Salvation Army worker who was sacked after saying migrants should be sent back 'on a boat' defiantly hits out: 'I am not racist!'

An employment tribunal was told his comments caused shock before he was then challenged by a colleague, who asked if that included a user of the hostel who was a refugee from Syria.

Mr Markie, 56, responded: "Yes, the lot of them."

Following the tribunal, Mr Markie told the Daily Mail: "I'm not a racist. One of the guys that I work with on a daily basis in the office is from South Korea. He was my friend at work, to call me racist is crazy. My mate from Turkey wanted to come to the tribunal with me. My solicitor said no and we would do it ourselves as we have enough so he didn't come."

He added: "I don't have any affiliation with any racist groups or have any negative views about people from other cultures or races."

The incident that led to Mr Markie's dismissal occurred during a discussion about changes to Dundee City Council's housing policy at the charity-run hostel, which accommodates migrants.

The tribunal heard he had become "aggressive and angry" during the exchange, with a colleague subsequently reporting the comments to line manager Tracey Young, hoping Mr Markie would be "pulled up" for what she considered racist remarks.

Mr Markie has vigorously defended his remarks, maintaining he was passionately advocating for Dundee's homeless population rather than expressing prejudice.

"I stand by what I said, I don't think I said anything wrong," he stated, though he denied making the "Yes, the lot of them" comment attributed to him.

He claimed to have supported hundreds of foreign residents throughout his career without any complaints about his conduct.

"It was stated in the tribunal that it didn't make a difference to me what nationality someone was," he said.

Mr Markie believes the charity's management seized upon his comments as a pretext for dismissal following an earlier dispute.

He alleges he had criticised managers for poor attendance and lack of support just weeks before the incident.

"They used my boats comment to sack me, it's as simple as that," he said.

Employment Judge James Hendry dismissed all three of Mr Markie's claims, unfair dismissal, direct sex discrimination and harassment, at a tribunal held in Dundee in September last year.

In his ruling published on December 31, Judge Hendry stated: "The evidence showed that the claimant's colleagues were shocked at the comment made, betraying, as they saw it, a complete insensitivity towards those that they were duty bound to help."

Service manager Karen Good, who chaired the disciplinary hearing, concluded Mr Markie had committed gross misconduct and that his remarks undermined trust in his ability to support refugees.

Mr Markie revealed the ordeal has severely affected his wellbeing.

He said: "Due to the impact on my mental health I've been signed off long term. So now I'm unemployed."