A Tory councillor has been suspended after tweeting that he’d like to see Islamic jihadists in the home of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Gordon McCaskill, the leader of the Tory group on East Renfrewshire Council tweeted: “Scenes we’d like to see: the refugees Nicola invites to her house are Daesh moles.”

The tweet, first picked up by pro-independence blogger Wings Over Scotland on Monday, was retweeted and the subject of many complaints. The councillor was finally suspended by his party yesterday afternoon.

A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: “Mr McCaskill has been suspended as a member of the party with immediate effect subject to an investigation.”

East Renfrewshire Council declined to comment.

It is not the first time the prominent Tory has caused controversy and not the first time his party have been forced to distance themselves.

During the General Election campaign when he stood as the candidate for Glasgow South West he claimed new strike trade unions laws were necessary as women “were not keen on going on strike”.

The Scottish Tories at the time said these were “not the views” of the party.

An SNP spokesperson said: “The refugee crisis is a serious issue which David Cameron and Ruth Davidson say they want to treat seriously, and they are let down by Tory colleagues who indulge in posts on the web like this.”

McCaskill did not respond to The National’s request for a comment.