The former presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament sparked anger in a tirade at St Andrews University after a “satirical” attack on Nicola Sturgeon in its student paper.
Tricia Marwick, ex-SNP MSP for Central Fife, was reacting to an article which suggested England should “boot Scotland out of the union” and needed “tough love to bring her down a peg or two”.
During the backlash, Ms Marwick claimed St Andrews is “not a Fife university”.
In a social media post which has since been deleted, she wrote: “I regret the Saint run by the University of St Andrews students just buys into every stereotype we Fifers have of them.
“Poor souls who failed to get into Oxbridge display every prejudice; anti Scottish and anti women.”
‘Too scary’
Ms Marwick branded students at the historic institution “pathetic wee trolls” over the article published in the online publication.
The original article included a comment saying the first minister would be “turned away” from hell for being “too scary”.
The site initially claimed they regretted publishing the article but then quickly retracted their apology.
Ms Marwick left Holyrood in 2016 and now chairs NHS Fife.
She was criticised by the SNP’s opponents for her scathing remarks.
Scottish Tory MSP Donald Cameron said: “The irony is, while attempting to speak out about prejudice, Tricia Marwick displays her own all too clearly.
“Her reaction is not what you’d expect from a former presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament.
‘Ill-judged rant’
“St Andrews University is a world-famous institution we should be proud of, and perhaps this ill-judged rant reveals more about the SNP than they realise.”
The Lib Dems claimed the original article was misogynistic and “offensive”, but condemned Ms Marwick for her criticism of the university.
North East Fife politicians Willie Rennie and Wendy Chamberlain said in a statement: “It was one article, published by one student out of several thousand students and staff at St Andrews. It does not represent the views of staff and students.
“It was therefore wholly unacceptable for the chair of NHS Fife to trash the whole university with offensive remarks too.”
Ms Marwick declined to comment when approached by The Courier.
St Andrews University spokesperson said: “We understand that Tricia has withdrawn her remarks, and we are pleased that she has accepted an invitation from us to visit the University, where she will meet staff and students who have been an integral part of NHS Fife’s frontline response to Covid.”