A Labour student group that branded all police officers ‘b……s” on Twitter has been forced to remove the post after a backlash.
Scottish Labour Students deleted the post excusing its insult as a “clumsy” use of language but has failed to apologise to police officers for the offence caused.
The row erupted this week when the group’s chairwoman re-tweeted a post about a trans march in London where activists complained about police tactics which said: “To be clear: ACAB.”
The acronym is well known to stand for ‘All cops are bastards” and is often linked to protests about police brutality.
The post was re-tweeted by SLS chairwoman Mariam Shaaban following a trans rights march in London on September 12.
Activists complained on social media after the march was cut short because of Covid regulations on mass gatherings.
The re-post prompted a backlash on line from tweeters, one branded it a “disgrace” while another said the group would “alienate the large, large majority of voters” and a third said the group was “utterly repugnant”.
Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard described the post as an “outrageous statement to make”.
Following the backlash the student group deleted the tweet and posted a statement on Twitter.
It said: “We have deleted a prior tweet as it snowballed to itself becoming the story. Its original point was to show support for London Trans Pride attendees in the face of police shutting down the event.
“We are sorry for our clumsy use of language obscured the real issue and apologise to our trans comrades who have our support now and ever.”
Ian Austin, chairman of Mainstream UK, said: “Every day thousands of brave men and women in the police force put their lives on the line to protect us.
“Scottish Labour Students are in a position to influence young and impressionable youngsters and should take that responsibility seriously, not use their platform to promote extreme views.
“It’s hard to know what is worse about the tweet – that they shared it or the fact that they are only sorry for overshadowing the issue of trans rights with their offensive tweet.
“Scottish Labour Students owe every police officer in the country a profound apology and should make that now.”
On its website, Scottish Labour Students said it was an affiliate of the Labour party.