Suing people for defamation is probably a luxury that only rich people can really afford, but if I was in that position I would be extremely tempted right now to take action against Mr Jérémie Fernandes – someone who I don’t know from Adam, apart from what is written on his Twitter bio, which states he is “SNP Councillor for Elgin City North / SNP Group Business Manager / Information Professional (he/him)”. I must say I find it hard to believe that people like this chap are really the best a party of 100,000 members can do in terms of local council candidates.
What he’s tweeted ticks all the boxes for defamation – it’s an intentional, bare-faced lie designed to wrongly and maliciously damage my reputation. I have never, ever “asked for money from far-right activists”. I have of course fundraised, but I’ve done it on exactly the same basis as the SNP, ie. I’ve invited donations from the independence movement, which is generally centre-left and left-wing in character. I suppose if you really look hard enough you can find a tiny minority of self-defined Yessers who are neo-fascist nutters, such as Siol nan Gaidheal – but, let’s be honest, we all know that isn’t what Fernandes is referring to. He’s talking about gender critical feminists, pejoratively known as “TERFs”, many of whom have found a home in the Alba Party, of which I have been a member since last year.
The acronym “TERF” is in fact a helpful clue to the true nature of the people Fernandes is painting as fascists, because it stands for “Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist”. Radical feminists are generally found on the left of the political spectrum, not the right. And feminists of no sort are found on the far right. To paint left-wing progressives as “far-right” is, let’s call a spade a spade, a Trumpian lie. In fact, ironically it’s a textbook example of the “Big Lie” propaganda technique pioneered by a genuinely far-right politician, namely Hitler’s propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.
It’s high time we took a zero-tolerance approach to this lie, regardless of the pedigree of the people pushing it (perhaps the most high profile and frequent offender is the Ochil & South Perthshire MP John Nicolson).
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