Leader of Restore sparks outrage over comment about Dunblane massacre

Rupert Lowe has caused backlash after he claimed the 1996 Dunblane school massacre as ‘just one murder’.

The leader of the far-right Restore Britain party appeared on the podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, where he made the comments during a conversation about gun control.

Lowe, who is also the MP for Great Yarmouth, told Rogan: ‘As you probably know, they banned handguns in the late 90s because there was a murder up in Dunblane.’

Rogan then asked: ‘One murder?’, to which Lowe replied: ‘One murder.

‘So, everybody, my father used to shoot pistols for Oxford University and he had, he’s dead now bless him, but he had… all his pistols were taken away, the pistols he used to shoot with at Oxford University.’

In reality, 17 victims – 16 pupils and one teacher – were killed when Thomas Hamilton, 43, entered the gymnasium of Dunblane Primary School and opened fire. 15 more were injured.

Hamilton also took his own life during the incident.

The mass shooting is the deadliest in UK history and prompted a national debate about the UK’s gun laws, paving the way for the Snowdrop Campaign, which resulted in two Firearms Acts banning the private ownership of most handguns.

Emma Crozier was one of the victims in the shooting, and her family has criticised the Restore Britain leader.

Speaking to Sky News, her brother, Jack Crozier, 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.’

Among the survivors was former tennis player Andy Murray, who was eight at the time of the shooting.

He and his older brother Jamie, then 10, had been making their way to the gymnasium when Hamilton began his attack, and hid under a desk in the headteacher’s office to stay safe.

In his 2008 autobiography Hitting Back, Murray said he ‘could have been one of those children’ killed.

‘Some of my friends’ brothers and sisters were killed,’ he wrote.

‘I have only retained patch impressions of that day, such as being in a classroom singing songs.’

Murray had previously attended a youth group run by Hamilton and his mum had even given the killer lifts in her car back from the sessions.

‘It is just so uncomfortable to think that it was someone we knew from the Boys Club,’ he added. ‘We used to go to the club and have fun. Then to find out he’s a murderer was something my brain couldn’t cope with.’

Metro has contacted Robert Lowe for comment.