A Lanarkshire man who taught his girlfriend's dog to raise its paw in a Nazi salute is to stand for election to the Scottish Parliament.
Mark Meechan, who was found guilty in 2018 for posting material that was “grossly offensive” and “anti-Semitic and racist in nature” in an offence aggravated by religious prejudice, will contest the Motherwell & Wishaw seat. It is currently held by the SNP's Clare Adamson, with a majority of more than 6000.
Known on youtube for his videos under the name of Count Dankula, Meechan will be standing for the Scottish Libertarian Party.
The party's website claims: "We all know that government is a cancer.
"But it will not go away by simply ignoring it. If our people are not there throwing a spanner in the works then it will continue to tax you and make illiberal legislation that it will force you to comply with."
Our sister paper, The Daily Record, approached Meechan for confirmation on whether he was standing for election. He said: "It's just some extremely handsome guy with the same name as me."
And when asked why voters should back him in May, he replied: "I think everyone deserves freedom of speech, individual liberty and autonomy over their own bodies and lives.
"The current Scottish Government is not only not delivering that, but actively trying to prevent it, because protecting their own power matters more to them than the human rights of the people they are supposed to serve."
