EDINBURGH Labour councillor Scott Arthur has been forced to defend himself against accusations of Islamophobia, after he launched a “cynical” attack on Justice Minister Humza Yousaf’s reasons for entering frontline politics.
Late on Wednesday night, Arthur posted a poll on Twitter asking his followers if they thought Yousaf came in to politics because of the “9/11 attacks”, “the Iraq War”, or the “photo calls”.
The question infuriated users on the social media site, many of whom accused the bullish Labour councillor of Islamophobia.
WATCH: Labour MP seems to forget he’s a Labour MP on Sky News
Yesterday morning Arthur apologised and deleted his tweet, saying that he was merely trying to highlight inconsistencies in interviews given by Yousaf on why he had entered politics.
Glasgow SNP councillor Mhairi Hunter told Arthur “it was mad to put that tweet out without any of that context.”
She added: “It’s not just about Humza, it’s about any Muslim thinking about entering public life & seeing random comments linking Muslims to 9/11.”
Arthur replied saying it was an “honest mistake”.
In a blog post the councillor said: “I got around to tracking down reports I had seen earlier in the day that Humza Yousaf had (apparently) been inconsistent in explaining why he became politically active. In one interview he had cited the 9/11 attacks and in an earlier one he gave the Iraq War as a reason (2 not unconnected things IMHO).
“In a move which I accept was cynical, I created a Twitter poll to highlight this. My decision to do this was not based on his or my race. I woke this morning to find a number of people genuinely found my survey offensive. Offending anyone was not my intention – particularly Humza Yousaf. I can see that placing the survey on Twitter without the context of the two arguably contradictory interviews was a mistake. Context is key. Let me be clear – this is an unreserved apology.”
Yousaf responded on Twitter this morning, saying he will write to the leader of the Labour group on Edinburgh Council, Cammy Day, to “ask if he will take any action” against the councillor and to ask him to tell the capital’s “Muslim community that Cllr Arthur’s tweet was not consistent with the views of the Edinburgh Labour Group”.
Arthur’s original tweet was “liked” by Scottish Labour MP Paul Sweeney, though he later claimed that was an accident. “A case of a slipped thumb while scrolling I’m afraid,” he said.
The party promised an inquiry.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel