ENGLISH journalist Rod Liddle said he was boycotting the Highlands after Finance Secretary Kate Forbes urged people not to visit during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Spectator writer branded the MSP a "ghastly woman" and, using all of his expert scientific knowledge, insisted the Highlands is a good place for urban dwellers to self-isolate.
He said the more we "disperse" around the UK the safer we'll all be. Except obviously if you have the virus it's highly infectious before you even show symptoms - so when you "disperse" around the country you're really spreading Covid-19. But enough logic, let's get back to Liddle.
Liddle's answer to politicians like Forbes and Angus MacNeil warning against coming from elsewhere to self-isolate in the Highlands and Islands was to throw his teddy out of the pram and suggest a full-blown boycott of the area.
However he probably didn't get the response he was looking for when it emerged the rest of Scotland is keen for him to boycott their area too ...
One person suggested Liddle could self-isolate from Scotland as a whole (which is an idea with much potential.)
Doug Daniel tweeted: "Quite happy for Rod Liddle for permanently self-isolate from Scotland."
Quite happy for Rod Liddle to permanently self-isolate from Scotland. https://t.co/gFxoob6Bkf
— Doug Daniel (@DouglasDaniel) March 23, 2020
And there were similar sentiments from Twitter user WG Saraband, who posted: "Ron Liddle is boycotting the Scottish Highlands? Any chance that he boycotts the whole of Scotland? Please, please, please? We'd be so incredibly grateful if he never set foot here, nor the people who think he is an example of anything good, ever again."
And Stirling MP Alyn Smith begged Liddle to boycott his own constituency.
Smith posted: "Happy to do all I can to ensure Rod Liddle boycotts Stirling also."
Happy to do all I can to ensure Rod Liddle boycotts Stirling also. https://t.co/Rgl5Ic488E
— Alyn Smith MP 🏴🇪🇺🏳️🌈 (@AlynSmith) March 23, 2020
One SNP councillor in Ayrshire directed his request to Liddle AND his Spectator colleagues.
Tony Gurney wrote: "To be clear - Rod Liddle, Fraser Nelson and the rest of their nasty hard right clique at the appalling Spectator should also not head for Ayrshire. Thank you."
To be clear - Rod Liddle, Fraser Nelson and the rest of their nasty hard right clique at the appalling Spectator should also not head for Ayrshire. Thank you. https://t.co/OtZo8K2sbe
— Tony Gurney (@tonygurney) March 23, 2020
And many, many other social media users criticised Liddle's flawed public health advice.
Surely by the end of today, there will be calls for Liddle to boycott all of Scotland's 32 local authority areas ...
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