A senior Tory MSP sacked from the front bench by Douglas Ross claimed he was “singled out” for supporting the Government’s gender recognition reforms.
Jamie Greene said he was told he was fired for taking the opposite view to most of his colleagues and described his firing as “disappointing”.
The Scottish Tories opposed Holyrood's gender law, but allowed their MSPs a free vote.
Greene, who was justice spokesperson, was one of a handful of Tory MSPs who voted in favour. He was sacked from his post last week.
In an interview with BBC Scotland’s The Sunday Show, he was asked if he believed his stance on gender recognition led him being axed by Ross:
“It became quite apparent over the course of the day last week that that was probably the case.
“And the reason I know that is because that's what members of the press and journalists were being told. So I have to assume that that is the case. I find that disappointing.
“I was certainly told by a number of journalists from various newspapers that that's what they were being told.”
He added: “We were quite lucky, I guess, in the Conservatives because we had a free vote on the matter. And I was grateful for that, to be quite honest, because there was a divergence of opinions in the party.
“I thought we'd moved on from all of that.”
Asked if he felt he had been punished, he replied: “It's hard to take any other way to be quite honest. If that's the reason that people are being given then one can only assume that there is a problem there.
“I do feel perhaps singled out.”
A senior Scottish Tory source said: “To be sacked in such a rudimentary manner really questions the judgement of the leadership.
“This was a shameless political ploy to discredit a leadership challenger which only serves to further erode morale in the group ahead of the general election.”
Green MSP Maggie Chapman said: "There are clearly a lot of things I disagree with Jamie Greene on, but I do not doubt his sincerity on GRR and I admire the position he took despite deep hostility from his own party.
"Stoking culture wars is all that Douglas Ross knows how to do. It underlines how extreme the Scottish Tories have become when an MSP can be removed from their front bench after voting for a basic equality measure that already exists in lots of countries. They made a big deal of giving a free vote on GRR. But it clearly wasn’t so free!"
A Scottish Conservative spokesperson said: “This reshuffle was an opportunity to bring into the shadow cabinet leading talents from the 2021 intake.
“All the team are focused laser-like on the people’s real priorities – the cost-of-living crisis, unacceptable NHS waiting times and economic growth – while the scandal-ridden SNP ignore them to obsess about independence yet again.”
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