A SCOTS Tory MP has been forced to issue an apology to an SNP rival after he misrepresented his opponent’s views on social media.

Stephen Kerr deleted a contentious video clip which appeared to show that Neil Gray had not answered a question about what the Scottish Government was doing in terms of social security.

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But Gray, who holds the SNP’s social justice brief at Westminster, did respond to Kerr’s point as the two locked horns in the Commons saying ministers in Edinburgh had brought in measures to exempt Scots from having to pay the bedroom tax.

However, Gray’s reply was removed when the clip of the exchange was posted on Twitter by Kerr and instead showed Kerr saying “I got no answer to my repeated question.”

The Stirling Tory MP yesterday appeared to concede Gray’s position, deleting his controversial post and issuing a message about the exchange which happened during a Commons debate earlier this month.

I deleted a tweet which referenced a parliamentary exchange with @NeilGrayMP on the 5th February. Even though we are political opponents, I would not wish him to feel I was impugning his character or reputation. I am genuinely sorry that he was so clearly offended by my tweet. — Stephen Kerr MP (@stephenkerrMP) February 27, 2018

He tweeted: “I deleted a tweet which referenced a parliamentary exchange with @NeilGrayMP on [February 5]. Even though we are political opponents, I would not wish him to feel I was impugning his character or reputation. I am genuinely sorry that he was so clearly offended by my tweet.”

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Some on social media though suggested the apology was rather half-hearted. Peter Grant, the SNP MP, posted on Twitter: “Are you genuinely sorry that you tweeted something that was clearly untrue?”

The apology followed Gray raising the matter with the Speaker on February 20. “On a point of order, Speaker ... I seek your advice on the public actions of a Member of this House. During a debate on February 5 on social security, the hon. Member for Stirling whom I have notified of this point of order, intervened on my speech to ask a question, which I was happy to answer.

“It later came to my attention that he had taken a video clip of his intervention and removed my reply, before stating publicly: ‘I got no answer to my repeated question’ ...

“By posting that clip and suggesting I had not answered his question, he misrepresented the proceedings of this House, and he directly challenged my character and reputation.”

Gray then asked: “I wonder whether this type of behaviour is acceptable according to you, Speaker, or to the code of conduct.”

The Speaker responded that care should be taken when using clips of exchanges not to misrepresent the proceedings.

“I might add that it is one thing for a Member to post a clip of what he or she has said, but to add evaluative commentary or to imply the absence of a reply to a point that Member has made could fall into the category of knowingly misleading,” he said.

He suggested that Gray could write to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards if he wanted to pursue the matter further.