Stirling MP Chris Kane has led a wave of condemnation against Restore Britain MP Rupert Lowe after the Great Yarmouth politician described the 1996 Dunblane school massacre as 'one murder' on the Joe Rogan podcast. Sixteen children and teacher Gwen Mayor were killed in the attack at Dunblane Primary School on March 13, 1996, with 15 other children wounded.
Podcast comments spark outrage
During the podcast episode, Lowe discussed UK gun laws, telling Rogan: 'If you don't have a farm, you'll find it very difficult to get a gun of any kind. Even if you have a farm.' He continued: 'They don't want the public to have guns. As you probably know they banned handguns in the 90s, right in the late 90s, because there was a murder up in Dunblane.' When Rogan asked 'One murder?', Lowe replied 'One murder.'
Lowe added that his father, who shot pistols for Oxford University, had all his pistols taken away. The comments have provoked fury across the political spectrum, with local politicians and community figures denouncing the remarks as deeply disrespectful.
Chris Kane's parliamentary response
Stirling and Strathallan MP Chris Kane submitted a point of order in the House of Commons, stating that Lowe's comments caused 'profound offence' and 'diminished' those who lost their lives. The point of order read: 'The people of Dunblane responded not with division, but with dignity, compassion and a determination that no other community should endure such horror. It is because of their courage, and the united action of this House, that the United Kingdom has some of the strongest firearms laws in the world and an ongoing cross party approach to ensuring those protections will not be weakened.'
On social media, Kane added: 'Like most reasonable people, my initial reaction to Rupert Lowe's comments was one of fury and disbelief. However, unlike Mr Lowe, many of us have thankfully chosen to take the lead of the courageous parents and families forever touched by the Dunblane Tragedy and from the community that I am both proud and humbled to represent. They have conducted themselves with dignity, with a desire to unite people rather than to divide them, and in the hope that generations to come will be protected in a way that 16 – yes sixteen, not one - innocent five and six year olds and their teacher Mrs Mayor were not.'
Keith Brown and Stephen Kerr react
Dunblane MSP and SNP deputy leader Keith Brown said: 'Rupert Lowe is a stain on our politics and his comments are beyond despicable. 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.'
Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Stephen Kerr, whose children attended a school near Dunblane and were in lockdown during the attack, said: 'Rupert Lowe's comments are astonishingly insensitive and profoundly disrespectful to the victims of Dunblane, their families and everyone in Scotland who remembers that horrific day. To describe Dunblane as 'one murder' is not simply inaccurate – it diminishes one of the darkest days in Scotland's modern history. Sixteen children and their teacher were murdered, and fifteen other primary school children were wounded.'
A Restore Britain spokesman told the Record: 'Rupert was clearly referring to one incident.'
