Holyrood
Scottish Parliament Reuters

The Scottish National Party (SNP) has demanded that Labour takes action against a councillor from Aberdeen who made "offensive" and "hurtful" remarks on social media regarding one of his opponents, whose child suffers from autism.

Councillor Willie Young, who is Aberdeen City Council's finance convener, publicly accused SNP MSP Marc McDonald of using his autistic son and his family for political leverage.

Young said of McDonald that he was using his family as "political tools" regarding a state of the art school for children with learning difficulties.

The Twitter exchange happened last week but has since been brought to light after Young faced a social media backlash.

McDonald has been campaigning to raise awareness for autism since his son was diagnosed with the infliction in 2011.

McDonald has written to Labour council leader Jenny Laing to express his dismay at Young's comments, and demanded that she take disciplinary action againtst Young.

A Scottish Labour Party spokesperson has since said: "The content of Twitter messages from Councillor Young are his responsibility and a matter for him to comment on."

Young has apologised on Twitter for his offensive remarks, but McDonald has said that his apology is not enough.

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