A Labour election candidate has been sacked after a string of "offensive" comments he posted on Twitter appeared in a newspaper.
Stuart MacLennan, who was hoping to stand in the Moray constituency, reportedly branded the elderly "coffin dodgers" and posted a series of foul-mouthed rants about politicians, including Tory leader David Cameron and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg.
The announcement of his sacking came less than an hour after Labour's leader in Scotland, Iain Gray, said he still had the backing of the party.
A Scottish Labour spokesman said Mr MacLennan had been axed as the candidate for Moray for "the totally unacceptable language which he has expressed online".
He added: "On reading the comments in full, the Scottish Labour Party was outraged by their content and Scottish Labour's General Secretary took the decision to suspend his membership of the Labour Party.
"Stuart MacLennan is no longer a Labour Party candidate nor eligible to hold office as a Labour Party representative."
Following his sacking, Mr MacLennan said: "I am very sorry. I have been stupid and rightly paid a high price."
Out on the campaign trail, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "A candidate has made a mistake. It's unacceptable. That candidate has got to resign.
"I have made it absolutely clear what my views are: we cannot have people standing as candidates for the Labour Party who express these views, so that candidate will not be a candidate for the Labour."
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