Read on Twitter
I’m used to nasty hatchet jobs on me. Its been a particular feature of my experience in politics. Often they come from a position of ignorance from those who have never spoken with me & wish to distort something I’ve said by taking it wholly out of context
Today’s piece in the Herald is fairly . Typical. Perhaps Mr Smith didn’t read or understand my original column? https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/19000771.independence-joanna-cherry-nationalist-view-history-raises-worrying-vision-future/
Fortunately the Irish Times did & here’s their piece. Typical of the consistently high quality of their journalism https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/first-d%C3%A1il-could-be-template-for-scottish-independence-says-mp-1.4453639
The Irish Times understood that I was referring to the legal & constitutional method by which the Irish Free State was constituted. Why can’t Mr Smith understand that?
If we can’t have broader intellectual discussion of political ideas without this sort of ill informed backlash it’s not a good thing for Scottish public life nor debate nor indeed for #FreedomOfSpeech
There is much that is wrong with his column but my beef is he writes from a position of ignorance regarding my background. Irish citizen. Daughter of an Irish woman and of a historian. Brought up steeped in Irish and Scottish history.
So it is Mr Smith’s column which is based on ignorance and distortion not mine. I don’t expect an apology but I’m pleased to put my position on the record
