A tweet by an “anti-Tory” Twitter account shared by an official Holyrood page was done in error, the Scottish Government has said.
On Wednesday morning, the “Scot Gov Health” Twitter – the official page for the government’s health department, retweeted an account with “detests Tories” in its name.
The account reads “Marie-Ann Detests Tories” with a Ukranian flag, European Union flag, and the Union Jack.
The tweet itself related to Richard Madeley on a recent segment about the dangers of quicksand on Good Morning Britain.
Posted alongside a clip from the morning show, the tweet reads: “Alan Partridge is clearly based on Richard Madeley.”
It was quickly removed, but has been branded “deeply inappropriate” by the Scottish Conservatives.
*Alan Partridge is clearly based on Richard Madeley* pic.twitter.com/7cOWOdwN8x
— Marie-Ann Detests Tories 🇺🇦 🇪🇺 🇬🇧 (@MarieAnnUK) May 4, 2022
Donald Cameron, MSP and Scottish Conservative shadow secretary for constitution, external affairs and culture, said: “This is a deeply inappropriate re-tweet from a supposedly impartial Scottish Government department.
“It only fuels concerns about the growing politicisation of the civil service under the SNP and the blurring of lines between neutral public servants and partisan party officials.
“We need an urgent explanation from the SNP as to how this was allowed to happen.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We are aware of a retweet made from the @scotgovhealth account in error today.
“This was removed from the account as soon as it was identified.
“We are continually reviewing our security processes to reduce the risk of accidental or malicious activity on our channels and we are taking additional steps in light of this error to prevent further incidents.”
