A prominent pro-independence blogger has been accused of indulging in "homophobia" towards the secretary of state David Mundell.

Stuart Campbell, who runs the Wings over Scotland website, made comments about Mundell and his son, a Conservative MSP, Oliver Mundell on Twitter.

The secretary of state became the first serving Conservative cabinet minister to ever publicly state he was gay last year.

Mr Campbell tweeted: "Oliver Mundell is the sort of public speaker that makes you wish his dad had embraced his homosexuality sooner."

The Bath-based blogger is a prominent figure in the alternative media scene in Scotland and regularly receives thousands of pounds in donations from supporters.

Mundell branded the tweet homophobic on Twitter.

He said: "This sort of behaviour has to be called out.

"We are not going to face down homophobia unless we call out people who practice it.

"I am just pleased to see so much support for my stance."

Mr Campbell said he was not acting in a homophobic manner towards the Conservative minister.

He tweeted: "I have no problem with offending Tories. There wasn't an ounce of homophobia in it, however."

He said later: "Killing the poor and disabled is fine, but jokes on Twitter are immoral. F*** those c****."

In response to the comments, Oliver Mundell said: "They were absolutely disgusting and unacceptable. I get a lot of abuse online.

"There are certain individuals you don't want to give oxygen to but sometimes comments people make just cross the line.

"For other families who have gone through similar situations comments like that make it more difficult for people to be who they are.

"I don't think that's the kind of Scotland anyone wants to live in."

The Conservative MSP also called on the SNP to "call out" Mr Campbell for his actions.

He said: "There are lots of reasonable people within the independence movement. But there are still some unpleasant figures who get given air time by senior people within the SNP.

"This is is an individual who has interacted with SNP MSPs and MPs, and distributed material in last independence campaign.

"There is duty for all of us in politics to call out those within their own ranks who are offensive and unpleasant."

An SNP spokeswoman said:"There is no place in our society for inappropriate behaviour, offensive language or abuse of any kind.

"We abhor homophobia and always condemn it and any comments which can be construed as such."