A ROW has broken out after a long-serving councillor used a Nazi slogan during a committee debate.

Councillor Gerry Convery was accused of shouting “Sieg Heil” at a meeting of South Lanarkshire’s executive committee after the chair tried to stop members speaking over each other.

The Labour politician has admitted using the phrase – but insisted he said it in a “low tone” and accused another councillor of making a “mountain out of a molehill” after she raised a formal complaint.

SNP councillor Katy Loudon has now written to Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard urging him to take further action.

She said: "There's absolutely no place for offensive language such as this in public life in Scotland.

"Chanting a well-known Nazi slogan at a colleague during council proceedings is completely inappropriate.

“It falls well below the standards people expect of elected councillors, and is certainly not something which can be lightly shrug off as humour.

"Cllr Convery should apologise, and Labour should consider appropriate disciplinary action against him."

In her letter to Mr Leonard, she said Cllr Convery "was heard to shout 'Sieg Heil!', a well-known Nazi slogan, at the chair" when he called members to order.

It comes just months after Labour suspended the party’s South Lanarkshire group leader, Davie McLachlan, over racism claims.

He allegedly told Scottish Labour leadership contender Anas Sarwar that Scotland wasn’t ready for a “brown, Muslim Paki”.

Meanwhile, the UK Labour party has faced repeated complaints of anti-Semitism within its ranks.

Cllr Convery admitted he used the Nazi slogan, but insisted there was no malice behind his words.

He said he made the "totally unacceptable" remark in frustration during a debate on clothing grants for poor families.

He told The Herald: “I never shouted Sieg Heil at the chair. I did use those two words. It was out of frustration. I immediately retracted it. It was a stupid thing to do.

“The chair never heard it. I said it in a low tone. I did not stand up and point my finger.”

He accused Cllr Loudon of making a “mountain out of a molehill”, adding: “It was totally out of character. I have been a councillor for 23 years. There was no thought to it; there was no malice to it.”

But he said he understood why some of his colleagues had taken offence. He added: “I would have fought the Nazis every day of the week.”

Cllr Convery said he would personally apologise to South Lanarkshire Council leader John Ross, who was chairing the debate.

A South Lanarkshire Council spokesman declined to comment.

Scottish Labour said it would consider whether any further action is required.