SNP's Lara Bird denies faking Scottish accent and says she's 'laughing off' criticism after Parliament appearance

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The MP for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, was sworn in at Parliament last Monday, but made headlines after clips emerged on social media of her appearing to speak with an English accent.

It contrasts her swearing-in video, where she has a distinctive Dundee brogue, but Ms Bird told Lewis Goodall on Sunday that her accent has flipped between nations in the past.

She also hit back at social media users who criticised her for wearing knee-high boots and a dress in Parliament.

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Responding to her accent claims, Ms Bird said: "It's something that has happened my whole life.

"My dad is Scottish and I grew up in Scotland, but my mum is English and I have an English side of my family as well, and I studied in London for a few years and lived here too.

"So it's not something I've ever been shy about. It's not something I've ever declined to speak about. In fact, during my campaign, I did an interview with a local journalist where we discussed my background and my accent.

"The idea that it's something that I've I tried to hide is not true at all. I don't think that it's particularly unusual. In Scotland we have such a wonderful variety of accents and dialects and languages.

"I did once meet a group of Swedish people and suddenly I could hear my accent changing and having a Swedish lilt, which was very strange."

Ms Bird, 28, also faced backlash for crossing her fingers whilst being sworn in at Parliament and for her choice of clothing where she wore a knee-high boots and dress.

The footage sparked controversy, with one user commenting on X: "You shouldn’t be an MP if you’re going to disrespect the House and can’t take your oath properly."

But hitting back at the critics, Ms Bird said: "I've had more comments this week about the shoes that I was wearing or the jewellery that I was wearing, and I've not even made a political contribution in the chamber yet.

"So can you imagine what people are going to say when I do start talking about things I want to talk about? Which might upset them more.

"I don't think that this is a particularly good demonstration of wanting to attract people from different backgrounds, different, you know, ages, different genders into politics, which I think is really important.

"I think that's something we really need to do.

"A lot of what has happened over the last week, I can laugh off, and that's absolutely fine. I'm not going to let it stop me doing the job that I was sent here to do."

The SNP added that she understood criticism of the crossing of her fingers but said she would have done it again, in the same way Labour MPs have done previously.

She said: "I crossed my fingers because I wanted to take that oath in a way that made it clear that my allegiance and loyalty was to my constituents and the people that had put me in Westminster and had put me in that position to represent them.

"And so I wanted to take that oath, and I wanted to do it in a way that made it clear to them that they will always be my priority."

"Actually, what I've heard from my constituents is that they're proud of the way that I took my oath, and they're happy about the fact that I did so standing up for them."