LABOUR have dropped a candidate who sent a "threatening" tweet describing Joanna Cherry as a terf.
Last week, Frances Carmel Hoole shared a crudely mocked picture of her holding a bottle of Cillit Bang pointing towards a decapitated Cherry, with the words “bang and the terf is gone”.
Terf is a controversial term which stands for “trans-exclusionary radical feminist” and is often used as an insult. The image sparked fury on social media.
READ MORE: Labour candidate apologises for Joanna Cherry 'threat' tweet
On Twitter, Hoole said: "I'm standing against 2 people in Edinburgh South West who have been completely complicit in this conversation becoming an upsetting reality. Joanna for SNP + Susan for the Tory's.
“It's a downward spiral + it always was.
“Here's to them both tasting the rainbow on 12th December.”
Cherry shared the image, tweeting: “Earlier this year I received a death threat & a storm of misogynistic abuse for defending #womensrights. The @scottishlabour candidate standing against me in #EdinburghSouthWest thinks it’s funny. I hope she will apologise & engage in respectful debate #GE19.”
Following the outrage she deleted the tweet, saying she didn’t “perceive” the image as a threat.
When The National asked Labour boss Richard Leonard yesterday if he thought terf was an acceptable term for a candidate to use, he replied “no”.
According to the Scotsman, a few hours later the party’s Executive Committee decided to remove Hoole as the candidate.
A Scottish Labour source told the Scotsman: "Frances is gone. She is young, and possibly was naive, but the toxic debate around these issues meant the posting of that image could not just be overlooked. We now have to find someone else to stand."
Hoole told the Evening News she was "genuinely really sorry" for posting the picture.
"I'm sorry about the violent content.
"I apologised about the actual content of the meme. It was silly, I posted it without looking very hard at it."
And she said if she continued as the candidate the issue would not go away.
"It's too big. I don't think it would do any good for it continuing to be brought up.
"The issue is more important than the mistake I've made.
"I don't want to continue with a campaign where I'm just talking about a picture instead of what's going on. That's a waste of everyone's time."
Cherry said it was the right decision.
"While it took time for Labour to act - they have reached the right decision in sacking their election candidate. Her abusive behaviour fell far short of what the public would expect of someone wishing to represent the people of Edinburgh South West.
"Labour has no prospect of winning here. This seat is a straight contest between a pro-Brexit Tory and the SNP. I will continue to work hard and fight for my constituents to stop Boris Johnson, stop Brexit and protect Scotland's right to choose its own future"
Hoole is the second Scottish Labour to have been ditched so far. The party deselected Bill Curran in Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross following a row over anti-semitism.
On his social media he claimed Labour had been “too apologetic” over the row about anti-Jewish sentiment in the party.
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