TELEVISION presenter Neil Oliver has announced that he will step down from his post as president of the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) this September.

The news comes after Oliver was found to have liked anti-Black Lives Matter content online and praised David Starkey despite his history of "aggressive racism". 

However, the TV personality claims that he was always going to hold the post for just three years, and had previously planned to step down later in 2020.

READ MORE: Neil Oliver to step down as NTS president after David Starkey row

Coincidence or not, for many Scots the news couldn't have come sooner, although some still complained that even September is too long to wait. 

Sharing The National's story, one Rhiannon GillEasbuig wrote: "Step down now!

"You are helping to damage the reputation of the NTS, and so many Scots refuse to renew their membership with you as president.

"We need action now, not in a few months time when it’s too damn late."

Many pro-independence supporters claim to have stopped their NTS membership because of Oliver's presidency. As such, it is hoped that the resignation may bring new life to the struggling trust. 

Scots actor Robbie Crossan wrote: "NTS have finally removed @thecoastguy [Oliver] as head of the company. They should never had hired [him] in the first place.

"Like loads of true Scots I will happily be renewing my membership now he’s gone."

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Agreeing, Graham Ellery wrote: "Not as if Neil Oliver has not tended to upset folks. Good news he is standing down. NTS can now hopefully plan their covid recovery and go from strength to strength. Hopefully his replacement will be an ambassador for Scotland ... Brian Cox?"

The sentiment was shared by author JR Tomlin, who wrote: "Neil Oliver to step down as NTS president after David Starkey row. This is good news! Now if the NTS will stop acting as a British Nationalist mouthpiece we will have made some progress."

But while some to Oliver's defence, saying it was "nationalists" who had driven him from the post, others were quick to point out it was not that he was a Unionist that was people's biggest issue with him.

"As you have been told repeatedly, Neil Oliver drove himself out of civil society, by sticking up for racist statues and loving racist historians. It is all on him," one Iain Nicol wrote.

Another wrote: "Last time I checked Neil Oliver got criticised for openly supporting people with racist views. Funny how everything gets turned into nationalist issues?? But thanks for implying every nationalist has issues with racists."

Others took issue with Oliver's latest documentary, Scotland and the Klan, which "explores the possible links between racism in America's Deep South and the Scottish settlers that first occupied it", according to the BBC website.

"Didn't you just do a documentary about the KKK originating with Scottish emigrants to the US South, @thecoastguy?

"So disappointed in you", one wrote, with another adding: "So, are we looking forward to the next BBC programme fronted by Neil Oliver trolling the majority of Scots? What to expect?

"'William Wallace was Hitler's big influence for Nazi Germany'? 'Scots were the world's first fascists'? 'Coastal erosion is caused by nationalism?'"

Here are some more of the best reactions:

Finally one Alan Calderwood speculated on what might be next for Oliver. "Presumably [he's stepping down] to spend more time with his hair," he wrote.