Edinburgh councillor hits back at 'serious allegations' over 'vile' tweets

Edinburgh Live

2 days ago

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An Edinburgh councillor has disputed claims that he called for the death of the man behind one of Scotland's most well known pro-UK accounts on X
Cllr David Key, who represents the Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart ward, made the original post on X (formerly Twitter) back in February, when he said: "I see that Effie Deans is no longer with us (on Twitter anyway) Agent P next please", reports The Scottish Daily Express.
A crying emoji was added to the text after the Effie Deans reference and a high five emoji. Effie Deans was the nom de plume of a Scottish political blogger, whose output suddenly stopped in November 2024 after more than 12 years.
Some have speculated that the person behind the blog must have passed away, although their identity has never been made public. Fellow pro-UK personality, Agent P, also keeps his identity out of the public domain.
After being alerted to the post, Agent P responded: "Imagine an SNP Edinburgh councillor tweeting that they want you to die. It's vile and completely unacceptable – made worse by the fact that my council tax helps pay his salary. How disgusting".
But Cllr Key – who served 25 years in the Royal Navy – has insisted that his post was not "disrespectful" and then tagged in a fellow councillor – Iain Whyte, the Conservative group leader on Edinburgh City Council.
He wrote: "As you well know, my comment was about "Effie" and you leaving Twitter, nothing else. It is, quite clearly, not disrespecting a member of the public. PS if you're going to make serious allegations like this then please come out from behind your cloak of anonymity @CllrWhyte".
It is not clear if he is suggesting that Cllr Whyte, who represents Craigentinny/Duddingston, is in fact the man behind Agent P, or whether he simply wants the Conservative group leader to be alerted.
The exchange didn't stop there, with Agent P hitting back: "Don't insult everyone's intelligence – we all know exactly what you were implying. My anonymity isn't up for your approval either. And just so you remember: I fund your salary, not the other way around. Coming from a public servant, your tweet was a disgrace."
The spat has now served to put the spotlight on the disappearance of Effie Deans. On her blog, Lily of St Leonards, she writes that she began blogging in 2012 during the early years of the 2014 referendum campaign.
The 'About Me' section states: "My name is Effie Deans. I was named after the character in the novel Heart of Midlothian who is also known as "The Lily of St. Leonards". That's the reason for the blog name. I live in Aberdeenshire. Prior to that I lived and worked in Russia and the Soviet Union where I met my Russian husband.
"Because I lived in a closed city in the USSR where foreigners were not allowed I had to adopt both my husband's surname and a Russian first name. This is still the name I use professionally. But friends and family have always known me as Effie Deans."
Some followers have pointed to an obituary and donations page posted online for a lady named Effie Deans who passed away in Callander in Perthshire on September 21, 2024. However, the blog continued until November 6, 2024.
The final post – which you can read by clicking here – was a piece about the "tendency in certain Scottish nationalist circles to obsess about the Scottishness of vegetables" and the fact that Donald Trump – whose mother hailed from the Isle of Lewis – is "never Scottish".