Cllr Andrew Morrison

If we want ordinary people as candidates for the Scottish Parliament, rather than the usual intake of airbrushed politicos, we can’t punish them for every unguarded thing they’ve said in the past. 80% of our candidates have never been politicians before, so have not been as careful as the usual would-be MSP. Yet still, the media have shown desperation, taking comments out of context and even picking out individual words to try and put them in a misleading light. Today, some of our candidates were even smeared by the media for being in an unofficial Facebook group of people who sympathise with Reform – a group not even owned or moderated by the party, which has over 13,000 participants and over 20 posts per DAY – for a handful of comments made by random other people in it. Our candidates had an inkling of the treatment they'd get at the hands of the media, and I hold them to a high standard for things they say and do as candidates. But I’ll not give in to such desperate smears. It’s all just Holyrood’s cushy club in action, terrified that we’re about to stop the gravy train in its tracks. They'll soon need to grow up, because we’ll be bringing some common sense and decency for a change.

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