ONE of Scotland's top experts on the coronavirus crisis has slammed the Scottish Tories for their "cheap attacks" on her integrity.
Devi Sridhar went on to blast as "anti-Scottish" the people who seem to be angered by the fact that "Scotland is now doing well in its response to Covid-19".
Earlier today, the professor and chair of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh, tweeted that "it is the tragedy of history that when a serious pandemic hit the world where leadership & good governance were required, Donald Trump was US President & Boris Johnson was UK Prime Minister".
The comment on Johnson's leadership, which one senior Tory MP has also reportedly described as "pitiful", drew anger from the Scottish Conservatives.
Murdo Fraser, an MSP and the Scots Tories' constitution spokeperson, wrote: "Scottish Govt adviser making her political colours clear (and missing the obvious point that @NicolaSturgeon has followed the @BorisJohnson approach to tacking the pandemic almost to the letter)."
Scottish Govt adviser making her political colours clear (and missing the obvious point that @NicolaSturgeon has followed the @BorisJohnson approach to tacking the pandemic almost to the letter) https://t.co/PloTXrBzKW
— Murdo Fraser (@murdo_fraser) July 4, 2020
He was joined by fellow Tory MSP Donald Cameron, who tweeted: "Political neutrality from top Scottish Government adviser? Of course not..."
In response, Sridhar took to Twitter to call out the "cheap attacks", labeling them "bizarre and sad".
She wrote: "[I] have always expressed my opinions openly ... I’m an independent academic & have no funding from Scottish govt. Originally from Miami & finding these cheap attacks bizarre & sad."
READ MORE: SNP call for Ruth Davidson to explain why she attacked virus expert
Sridhar added: "To Americans wondering what’s going on, here’s my naive take: Scotland is now doing well in its response to Covid-19 which seems to anger anti-Scottish, pro-UK people (‘Unionists’) who are now turning their attacks on me bc I serve on scientific advisory group to Scottish govt."
To Americans wondering what’s going on, here’s my naive take: Scotland is now doing well in its response to COVID-19 which seems to anger anti-Scottish, pro-UK people (‘unionists’) who are now turning their attacks on me bc I serve on scientific advisory group to Scottish govt. https://t.co/zK6dd9YesQ
— Devi Sridhar (@devisridhar) July 4, 2020
The Scottish Tories' attacks on the health expert come after Ruth Davidson, the former leader of the party, used Twitter to accuse Sridhar of bowing to pressure from the SNP when it came to giving scientific advice.
The First Minister responded to those accusations by saying: “Untrue ... but more importantly, utterly disgraceful to suggest that a highly respected expert (who I suspect has more integrity in her wee finger than *some* have overall) would be susceptible to that.”
Sridhar also responded then, saying: “Your [Davidson's] tweet reflects how little you know me & my views. Not about politics. It’s about finding the best way forward for kids, parents and teachers.
"I’m an expert in global public health looking at [international] best practice & trying to bring those learnings to help Scotland & the UK.”
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