SCOTLAND'S pre-eminent historian has spoken out after TV host Neil Oliver was quietly removed as the face of a tour service.
As The National reported on Friday, Oliver has been quietly axed from City Sightseeing Glasgow, where he previously provided English language commentary and had his portrait featured on the side of the service’s buses.
Now, leading historian Sir Tom Devine has responded to Oliver being dropped by the tour guiding business, saying the GB News host had taken a slot which could have been filled by a real historian.
Devine told The National: “It has taken some time for Oliver’s name to be removed from the city’s tourist buses. Now that it has finally happened, I am pleased.
"He is not a historian. Scotland is currently awash with excellent historians, any one of whom could have been selected as the face of this tourist campaign.
“I suspect the decision to delete his image is partly to do with the fact that he has become a much more controversial figure in recent years because of his eccentric opinions on politics and other issues, which have undermined his former public standing.”
Oliver has descended into the realm of conspiracy theories in recent years, claiming Covid lockdowns are part of a new world order and that vaccinations can give people "turbo cancer".
He called the prospect of a new independence vote “cancerous” and most recently had one of his YouTube videos blocked by the platform for using antisemitic language.
His involvement with the tourism service has long been questioned, given his fierce support of the union and Glasgow’s majority-Yes vote in 2014.
West Coast Motors, the firm who operate the City Sightseeing Glasgow tour bus service, did not respond to requests for comment.
