Newly-elected MP who crossed fingers during oath accused of putting on fake Scottish accent

Newly-elected SNP MP Lara Bird, who appeared to cross her fingers whilst swearing allegiance to King Charles, has been accused of putting on a fake Scottish accent.

Video recorded in January has emerged of the new Arbroath and Broughty Ferry MP speaking with an English accent. Ms Bird, who is half-Scottish, half-English, was raised in Scotland before studying at the University of Sheffield in 2018 and then moving to London.

“I think I prob-ably just picked up a bit of an accent when I was there and because I’ve grown up with an Eng-lish side of my fam-ily,” she told The Courier earlier this month.

Scottish Tories deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said of the resurfaced footage: “A cynic might question whether her attempt to disguise her accent is a reaction to the anti-English feelings many within the SNP harbour.”