Fury as Rupert Lowe describes Dunblane school massacre as ‘one murder’
The leader of the right-wing Restore Britain party has been blasted for dismissively describing the Dunblane school massacre as "one murder" and questioning the ban on handguns in the UK.
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Rupert Lowe, MP for Great Yarmouth and a former Reform politician, made the "insensitive and inaccurate" remarks when he appeared on leading US podcast the Joe Rogan Experience.
Discussing gun laws in the UK Mr Lowe said government restrictions on licences were because "they don't want the public to have guns".
He then goes on to say handguns were banned in the late 90s because "there was one murder up in Dunblane.
"One murder... so everybody.. my father used to shoot pistols for Oxford University and he had all his pistols taken away... we have a society which needs radical change, and we need to release the individual."
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The Dunblane massacre, which took place 30 years ago, saw the killing of 16 pupils and one teacher, while another 15 were injured. The shooter also killed himself.
It was the deadliest mass shooting in the history of the UK and ignited a mass campaign to tighten gun licensing and have private ownership of handguns banned.
His comments have sparked fury.
Kenny Ross, who lost his five year old daughter Joanna, told LBC: "The ignorance of some people when it comes to the Dunblane massacre... they don't realise how devastating it was and how we have a far safer society because there is no longer private gun ownership.
"Thirty years have passed and people forget what we had to go through and I wouldn't want anyone else to go through that. It's people like him that are very ignorant and selfish."
Jack Crozier, whose sister Emma was also killed said: "Rupert Lowe’s father had his pistols taken away. My father had his daughter taken away.
"He knew exactly what happened at Dunblane. He made an active choice, on one of the world’s biggest podcasts, to describe the massacre of 16 five and six-year-old children and their teacher as “one murder.”
"The people of Great Yarmouth need to seriously consider if this is who they want representing them."
Dunblane MSP, the SNP's Keith Brown, said: “Rupert Lowe is a stain on our politics and his comments are beyond despicable.
“16 children and a teacher were shot dead while 15 more children were wounded.
“Despite these hideous remarks from Rupert Lowe, the Snowdrop Campaign that followed that terrible day ensured a ban on the private ownership of most handguns - that is the proud legacy of the bereaved families and the local community.
“Their courage and determination in the aftermath of the attack is something we should never betray and our community will never let the likes of Rupert Lowe do exactly that.”
Scottish Conservative MSP Stephen Kerr said Mr Lowe needed to apologise for his "astonishingly insensitive and profoundly disrespectful" comments.
“To describe Dunblane as ‘one murder’ is not simply inaccurate – it diminishes one of the darkest days in Scotland’s modern history. Sixteen children and their teacher were murdered, and fifteen other primary school children were wounded.
“There is no excuse for reducing the murder of sixteen children and their teacher to ‘one murder’."
He added: “What makes his remarks even more disturbing is the dismissive tone in which they were delivered. That tragedy changed Scotland forever. To speak so casually about an event that still causes such profound pain is both callous and indefensible."
Mr Kerr said his own children attended a primary school just 15 minutes from Dunblane primary and the school was locked down on the day of the shooting.
"They’ll never forget being kept in the gym hall until everyone learned the gunman was dead. They’ll never forget the teachers trying to hold themselves together while reassuring frightened children.
"To reduce that atrocity to “one murder” is deeply insulting. It wasn’t a single murder. It was a mass murder. In a primary school.
"Almost as disturbing was the tone – one of disbelief, even mockery, that anyone could respond by tightening gun laws.
"This wasn’t some obscure historical event. It happened in 1996, when Lowe was 38 years old. He should have known what happened on that terrifying day in Dunblane. For anyone who remembers that day, hearing it dismissed so casually is genuinely shocking.
“People across Scotland will be appalled to hear Rupert Lowe speak so ignorantly about an event that remains etched in our national memory. He should withdraw those remarks and apologise.”
Mr Lowe's comments came after comedian Mr Rogan began the conversation by complaining how no-one in the UK is “armed over there”, following a discussion about people being arrested for social media posts.
Restore Britain was asked if Mr Lowe would be explaining his remarks or issuing an apology. A party spokesman said: "Rupert was clearly referring to one incident."