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MP Quits Post Over Spoof Hitler Video

MP Quits Post Over Spoof Hitler Video

A Labour MP has quit a party post after lampooning Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond in an online parody of the Nazi film Downfall.

Tom Harris posted a clip of the German-language film on YouTube but altered the subtitles to mock Mr Salmond.

The Hitler character in the film is seen over-reacting to negative news, and in Mr Harris' version this was meant to imply he was angry with SNP MSP Joan McAlpine.

Ms McAlipine has suggested Labour and the Liberal Democrats were "anti-Scottish" over a planned referendum on independence.

Defending his actions, Mr Harris said: "The video I posted has been a well worn joke used to parody a range of public figures.

"However, context is everything and in the context of Johann's [Lamont, Scottish Labour leader] and my desire to improve the level of political debate on social media and the context of Joan McAlpine's much more serious statements about all political opponents of the SNP being anti-Scottish, my actions have been an unhelpful distraction for which I apologise."

He said he would step down from a review into the party's use of social media.

An SNP spokesman said the video was "silly, negative nonesense".

There have been dozens of versions of the Downfall spoof in recent years, each time the same clip is altered so the subtitles relate to a topical event.

In 2009, a version about the-then prime minister Gordon Brown became a viral hit.