JO Swinson has been slammed by Nicola Sturgeon and campaign groups for a "disgraceful" response to a question regarding the use of nuclear weapons.
When asked during the ITV Election Interview on Tuesday if she would ever be prepared to use a nuclear weapon, the LibDem leader simply said: “Yes” with the interviewer thanking Swinson for her “brilliant short answer”.
READ MORE: SNP and indyref dominate ITV debate – despite Nicola Sturgeon's exclusion
However, the response has attracted significant criticism from politicians and anti-nuclear weapons organisations across social media.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: “It’s sickening to hear this question asked and answered as if it’s some kind of virility test and without any context. Using nuclear weapons would mean killing millions of people. Those consequences should be made clear. (FWIW - and for that reason - my answer is ‘no’).”
Campaign groups also tweeted their disapproval of the answer from the LibDem leader and condemned her for unhesitatingly saying she would push the nuclear button.
CND hit out: “This is a disgraceful response from @JoSwinson. Not for the 1st time in this General Election, she confirms she’s ready to press the nuclear button. Not even a moment’s hesitation about the prospect of killing millions of people. We need better than this#ITVDebate #VoteOutNukes.”
Launching her party’s election campaign Swinson declared she was standing as a candidate to be PM despite the LibDems having just 20 MPs when Parliament was dissolved.
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