LABOUR is on a "negative trajectory" when it comes to minority langauages, claims a leading scholar.
Wilson Macleod, Professor of Gaelic at Edinburgh University, has accused Scottish Labour of having an "anti-Gaelic agenda" after a councillor tweeted a snarky message regarding the language on a new Scottish government logo.
Councillor Adam Wilson responded to a tweet from a Conservative councillor (who led the Vote Leave campaign in Scotland) that criticsed the new Social Security Scotland logo.
The unedited logo.
In his response, Wilson cut off the Gaelic section of the logo and claimed "this looks much better...".
This looks much better.... pic.twitter.com/zEJrqY5ArT
— Cllr Adam Wilson (@CllrAdamWilson) April 1, 2018
In response, Professor Macleod claimed: “The anti-Gaelic agenda of some Labour party politicians and activists in Scotland appears to be becoming steadily more prominent.
“This is a very unfortunate and unwelcome development.”
Macleod continued: "The idea of the 2005 Act was that we were going to see Gaelic given a higher profile but now, Labour seem critical of a bilingual logo.
"This is a new thing - to see a symbolic rejection of Gaelic.
"I don't see this as trolling on Twitter which is different altogether - I see this as a structured disregard for Gaelic and I find that worrisome."
The tweet caused a firestorm of debate on social media, as many criticised the Labour councillor for his comments.
Wilson defended his attack on the logo, claiming: “My tweet was not naivety or immaturity.”
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