'I'VE BEEN CLEAR'

Nicola Sturgeon urges SNP activists not to back candidate axed over alleged anti-Semitism

NICOLA Sturgeon has urged SNP members not to back a candidate axed over alleged anti-Semitism.

Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath hopeful Neale Hanvey was dropped by the party after comments he allegedly made on social media came to light.

Mr Hanvey will still appear on the ballot paper next to the SNP name as deadlines for candidates to be nominated had passed by the time of his suspension by the Nats.

But the First Minister urged party members to drop their support of him - and said his removal as candidate had been the “right decision”.

Speaking on Good Morning Scotland, she said it is right that a disciplinary process against Mr Hanvey is allowed to take its course.

She said: “We made a very robust decision - I think the right decision - when his comments, the anti-Semitic comments, came to light, we suspended him.

"He's not the SNP candidate in that constituency but what happens after that is for a disciplinary process that is independent of me and I think it's right that that's allowed to take its course."

Scottish Labour’s candidate for the constituency, Lesley Laird, claimed that Mr Hanvey is still using SNP branding in his campaign despite his suspension.

It comes as some Nats members continue to back his bid to win the Fife seat.

But Ms Sturgeon said: “I've been very clear, I've said it publicly, I'll say it again - SNP members in that constituency should not be supporting his campaign, they should be going to other neighbouring constituencies to campaign for candidates there.

"The SNP could not have been clearer here, these are not easy situations for any party to find themselves in but you have to do the right thing.

"We've done the right thing here, I regret that we were in this position but he's not an SNP candidate, he shouldn't be using SNP materials, I haven't seen any evidence of that, and that's very clear.

"We've taken that (decision) because we have a zero tolerance to anti-Semitism and that's the right and important decision and position we took."

She added: "I'm not going to sit here and have disciplinary processes live on air.

"We will deal with anything that is brought to us in terms of the conduct of any member and we will do that fairly and robustly."

Last week, an SNP committee member set to investigate axed Neale Hanvey quit the party after being challenged over anti-Semitic content she allegedly posted online.

The First Minister said: “When things come to light, we deal with that and that's perhaps the difference between the SNP and some other parties on these issues."

"No part of society can claim to be absolutely immune but we've got a duty, all of us, to eradicate these things and the SNP will always do what we consider necessary to do that and I think that's important that all parties take a similar view."

Speaking previously to the BBC, Mr Hanvey said he was “sorry for any offence” he had caused.

When asked whether he would like to be readmitted to the SNP, he said: “Of course. The SNP is an incredibly important part of my life."