Natalie McGarry has paid £10,000 to a pro-Union campaigner who she defamed online.
The Fife-born Glasgow MP issued a public apology on Twitter, which will be “pinned” to the top of her social media profile for two weeks, to Scotland in Union director Alastair Cameron and made the charitable donation after wrongly calling him a holocaust denier on social media earlier this year.
Combat Stress, Aegis Trust and Lumos will all receive a share of the funds Mr Cameron will receive from Ms McGarry after legal costs.
Her apology said: “On 6th March I tweeted that the Scotland in Union was headed by an ‘internet troll’ and an ‘outed holocaust denier’. I made a serious mistake and accept there is no truth in those statements and apologise unreservedly to Mr Cameron for any distress caused.”
Ms McGarry’s Twitter account is “locked”, however, so the apology can only be viewed by people she gives access to.
Nevertheless, Mr Cameron now considers the matter closed.
He said: “I am pleased to accept this apology from Ms McGarry and draw a line under this unfortunate incident.
“The payment Ms McGarry has agreed to make will go to three excellent charities which I have been involved with and I am delighted that some good will now come of this.
“Politics in Scotland invokes passion and strong opinion on all sides, particularly on social media. I hope this serves as a reminder to us all that we need decency and respect in our debate, whether we agree with people or not.”
Ms McGarry is an independent MP at Westminster. She resigned the SNP whip while police investigate an alleged disappearance of £30,000 from the bank account of Women for Independence, the group she helped set up in 2012.
In a statement about the settlement with Mr Cameron, her solicitor Aamer Anwar said: “Natalie McGarry has issued an unequivocal apology for her comments and that is the end of the matter- there will be no further comment.”
