SUSPENDED MP Angus MacNeil has said the SNP needs to be “prioritising independence over the party”.
The Na h-Eileanan an Iar MP, had the whip removed for a week after being involved in a clash with SNP chief whip Brendan O’Hara at Westminster.
He subsequently announced he would sit as an independent MP until at least the party conference in October, but the SNP have now suspended his membership.
MacNeil told the Sunday National he believed it was a “price worth paying” to put the SNP’s strategy on independence into “sharp focus”.
He said: “I think it’s a bit strange to be suspended for being very pro-independence and for pointing out that the ‘emperor has no clothes’ with some of the policies that have been allegedly pursued in the last number of years.
“The other point is I haven’t left the SNP and I really hope the SNP aren’t leaving me permanently because that’s the problem that Labour had in Scotland.
“Labour left their voters and left their people – the people didn’t leave Labour.”
He added: “We’re an independence party, and we should be prioritising independence over the party. And this hasn’t been happening for a while.
I shall not now be seeking to rejoin the Westrminster SNP group until at least October. Meanwhile I will sit as an independent MP. pic.twitter.com/XcU5LGQJeF
— Angus B MacNeil MP🇺🇦 (@AngusMacNeilSNP) July 12, 2023
“In fairness Alex Salmond started that because he had to get the party into a position where we could do things.
“But now we’re in a position where we could do things, we’re choosing not to do things.”
In a statement last week, MacNeil said he would only seek the SNP whip again if it is “clear the SNP are pursuing independence”.
First Minister Humza Yousaf (below) recently outlined plans to fight the next General Election – which must be held no later than January 2025 – on independence.
However MacNeil said he believes an early Holyrood election should be used – despite recent polls which suggest SNP support has dipped.
“Basically, you could see that the culture was more settle down at Westminster than applying ourselves to independence,” he said.
“And the most obvious way to get to independence and that’s not being considered and not actively discussed amongst SNP politicians is an early Holyrood election.
“Now I know the SNP have messed up in several policy ways with the Greens there on HPMAs and GRR and the deposit return scheme and all the rest of it.
“But you can set all that aside that if you want.”
He went on: “That’s the point of having a poll – it’s not about politicians gambling. It’s about asking the public what they want.
“And if enough polls are showing that people want independence, and we know that during the campaign for it support will grow, we owe the people to at least ask them.”
MacNeil said if a Holyrood election was to be called tomorrow for a date such as October 19 – which had been previously proposed for a referendum – it would electrify “not just Scotland, but all of Europe and possibly the world”.
“In a UK election, the media story is not going to be about Scotland,” he argued.
“I think if we were truly exciting people, we wouldn’t have as many people standing down. We’ve got to be frank and honest about that.
“You know why would you be standing down if the most exciting thing in in your political life was about to be was about to be put to the people?
“If you really thought that was happening, you’d be you’d be there,” he added.
The MP said independence for Scotland is not a “preordained given” and had to be made to happen, adding “we’ve got to give ourselves a wake up here”.
Asked when he thinks it might now happen, MacNeil responded: “This is not my power, it’s in the collective power of MSPs and MPs.
“So when is it going to happen? It’s going to happen when firstly the elected politicians are determined to make it happen and are determined to shape events and not be shaped by events.”
The SNP said on Friday that MacNeil had been advised that he was in breach of the party’s code of conduct by his decision to resign from the SNP Westminster parliamentary group.
It added the matter has been referred to the SNP Member Conduct Committee after he did not take up the offer to rejoin the SNP parliamentary group.
MacNeil has said he will seek re-election either as an SNP or independent candidate, and insisted he has no plans to join Alba.
Asked if he was concerned he may not be allowed back into the SNP, he said politics is “the art of compromise”.
“So whatever dogma is emanating from SNP headquarters today can be tomorrow’s compromise,” he added.
And he said the SNP’s action in suspending him for a week which had led to his current situation had been a “useful catalyst”.
“In the end, I may have to write them a letter and thank them,” he added.
