tweet, now deleted by the SNP Westminster leader, he said : “As you live in the south of England and travel to Scotland is only for permitted reasons I am sure there will be a valid reason as to why you are posting a photo from the north of Scotland last night?”
But Twitter users were baffled at how Blackford could be sure of the man’s situation, as his profile does not state where he is from or where he is spending lockdown. It has since been alleged that Mr. Taylor actually lives in Scotland, although his harmless photography of a stunning night sky was also likely to have been related to his work as a photographer anyway.
Others were also quick to accuse the outspoken SNP member of hypocrisy, after Blackford was caught travelling over 600 miles during lockdown from London to the Isle of Skye.
As objections to Blackford’s bullish behaviour began to rise , ‘Charles Kennedy’ trended on Twitter – a reference to allegations made against Blackford for his ‘bullying’ and aggressive behaviour to the late Scottish politician.
Pressured by the storm of complaints, Blackford issued a brief apology on Twitter:
