Perthshire MP Pete Wishart recalled abuse he received from pupils at the exclusive Strathallan School, who took to social media to brand him a “w****r” in the heat of the independence referendum.
It comes as he publishes a new book detailing his daily experiences between mid-2013 and the landmark vote on September 18 2014.
Mr Wishart kept a daily diary of the campaign to leave the UK, detailing the twists and turns and giving an insight into what he really thought about the all big moments.
It includes his reaction to a BBC debate he joined in February 2014 at Strathallan School, where he faced a crowd unenthusiastic with the prospect of independence.
“There are some places where debating the indyref is incredibly useful and others where it is highly unlikely to find any favour. As I found to my cost today,” he wrote at the time.
With just three among the 250-strong audience supporting his cause, the SNP MP, who was re-elected in 2024, told the pupils they did not represent young people at large.
This made them “even more hostile up to the point of enraging them”.
He conceded: “It wasn’t my smartest move to alienate what seemed like the whole audience.”
But it was what happened next that hit the headline.
A prolific user of Twitter, Mr Wishart wrote about his experience after the debate, prompting an influx of messages from the pupils at the school – which charges up to £14,920 a term for those boarding in their senior year.
“On leaving I was prepared to leave it all behind as a bad day at the office only to find my Twitter feed flooded by these pupils with their own particular take on my contributions,” he wrote.
“In the evening this descended into abuse and I was variously called a ‘gimp’ and a ‘w*****r’,” he recalled.
Row made Perthshire MP ‘fearful’ for safety
Online trolls set about abusing Mr Wishart, criticising him for sharing the school pupils’ comments.
“For the first time on social media I was genuinely concerned about where all this might go and just a little bit fearful for my safety,” he wrote in his daily diary.
The incident prompted an apology from the school and the pupils involved.
A statement posted on Strathallan School’s website described students’ comments as “inappropriate” but said just a “small number” were involved.
Elsewhere, Mr Wishart’s new book records the growing media focus, the grassroots movements, the speeches and rallies and the growing sense that Scotland’s political landscape was about to change forever.
He also reveals tensions between the SNP-led government in Edinburgh and the party’s group of MPs in Westminster as they discussed new powers for the security services.
Inside the Indy Ref, published September 12 by Luath Press (£14.99).
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