Wednesday, September 09, 2015
Crass Tories join the UKIP bad boys
Two reports in today's papers indicate that it is not just UKIP politicians who are walking around with their foot in mouth over the refugee crisis.
The Guardian reports that a Scottish Conservative councillor has been suspended by the party after tweeting that he would like to see members of Islamic State infiltrate the home of the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon:
Gordon McCaskill, a councillor for East Renfrewshire, was responding to a TV interview given by Sturgeon on Sunday, in which the SNP leader said she would be “absolutely happy” to house a refugee from Syria.
McCaskill posted on Twitter: “Scenes we’d like to see: the refugees Nicola invites into her house are Daesh [Islamic State] moles.” The tweet has since been deleted.
Meanwhile, in the Independent we can read about a Conservative MP who caused uproar in the House of Commons after he claimed that refugees "going on holiday to the places they fled from" are preventing him from getting a haircut:
Adam Holloway, the MP for Gravesham, was speaking during an emergency debate called by Yvette Cooper on the refugee crisis.
He said: "It’s quite possible to be a refugee and an economic migrant, and I think that’s one of the appalling truths, if you like, of the Syrian bodies that are being washed up on the beaches.
"They previously got to safe countries and now they’re choosing to come in Europe…
"We have people in this country who have come here, have claimed asylum, and then they go back on holiday in the places they’ve claimed asylum from.
"I couldn't have my hair cut the other day for that reason."
Whilst I have every sympathy for Mr. Holloway's state of hirsuteness, he really does need to get some perspective. These sort of crass comments help nobody.
The Guardian reports that a Scottish Conservative councillor has been suspended by the party after tweeting that he would like to see members of Islamic State infiltrate the home of the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon:
Gordon McCaskill, a councillor for East Renfrewshire, was responding to a TV interview given by Sturgeon on Sunday, in which the SNP leader said she would be “absolutely happy” to house a refugee from Syria.
McCaskill posted on Twitter: “Scenes we’d like to see: the refugees Nicola invites into her house are Daesh [Islamic State] moles.” The tweet has since been deleted.
Meanwhile, in the Independent we can read about a Conservative MP who caused uproar in the House of Commons after he claimed that refugees "going on holiday to the places they fled from" are preventing him from getting a haircut:
Adam Holloway, the MP for Gravesham, was speaking during an emergency debate called by Yvette Cooper on the refugee crisis.
He said: "It’s quite possible to be a refugee and an economic migrant, and I think that’s one of the appalling truths, if you like, of the Syrian bodies that are being washed up on the beaches.
"They previously got to safe countries and now they’re choosing to come in Europe…
"We have people in this country who have come here, have claimed asylum, and then they go back on holiday in the places they’ve claimed asylum from.
"I couldn't have my hair cut the other day for that reason."
Whilst I have every sympathy for Mr. Holloway's state of hirsuteness, he really does need to get some perspective. These sort of crass comments help nobody.
