THE Church of Scotland minister who found himself at the centre of a media storm after heckling Jeremy Corbyn will no longer be the chaplain at his local school.
Reverend Richard Cameron’s social media posts – in which he called Islam a “religion of violence” and accused gay people of celebrating “perversion” – surfaced after he branded the Labour leader a “terrorist sympathiser” outside a campaign event in Glasgow.
Richard Cameron referenced the tartan scarf Corbyn was wearing, saying “I thought you’d be wearing your Islamic Jihad scarf?” and suggested as PM he would invite terrorists to Downing Street.
The Church of Scotland said they “deplore any comments which are Islamophobic or homophobic” and promised any complaints into the matter would be “taken seriously and addressed”.
Now, parents of pupils at Scotstoun Primary School have received an email from the head teacher saying Cameron will “no longer be engaged” with the school. Gill Mackay wrote: “You may be aware of some social media posts currently circulating over the last 24 hours involving our school chaplain Rev Richard Cameron and I wanted to write and inform you that he will no longer be engaged with our school, Scotstoun Primary School.
“Glasgow schools celebrate diversity and the cultural make up of our city – teaching respect and understanding of these cultures and religions to our children and young people and like all Glasgow schools we pride ourselves in the expression of different opinions.
“However, when these opinions cause offence, then we need to evaluate the reputational risk to our school and the potential damage to the education of our children.”
Mackay said she would keep parents up to date on the situation.
Yesterday, a Church of Scotland spokesperson said they were aware of the “significant concern” around Cameron’s comments. “At this stage all we can say is that there is a formal complaints process and that any complaints we receive in relation to this matter will be taken seriously and addressed.”
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