Outrage as Labour election candidate likens Scots youngsters to Hitler Youth

General

Monday, 30 June 2014 21:51

By a Newsnet reporter

A Scottish Labour election candidate has caused outrage after comparing Scots youngsters who attended an anti-bias demonstration, to Hitler Youth.

Kathy Wiles, who has been selected to stand for the Labour party in Angus, posted an image of German youngsters gathered under a Nazi banner in response to an image of five Scots youngsters pictured at an anti-bias rally.

Prompted by a comment which said the picture of the five Scots youngsters was “eerily familiar and unsettling”, Wiles responded saying “You mean this?” alongside the Nazi image.

Within hours of the tweet appearing, the Scottish Labour candidate had deleted it from her account. However alert users of the social media site Twitter, including the mother of one of the youngsters, had saved the image, which has been reproduced on the right.

In a letter published by online site Wings Over Scotland, the mother wrote of her anger that her son had been a victim of what she called “vile twisting of facts” by members of the Labour party.

The mother challenged claims from No supporting Labour activists that her son and other children had been coerced into posing beneath a banner at the demonstration.

Explaining that all had a genuine interest in the referendum and had enjoyed participating in the event, she added: “And the reality of yesterday’s photo was that children having fun at a peaceful, family friendly, anti-propaganda gathering have themselves been subject to vile twisting of the facts by a prospective Labour Westminster MP with a background in education.”

The tweet from Wiles came hours before she was declared Labour’s Westminster candidate for Angus.

The episode follows a similar incident this weekend when a No activist suggested First Minister Alex Salmond and the wider Yes campaign had links to sex-offenders.

Pro-Union online activist ‘The Kilted Kelpie’ tweeted: “The launch event of ‘Sex offenders for YES’ is tonight. There’s a Yes group for everyone.”

Beneath the image was a picture of Alex Salmond stood alongside a young woman with a banner headline which read SEX OFFENDERS for YES.

Newsnet Scotland contacted Better Together for a response to the Sex Offender tweet, but received no reply.

Comments

# bringiton 2014-06-30 22:59

Why are these so called “socialists” against democracy in Scotland?
Is it because their brand of socialism only exists within the British Labour party who only exist within the British state?
The British state,without Scotland will cease to exist and these “socialists” are going to have to redefine themselves should they wish to continue pursuing a career in politics.
They realise that the threat to their careers by Scottish independence represents a clear and present danger to their prospects and appear to be prepared to do and say anything to protect that.
Polarising the debate in such extreme terms will not stand them in good stead in a future Scotland.

# Diabloandco 2014-06-30 23:19

No matter which way the vote goes there will be a comeuppance for those who indulge in smear , spite and damned lies.

Actually to describe this woman’s comment as a mere ” smear ” is to underestimate the evil it contains and I do no use the word “evil” lightly.

# Macart 2014-07-01 01:51

They hold their own electorate in contempt and this is what they call politics?

Beyond disgraceful.

# ScotsCanuck 2014-07-01 05:55

…. as the Good Book says “as ye sow, so shall ye reap”.
I hope this odious individual reaps her just rewards from the good folk in Angus.
Beneath contempt and to put into print my feelings would have me proscribed from this site.

# Abulhaq 2014-07-01 07:37

ironic…for this is exactly the short of tactic Joseph Goebbels would have approved of. dont you just get sick of the puerility and utter sterility of the unionist “argumentation”. this is a political order so past its shelf life it now stinks the place.

# uilleam_beag 2014-07-01 08:12

Disgraceful behaviour from this Labour parliamentary candidate but I suspect we’ll be waiting a long while before we get anything resembling an apology.

BTW – subbing note: the mother of the child in the photo who wrote to Wings over Scotland stated that it was her son in the picture, not daughter. (I’m happy for you to delete this par once the correction is made.)

# Breeks 2014-07-01 08:22

I actually don’t mind.
Let Better Together reveal how nasty and hateful their thinking is. I don’t believe they are hurting YES, and there is a diminishing return from smear, after smear, after smear. They are spent.

In a progressive new Scottish democracy, these hate filled cynics will be made to feel like a fish out of water. They have nothing to contribute to the development of our country. For people who deserve to be shunned, they’ve had too much attention already.

# Leswil 2014-07-01 08:43

Decent labour supporters MUST be appalled at stuff like this, they have turned into the lowest of the low.

What will Jim Murphy say about this lot then?????

# Annickburn 2014-07-01 09:06

Believe it or not there is actually names or rather terms for this type of argument/ debate – ‘Reductio ad Hitlerum’ and more recently ‘Godwin’s Law’.
In Godwin’s Law – “there is a tradition in many newsgroups and other Internet discussion forums that once such a comparison is made, the thread is finished and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically lost whatever debate was in progress.”

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they come to fight you, and then you win.” (M.K. Gandhi)

Reductio ad Hitlerum
en.m.wikipedia.org/…/…

Godwin’s law
en.m.wikipedia.org/…/…

# macgilleleabhar 2014-07-01 12:36

Hi Annickburn,
I think your analysis above must hold some sort of record for being the fastest proven on record and on a par with Ms.Wiles record for Labour candidate duration!

# Dundonian West 2014-07-01 10:30

“Prompted by a comment which said the picture of the five Scots youngsters was “eerily familiar and unsettling”, Wiles responded saying “You mean this?” alongside the Nazi image.”
Please, Mr Jim Murphy MP, tell Scotland what you think of that.
Thankyou.

# RTP 2014-07-01 11:19

Labour parliamentary candidate apologises for Hitler Youth tweet

This on the BBC I hope she makes a personal apology to the families concerned I can’t see MSN make the same outcry about this as they did over Lally,Cochrane what have you to say and Darling was this also just a joke,someone should ask him is he going to tell the family it was a joke.

# Alan 2014-07-01 11:26

The cybernaes can sometimes be very offensive.

# ianbeag 2014-07-01 12:18

Latest development – she has resigned as candidate, just deserts.

# martin morrison 2014-07-01 12:49

It is nice for a change to see a lousy political career nipped in the bud so early on. Normally we have to wait decades to get these idiots out of office, by which time they’ve caused chaos. Ms Wiles has at least got the job over and done with quickly.

Next up, please?

# bipod 2014-07-01 12:26

Kathy Wiles wasn’t the only person doing this on twitter the other day, she was just one of the many NO campaign activists that were attempting to smear the anti-bias protestors on twitter.

Note that the BBC have only posted a 100 word article on this story, but with Clare lally and JK rowling they ran dozens of stories over a few days, it was even the main talking point on newsnight Scotland.

# Caadfael 2014-07-01 12:39

The gift that just keeps giving right enough.
Almost daily, the translation from German of the word gift rings so true!
The irony however, will doubtless be lost on the hard-of-thinking SLABs

# stewart b 2014-07-01 13:24

Kathy Wiles Tweeted
The dangers of using very young children in political campaigns,
This after posting a image of the Hitler Youth below the swastika.
Kathy Wiles at what point did you see the irony of your own tweet.

# src19 2014-07-01 14:11

Talk of dangers of using very young children in political campaigns, That’s exactly what the UK Government have just done on the front cover with those kids on that anti-independence booklet that was sent to every household in Scotland.

# Mad Jock McMad 2014-07-01 15:30

As I scanned today’s on line news pages story after story was on the too stupid, too poor, too wee meme and how Scots who support independence are deluded or living in a fairy tale land.

I did not read the Telegraph but I understand Cochrane was more unpleasant and down right insulting than usual.

Yougov’s low poll can be ignored as there is a lot of evidence it is uses iffy statistical methodologies to create results favourable for its Better Together client.

Scotch Labour’s ‘Vote No and be insulted and deprecated for another 300 years‘ – has a truly inspiring ring to it.

# Alien Act 2014-07-01 17:13

Quoting Mad Jock McMad:

Yougov’s low poll can be ignored as there is a lot of evidence it is uses iffy statistical methodologies to create results favourable for its Better Together client.

It’s also owned by a serving tory MP, so no clash of interests there.

# taimoshan 2014-07-01 17:54

This person’s comments about the kids at the protest were stupid in the extreme! I do, however, give her some credit for having the decency to apologise and resign. Let’s see if any more of those disgusting Labour louts follow suit!

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Outrage as Labour election candidate likens Scots youngsters to Hitler Youth

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