THE Scottish Parliament’s official Twitter account has been unofficially nominated for “tweet of the year” after it accidentally labelled a Tory MSP a “potato”.
Stephen Kerr, the Scottish Conservatives’ education spokesperson, was seemingly branded a “potato with more vitamin C than a lemon” in a perhaps unvetted post.
It meant to highlight how Kerr had brought forward a debate on gene-editing, but instead drew attention for all the wrong reasons.
Graphic design like this is why I can never quit Twitter https://t.co/7agJhLytgP
— Eve Livingston (@eve_rebecca) November 8, 2022
“Brutal but fair,” Modern Money Scotland’s Cameron Archibald tweeted.
“And there was me used to be a fan of tatties,” the SNP’s Rosa Zambonini quipped.
“Not sure Stephen Kerr will thank the Scottish Parliament for this new biography,” Scotsman journalist Conor Matchett wrote.
Others suggested that Twitter – which has come under fire following Elon Musk's takeover – may be worth sticking with after all.
The Tory MSP responded in good spirits. "I've been called worse!" he joked.
Kerr has put forward a motion, to be debated in Holyrood, on the topic of "gene editing".
Under EU law, with which Scotland aims to stay aligned, genetic editing is classified as a form of genetic modification and is outlawed.
However, post-Brexit the UK Government is aiming to legalise gene editing in England, and has called on the Scottish Government to follow suit.
Kerr called on the Parliament to recognise "that scientists at the James Hutton Institute in Dundee have reportedly predicted that gene-editing technology could result in potatoes with more vitamin C than lemons being grown, and considers that Scotland could be left behind England in food production due to Scottish legislation prohibiting the use of gene editing in Scotland".
Under the Tories' Internal Market Act, gene-edited foods produced in England can be sold in Scotland, and they will not have to be labelled.
Scottish Government environment minister Mairi McAllan previously said this should not be the case.
