THE US embassy has been told to correct “lies” told by vice president JD Vance about Scotland.
It comes after Vance falsely claimed that the Scottish Government had made it illegal for people to pray in their own homes.
The US vice president said last week: "This last October, the Scottish Government began distributing letters to citizens whose houses lay within so-called 'safe access zones', warning them that even private prayer, within their own home may amount to breaking the law.
"Naturally, the Government urged readers to report any fellow citizens suspected guilty of thought crime.”
Now, Scottish Green MSP Gillian Mackay, who spearheaded the legislation which Vance was referencing, has written to the US embassy urging them to correct the record.
“What JD Vance said about my Safe Access Zones Act was completely wrong,” Mackay said. “He either knows nothing about it and chose to speak about it anyway or he knew exactly what he was doing and was happy to lie about it.
“Either way, he has misrepresented the bill and spread dangerous misinformation about the laws in Scotland, and that needs to be corrected.
“I hope that the US embassy will correct the record both for Mr Vance and, more importantly, for the millions of people who will have seen his false and grossly misleading claims.”
Mackay urged the US embassy "to correct the record and release a statement making clear that nobody is at risk of arrest for private prayer in their home and never has been, and clarifying that what VP Vance said does not represent the views of the US embassy".
Jane Hartley served as the US ambassador to the UK during Joe Biden’s presidency, but stepped down ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration in January.
The US does not seem to have yet appointed a replacement. The official US embassy website shows a 404 error instead of the page where its news updates are supposed to be.
Multiple attempts to contact the US embassy’s press office via phone were unsuccessful.
