Sturgeon LOSES IT after Kezia Dugdale asks her to denounce social media 'intolerance'
THIS is the moment Nicola Sturgeon exploded at Labour rival Kezia Dugdale after she called on the First Minister to denounce “aggression, intolerance and hatred” on social media.
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The Scottish Labour leader took a swipe at the politician over her activity online, quipping: “Social media can be a force for good but as leaders, we have a duty to stand up when it becomes an outlet for aggression, intolerance and hatred.”
The SNP leader soon fired back over the suggestion she was soft on pro-independence material online.
She blasted: “I follow thousands of people on Twitter and I’m followed by hundreds of thousands of people on Twitter.
Nicola Sturgeon exploded at Kezia Dugdale over social media
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I unequivocally condemn abuse of any kind
“Is Kezia Dugdale really trying to say – if I was to go through Kezia Dugdale’s tweets, or the tweets of members of her group or members of her party and I came up with retweets that were somehow unsavoury in some way, is she really saying that she would hold herself personally responsible for that?
“This is an absolutely ridiculous line of questioning presiding officer.”
She then accused Ms Dugdale of throwing up a “smokescreen” to cover up abuse allegedly targeted at her by former Labour politicians.
Nicola Sturgeon accused Ms Dugdale of throwing up a “smokescreen”
Mrs Sturgeon said: “I unequivocally condemn abuse of any kind. I’ve got a list here of abuse that’s been hurled by many people who are now Tory councillors in Scotland.
“I’ve had abuse from people who have been members of the Labour party, I’ve been called a fascist and a Nazi – or my party has – by a senior member of the Labour party and I didn’t hold Kezia Dugdale responsible.”
The outburst comes following a tough First Minister’s Questions, during which Holyrood burst into laughter as Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson hammered Mrs Sturgeon’s handling of Scotland’s “failed’ education system.
Ms Davidson branded her defence of her party’s handling of schools “a lot of waffle”.