An SNP MSP has been slammed after he accused a prominent BBC journalist of "imaginary woes" after she spoke out about the abuse she suffered while doing her job.
Sarah Smith, who stepped down as editor of BBC Scotland last year, revealed in an interview she was "relieved" to have taken a new job in the US after receiving years of "bile, hatred and misogyny".
The well-respected broadcaster spoke about how she was shouted at in the street and called "a *****g lying bitch" in addition to regularly receiving hateful messages on social media.
Smith said she was "demonised quite heavily... amongst certain parts of the population", who claimed they did not watch the BBC or pay their licence fee "but seem to know an enormous amount about what I say and do on television and on the radio nonetheless".
However, her remarks were downplayed by James Dornan, MSP for Glasgow Cathcart.
Responding to a journalist sharing the story on Twitter, Dornan hit back: "America would be the go to place to escape all her imaginary woes then."
After his remarks were challenged, he later backtracked: "Imaginary was the wrong word to use, should have been ‘exaggerated’.
"Any abuse she suffered is too much but if Sarah Smith is saying that politics over here is more vicious than in the US she hasn’t been paying enough attention to what has been going on over there, nor rest of UK."
Tory MSP Jamie Halcro-Johnson said: "What a shameful response to a woman’s personal experiences of misogyny. I hope other SNP MSPs/MPs will condemn."
Annie Wells, a Tory MSP for Glasgow, said: "This is the sort of crass and hugely insulting comment we’ve come to expect from James Dornan.
"It is appalling that he should have reacted in such a dismissive way to the abuse Sarah Smith has endured.
"He ought to be condemning all those who spread hate online – in particular extremist nationalists, who are responsible for much of it – rather than effectively giving them the green light to continue.
"He should apologise for these wildly out-of-touch remarks immediately."
Alex Cole-Hamilton, Scottish Lib Dem leader, said: "The public are justifiably proud of the BBC and its global reputation for integrity and impartiality so knowing that one of their most prominent journalists felt compelled to leave the country due to what she described as "hatred and misogyny" is quite frankly disturbing.
"I was saddened but unsurprised to see that after Sarah spoke out she received another wave of nationalist abuse.
"If Nicola Sturgeon and Angus Robertson are serious about their commitment to public service broadcasting perhaps they should condemn this behaviour and agree to stop fanning anti-BBC sentiment within their movement.
"Sadly I suspect that as long as the broadcaster refuses to unquestioningly parrot nationalist nonsense, the SNP will always have a problem with the BBC".
Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, said:
“Just when you think Dornan couldn’t sink any lower, he accuses a woman who has faced horrific abuse of ‘imaginary woes’.
“His position as an elected nationalist MSP gives a green light to other nationalists to continue spreading their hatred.
“I imagine Nicola Sturgeon will be privately furious at the behaviour of her MSP, but she can demonstrate she takes this seriously by disciplining Dornan."
The Record has asked the SNP for comment.
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