A SCOTTISH Labour MSP has drawn anger after a “wee snide tweet” appeared to mock SNP staff facing redundancy.
Cashflow problems hitting the party mean that they are looking to cut the number of staff at HQ from 26 to 16, with employees being informed on Saturday.
The SNP has opened a voluntary redundancy scheme, which was reported by the Daily Record’s political editor Paul Hutcheon.
Responding on social media, Labour MSP Paul Sweeney wrote: “I thought the SNP were anti-austerity?”
The jibe has led to criticism from the SNP, Greens, and trade unionists.
SNP MSP and former minister Emma Roddick said: “Honestly just said to someone who told me folk were making jokes on Twitter about these redundancies, ‘are you sure it was Paul Sweeney?’ Still thought it must be a mix up until I checked your feed.”
Green MSP Ross Greer added: “Why be sympathetic to workers facing losing their jobs around Christmas when you can be a smug partisan hack, eh?”
And the Scottish Trades Union Congress communications officer Sean Mclaughlin wrote: “I mean, insensitivity and crassness aside about 10 folk about to lose their jobs before Christmas, what a really weird thing to tweet.”
This is beyond the pale. This affects real people, irrespective of political allegiance a modicum of compassion should be expected at the very least for those individuals. Politics is bloody awful at times and this ‘wee snide tweet’ is not hitting the folk you tried to punch! pic.twitter.com/h8UbwM3QaH
— Lorna Finn (@LornaFinn) November 17, 2024
Responding elsewhere, SNP councillor candidate and former national secretary Lorna Finn posted: “This is beyond the pale. This affects real people, irrespective of political allegiance a modicum of compassion should be expected at the very least for those individuals.
“Politics is bloody awful at times and this ‘wee snide tweet’ is not hitting the folk you tried to punch!”
Scottish Labour have been approached for comment.
