Skene cannot read my father’s mind, says Johnny Grimond
Ryan TaylorThe son of the late Liberal stalwart Jo Grimond has described Danus Skene as “presumptuous” after the SNP candidate accused the Lib Dems of failing to hold true to his father’s principles.
Johnny Grimond criticised Mr Skene after the now nationalist claimed that Mr Grimond would not have supported the current Liberal Democrat party in a short interview which is available on YouTube.
During the film, Mr Skene accuses the Lib Dems of abandoning the principles “on which Jo stood”, adding that “Jo would be pretty dissatisfied” with the current party.
Mr Grimond said his father had come to know Mr Skene when he stood for the Liberals.
“I’m not saying there wasn’t some common ground over the years, but I think the person who’s shifted is Danus. I don’t think that he has any right to presume to be able to read my father’s mind and say that my father would no longer be loyal to today’s Liberal Democrats.
“I don’t think he would have changed his tune about nationalism, Scottish nationalism and the union. He thought about this so much during his life and he wrote about it.”
Mr Skene insisted he had respect for Johnny Grimond, that they had exchanged correspondence with one another and had “agreed to differ”.
“Jo died in 1992 before devolution. I’m not, emphatically not, claiming that Jo was an advocate of independence. What I am saying is that his political criteria, which had considerable influence on me, led me to a yes vote.”
Full story in tomorrow’s Shetland Times.
