Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe has been slammed after he described the Dunblane massacre as “one murder”.
The right-wing former Reform UK MP made the remark while being interviewed by Joe Rogan, the world’s most popular podcaster.
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The pair were discussing the ban on handguns in the UK, which was introduced following the killing of 16 children aged five and six, and their teacher, by Thomas Hamilton at Dunblane Primary School on March 13, 1996.
Another 15 children and three adults were injured before Hamilton killed himself.
Lowe told Rogan the ban was brought in “because there was a murder up in Dunblane”.
When Rogan then asked the Great Yarmouth MP: “One murder?”, Lowe replied: “One murder.”
Keir Brown, the SNP MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, said: “Rupert Lowe is a stain on our politics and his comments are beyond despicable.
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“Sixteen children and a teacher were shot dead while 15 more children were wounded.
“Despite these hideous remarks from Rupert Lowe, the Snowdrop Campaign that followed that terrible day ensured a ban on the private ownership of most handguns – that is the proud legacy of the bereaved families and the local community.
“Their courage and determination in the aftermath of the attack is something we should never betray and our community will never let the likes of Rupert Lowe do exactly that.”
Scottish Conservative MSP Stephen Kerr said: “One murder? Sixteen kids and their teacher were murdered. Fifteen other primary school children were wounded.
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“My children’s school, about 15 minutes from Dunblane, was locked down that day. They’ll never forget being kept in the gym hall until everyone learned the gunman was dead.
“They’ll never forget the teachers trying to hold themselves together while reassuring frightened children.
“To reduce that atrocity to ‘one murder’ is deeply insulting. It wasn’t a single murder. It was a mass murder. In a primary school.
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“Almost as disturbing was the tone – one of disbelief, even mockery, that anyone could respond by tightening gun laws.
“This wasn’t some obscure historical event. It happened in 1996, when Lowe was 38 years old.
“He should have known what happened on that terrifying day in Dunblane.
“For anyone who remembers that day, hearing it dismissed so casually is genuinely shocking.”
Lowe told Rogan that he was opposed to the UK’s strict gun laws.
“Effectively, they are trying to make that very difficult through the licensing laws for guns,” he said.
“My father used to shoot pistols for Oxford University and he’s dead now, bless him, but all his pistols were taken away, the pistols he used to shoot with at Oxford University. I mean, we now have a society which needs radical change.”
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A Restore Britain spokesman said: “Rupert was clearly referring to one incident.”
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