St Johnstone probe MacPherson over Tommy Robinson post

St Johnstone FC are investigating after midfielder Cammy MacPherson shared a post on social media by far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

The 25-year-old retweeted a film made by the English Defence League founder, in which he repeats false claims he made about a refugee that led to him losing a libel case in 2021.

Fans of the club voiced anger over the post on social media - after which MacPherson removed the retweet and made his X profile private.

The BBC understands St Johnstone has been made aware of the matter and is dealing with it internally.

It comes after violent unrest involving far-right groups in cities across England and Northern Ireland over the last week.

Police officers have been injured, places of worship attacked and businesses set on fire - including a Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, near Rotherham, used to house more than 200 asylum seekers.

The disorder began the night after three young girls were killed in a knife attack at a dance class in Southport.

Convicted criminal Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has since posted about "pro-UK" rallies in cities including Glasgow next month, saying "the British are rising".

MacPherson reshared a post by Yaxley-Lennon from 27 July, two nights before the stabbing, promoting his film as "Britain's banned documentary".

St Johnstone supporters were quick to voice their disapproval.

One fan wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "When you’ve got lots of good people as Saints do trying to build an inclusive club, having your starting midfielder retweeting [expletive] Robinson is absolutely minging."

Another said: "Seeing Cammy MacPherson retweeting bile from Tommy Robinson confirms the boy’s an absolute clown as well as a hopeless footballer, quicker he is out the team the better."

Yaxley-Lennon - an anti-Islamist activist - is the subject of an arrest warrant after leaving the country on the eve of a major legal case against him.

His Twitter account was suspended in 2018 as the company accused him of breaking its rules on hateful conduct.

However he was reinstated on the platform last year after it was bought by Elon Musk.

Earlier former Twitter executive Bruce Daisley said that Mr Musk was "largely responsible" for bringing Robinson back onto the platform.

He said this had amplified Robinson's voice "to the extent that he has gone from really the bargain basement of politics to being one of the biggest names orchestrating potentially this ongoing racial conflict".

He added: “So I think Elon Musk is playing a pretty pivotal role, and it's why it's such a challenge to try and to prohibit or to regulate what he's actually doing right now.”