Families of Scots soldiers killed by the IRA are 'furious' at John Swinney's talks with Sinn Fein at separatist summit, says Russell Findlay

Families of Scottish soldiers killed by the IRA are ‘furious’ at John Swinney ’s decision to stand shoulder to shoulder with Sinn Fein at a separatist summit, according to Russell Findlay. The Scottish Conservative leader said he has heard directly from families of IRA victims who have condemned the First Minister’s failure to acknowledge the nationalist party’s links to the terrorist organisation. He claimed that Sinn Fein is a party ‘soaked in blood’ but Mr Swinney has refused to call for them to condemn all terrorist acts. At the summit on independence in Cardiff last month, Mr Swinney sat alongside Sinn Fein’s vice president Michelle O’Neill and president Mary Lou McDonald, as well as Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth, to talk up the case for separation in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland . Mr Findlay said he has spoken to multiple families of military personnel who have died because of IRA terrorism. He told the Mail: ‘They are furious. They believe that the First Minister for all of Scotland is not even willing to acknowledge what Sinn Fein has represented and in some ways continues to represent. ‘This is a political party soaked in the blood of Scottish soldiers and the blood of innocent men, women and children and John Swinney cannot just gloss over that or overlook that in his pursuit of separation. ‘I think he at the very least owes it to them to say why this is justifiable. I would lay down the challenge to him today to come out explicitly and say that I’m entitled to work with the democratically elected party of Sinn Fein but I would urge Sinn Fein to denounce the tactics of the IRA, the murder and the terrorism and the bombings of the IRA. ‘They find it inappropriate, hurtful and unsavoury that he’s got anything to do with them.’ (Left to right) John Swinney, Rhun ap Iorwerth, Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O'Neill have pledged to work together on common goals Mr Swinney previously came in for criticism when he suggested people should 'move on' from The Troubles in Northern Ireland At First Minister’s Questions last month, Mr Swinney was forced into insisting he opposes terrorism but refused to call on Sinn Fein to denounce the actions of the IRA. He also previously came under fire for saying people need to ‘move on’ from the Troubles. Mr Findlay said: ‘We all understand the necessity of the Good Friday Agreement, the Conservative Government was central to that process, and we also understand that Sinn Fein are a democratically elected party. 'What sticks in the craw is that John Swinney is willing to agitate for the break-up of the United Kingdom with a party that has never denounced the murder of thousands of innocent people, including Scottish soldiers. ‘I put to him whether he has or will ask his new friends in Sinn Fein to do the right thing and say that violence is never justifiable and he dodged that question. I suspect deep down John Swinney is perhaps conflicted. 'I don’t believe for a minute he has any sympathy with the murderous IRA terrorists who caused so much pain and suffering for decades but he is so consumed by his lifelong desire to break up the country that he has found a pretty unsavoury bedfellow in Sinn Fein, and I don’t know if that will sit wholly comfortably with him.’ In an interview with BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast on Tuesday, Mr Findlay said Scotland needs to ‘move on’ from debates about independence and said that there is ‘no appetite’ for another referendum.