THE decision by BBC presenter Kaye Adams to read out a text comparing an SNP campaign slogan to the Holocaust is “unjustifiable”, according to an MP.
Concerns have been raised after Adams opted to share a listener’s comments on BBC Radio Scotland which equated the SNP’s message of making Scotland “Tory-free” to Hitler’s ‘final solution’, alluding to the Nazi plan to eliminate Europe’s Jewish population.
SNP MP Dr Philippa Whitford told The National that the decision to amplify the “appalling” comment and treat it as trivial was a “shocking” move by Adams.
She added it would offend Jewish people and people like her husband, whose mum is Polish and suffered during the Second World War.
Whitford said: “I think it was outrageous [the decision to read out the comment].
READ MORE: BBC Scotland: Jamie Hepburn hits back at question about 'Tory-free' message
“This person didn’t phone in and say this live on the radio, they sent in an outrageous comment and she chose to read it out.
“Nothing like that was raised when Douglas Ross said we need to get rid of the SNP. It’s quite clear what it means [the slogan]. It means trying not to have Tory MPs in Scotland and to imply it means the elimination of Conservative voters is just utterly outrageous.
“The Holocaust under the Nazis was such a horrendous thing. To use it in a trivial way is appalling and really offensive to Jewish people.
“It’ s also very offensive to my German husband. His mother was Polish and his family suffered in the war. He found [it hard] in 2014 when we [the SNP] were called Nazis.
“Using these atrocities in a trivial way to make a political point is appalling and for a BBC commentator to choose to amplify that comment is unjustifiable and quite shocking.”
Reading out the comment from a listener named John, Adams said: “Slowly getting rid of all political opposition, this is the rhetoric of the 1930s, says John.
"What about the 700,000 Scots who vote Conservative, are their political viewpoints to be marginalised from Scottish society and ultimately banned from expressing their opinion?
"Is this Humza’s 'final solution for dealing with the Tory problem'?”
The line is a reference to the Nazi slogan "Endlösung der Judenfrage" – the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question". The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum says this phrase describes "the deliberate and systematic mass murder of European Jews".
The BBC has been approached for comment.
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