Labour’s candidate for Angus in the 2015 general election has been forced to quit after tweeting a picture which seemed to compare Yes protesters to Nazis.
Kathy Wiles put the image of Hitler Youth on Twitter after a photograph was circulated of youngsters standing under the banner of pro-independence blog site Wings Over Scotland.
The children were part of a protest against alleged biased coverage of the independence referendum by the BBC an accusation strenuously denied by the corporation.
Prompted by a comment which said the picture of the five Scots children was “eerily familiar and unsettling” the Angus candidate responded saying “You mean this?” alongside the Nazi image.
Ms Wiles made an online apology in response to outrage that accompanied her internet intervention, but has now resigned following high-level meetings within Scottish Labour two days after her outburst.
A Scottish Labour spokesman said: “We believe that Kathy Wiles has taken the right decision to withdraw in Angus and we will move swiftly to get another candidate in place.
“The debate about Scotland’s future should be held in a respectful and positive way and we will take robust and immediate action if any of our members fall below these standards.”
In her apology, Ms Wiles said: “I tweeted a picture on Sunday which has caused offence for which I apologise unequivocally.
“My intention was to make a point about the dangers of using young children in political campaigns, not to make any inference about those in the photo. Again, my apologies.”
She also stressed she had not meant to compare the children at the Glasgow gathering to Hitler Youth.
Her tweet has subsequently been deleted.
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