THE National Trust for Scotland has condemned David Starkey’s “offensive” comments about slavery after it emerged its president Neil Oliver had declared his “love” for the historian.

On June 29 Oliver tweeted Darren Grimes, who was due to interview Starkey, sharing his admiration for the historian.

The post resurfaced last night after Starkey caused outrage by claiming slavery “was not genocide otherwise there wouldn’t be so many damn blacks in Africa or Britain”.

READ MORE: NTS defends Oliver after he gives support to slavery row historian

The historian has faced multiple allegations of discrimination in recent years. His comments during the interview with Grimes have been widely condemned, with former chancellor Sajid Javid saying they were a “reminder of the appalling views that still exist”.

As Oliver’s tweet resurfaced, it also emerged he had liked a tweet praising a member of a sports team for seemingly refusing to take a knee – a pose which has become synonymous with the anti-racism Black Lives Matter movement.

It came weeks after the Coast presenter claimed the removal of slave trader statues, like that of Edward Colston in Bristol, was the first step to reintroducing the guillotine.

Last night NTS refused to condemn Oliver and said his views not representative of the organisation.

A spokesperson told The National: “Neil holds a voluntary, unpaid position with the trust as its president – but that doesn’t mean he’s just a figurehead who’s required to say and do nothing when he isn’t representing us in that capacity.

READ MORE: Neil Oliver declares love for 'racist' historian David Starkey

“He’s also a journalist and commentator in his own right with his own views and opinions. When stating his personal views, as in these recent cases, he is not representing the trust.

“When he is speaking for us, he is eloquent communicator of our work, responsibilities and achievements.”

This morning NTS condemned Starkey’s “offensive” comments – and repeated their defence of Oliver.

On Twitter they wrote: “The National Trust for Scotland abhors and condemns the offensive comments made by Dr David Starkey yesterday.

“A newspaper report suggests that our President, Neil Oliver endorsed Dr Starkey’s comments. This is untrue – Mr Oliver has confirmed to us that the social media post cited as evidence dates from before Dr Starkey’s inappropriate and inaccurate comments were made.”

Professor James Loxley of the University of Edinburgh, who said last night that it is “not okay for the National Trust for Scotland to sustain an affiliation with Neil Oliver, given his expressed sympathies”, accused the organisation of “making things worse”.

He tweeted to say: “What Starkey said in the interview was only his most recent expression of bigotry, and your president’s expression of ‘love’ has remained online unamended since the broadcast. Stop attacking your critics, and address the real problem.”

Others replied to NTS suggesting Oliver should also condemn Starkey’s comments.

Speaking to Grimes in an interview posted to YouTube yesterday, Starkey said: “Slavery was not genocide otherwise there wouldn’t be so many damn blacks in Africa or Britain would there? An awful lot of them survived.”

He added: “The honest teaching of the British empire is to say it was the first key stage of world globalisation. It was probably the most important moment in human history and it is still with us.

“Its consequences are still [felt] and generally speaking in most ways actually fruitful.

“The idea that slavery ... is this kind of terrible disease and we dare not speak its name, it only dare not speak its name [sic] because we settled it nearly 200 years ago.”