disgruntled: marc macrae, who was election agent for the snp’s westminster leader angus robertson, said the party showed compassion for the lockerbie bomber but ostracised him  a former snp aide claimed the party treated him ‘worse than a terrorist’ after his cancer diagnosis and has urged scots to vote tory marc macrae, who was election agent for the snp’s westminster leader angus robertson, said the party showed compassion for the lockerbie bomber but ostracised him mr robertson, who is co ordinating the nationalists’ general election campaign, has not even contacted him to ask how the treatment has gone, he claimed like abdelbaset ali mohmed al megrahi – who killed 270 people in december 1988 by blowing up pan am flight 103 – mr macrae was diagnosed with prostate cancer but while the libyan terrorist was flown home to spend his final years with his family, mr macrae said he was cruelly ditched he is now backing tory candidate douglas ross, a local councillor, to oust mr robertson in moray ‘my vote is for douglas,’ mr macrae said ‘we need independently minded people at westminster who can make up their own minds’ he has undergone two operations and has not worked since being parliamentary assistant to environment minister richard lochhead in february 2013 before that, he did the same job for mr robertson, also in the party’s office in elgin, moray, and considered both men to be among his closest friends but after his diagnosis in 2013 he claims colleagues in the party accused of him of a lack of commitment to the cause, when in fact he was simply trying to battle cancer ‘i became very disillusioned with the party because of the way they treated their own members i had been a very supportive nationalist since i was young,’ he said ‘but i was diagnosed with cancer in 2013 and was then treated like a leper by fellow members ‘i was ostracised – from being very popular to no one speaking to me people were saying there was nothing wrong with me, that i just wasn’t interested in the cause’ he started working for mr robertson in 2008, before moving to mr lochhead’s office in 2011 in january 2013, mr macrae went to the doctor after experiencing prostate problems and was given tamsulosin, which is prescribed for an enlarged prostate, while tests were carried out he suffered from fatigue and struggled at work before being signed off in may that year on his doctor’s advice when the cancer was finally diagnosed in october his gp wrote to mr lochhead, but mr macrae says the minister never got in touch to offer support message: mr macrae, pictured with alex salmond, claimed the snp   treated him ‘worse than a terrorist’ after his cancer diagnosis and has urged scots to vote tory  fortunately, mr macrae did not require chemotherapy and underwent two operations in september and october last year, in which the prostate and surrounding lymph nodes were removed he has since been given the all clear he added: ‘i’ve never heard from angus he never contacted me to see how i was doing, how the treatment was going, not one single word if i see other snp members, they physically ignore me it feels very much like they’ve been ordered not to speak to me ‘a convicted terrorist who had the same cancer as me was shown compassion by the snp, but i was given the cold shoulder’ critics say mr macrae’s case is yet another example of the callous way the snp can treat even its own supporters margo macdonald, who died last year after a long battle with parkinson’s disease, was thrown out of the party after challenging the leadership, before becoming a popular independent msp her husband jim sillars was once a close ally of former first minister alex salmond but found himself exiled for years before a reconciliation during last year’s referendum campaign for mr macrae, the future is now looking brighter not only is his cancer in remission but the 48 year old divorced father of one is getting married in the summer, as is 32 year old mr ross change of heart: the former snp member is now backing tory candidate douglas ross, a local councillor, to oust his former boss angus robertson in moray  comparison: like abdelbaset ali mohmed al megrahi – the lockerbie bomber, left and right   mr macrae was diagnosed with prostate cancer   but mr macrae said the terrorist treated better than him by the party  the tory hopeful has the support of the lib dems and ukip as part of a cross party tactical voting bid to oust mr robertson despite the snp flying high in the polls, mr ross, who was the tory election candidate in moray in 2010, believes he can pull off an upset he said: ‘people are looking for a change in representation being the best placed of the unionists, i can take support from various parties’ he added: ‘the way marc has been treated while dealing with a very difficult illness is shameful’ linda gorn, who fought moray four times for the lib dems, is urging supporters to back mr ross ‘i’m supporting douglas in this election because of the way he stands up for his constituents on moray council and across moray as a whole,’ she said donald gatt, who stood in moray for ukip in 2010, added: ‘moray is a two horse race between douglas ross and angus robertson’ last night, mr robertson said: ‘mr macrae fell out with the snp some time ago and even stood as a candidate against the snp in a local by election at a time of rising support for the snp in moray and across scotland it is unsurprising that he is now backing the tories’
marc macrae snp westminster angus robertson macrae tories
marc macrae says the snp ditched him when he fell ill with prostate cancer . he was election agent for party's westminster leader angus robertson . claims snp questioned commitment while he was fighting illness in 2013 . mr macrae is now backing the tories   and wants them to beat his old boss 