Why the Scottish Government switched off comments on intranet article marking Holocaust Memorial Day

Emails released under Freedom of Information legislation show civil service management made the decision in the days leading up to January 27 this year.

The article on Saltire, the intranet system used by Government staff, promoted an online event featuring Holocaust survivor and author Peter Lantos, whose family was deported to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

In an email to Andrew Bruce, director of communications and ministerial support at the Scottish Government, and Nicola Richards, director of people, a civil servant - whose name is redacted - recommended comments be turned off.

They said: “We are concerned that this article could attract comments or debate linked to the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza, which could be deemed as: inappropriate and could provoke or offend others; discriminatory; likely to result in distress and alarm; not adhering to the value of impartiality set out in the civil service code. On that basis, and subject to your agreement, we recommend that the comments facility is switched off for this article.”

The civil servant said this mirrored the approach taken on an earlier blog, adding: “For awareness, D&I [diversity and inclusion] colleagues have advised that colleagues will be required to submit questions for the panel in advance and these will be moderated. The event host, [deputy director] Lorna Gibbs, will brief participants in advance of the questions and cameras will face the speakers only and not the audience.”

Replying on January 26, Mr Bruce thanked his colleagues “for the careful work that has gone into the planning”. He said: “I’m sure this would happen anyway, but please can you ensure that colleagues from the relevant policy teams/staff networks associated with the event are aware of the decision to switch off comments.”

The Saltire comments and moderation policy says comments will only be switched off in “some rare instances”.

“The Saltire comments facility is turned on by default, except in limited circumstances to ensure we meet our duty of care as an employer to support colleagues in the workplace,” the policy says.

Conservative MSP Jackson Carlaw said: “It’s deeply depressing to think that SNP ministers don’t seem able to trust their own Scottish Government staff not to make offensive comments in relation to the Holocaust.

“The Holocaust was an incredibly dark chapter in human history and the Memorial Day is an important opportunity to remember its victims and try to ensure genocides will become a thing of the past. Surely every right-minded person should be able to agree on that?

“Events in the Middle East have fuelled a rise in anti-Semitism here in recent months, and now more than ever Scotland’s Jewish community needs reassurance. That means public figures, including some SNP politicians, being careful and even-handed in how they express themselves.”

Earlier this month, SNP minister Angus Robertson was forced to apologise after his decision to meet with an Israeli diplomat met with an internal party backlash.