HUMZA Yousaf will not suspend Fergus Ewing from the SNP after he claimed that Yes would lose an independence referendum due to his government’s “extremist” policies.
The First Minister told journalists at the launch of an independence white paper on citizenship that no one was “going to be expelled or punished for criticising me as leader or criticising the party’s direction on certain positions”.
It comes after Ewing spoke against the SNP’s deal with the Greens on the Holyrood Sources podcast, where he also claimed there was a “toxic” atmosphere within his party’s group at the Scottish Parliament.
Asked about Ewing’s comment’s, Yousaf said that he had not experienced any toxicity in the SNP group.
“There is pretty robust debate, it’s fair to say,” he added.
“There’s always going to be disagreements in a party of 75,000, a party that has as many elected members as we do, disagreements about strategy.
“And Angus Brendan MacNeil, Fergus Ewing, they’ve been long-term critics of the deal we’ve done with the Greens. But I will always go back to the point that the deal was endorsed by 90% of those who voted from our membership.”
MacNeil, the MP for the Western Isles, is currently sitting as an independent at Westminster after he refused to retake the SNP whip until the party shows urgency on independence.
Ewing however retains the SNP whip at Holyrood, despite refusing to back Scottish Green Minister Lorna Slater (below) when the Tories moved a vote of no confidence in her.
Asked if Ewing might yet be suspended, Yousaf said: “Look, there is an important question around party discipline which of course any political leader has to take seriously. Matters of discipline will be discussed when the group reconvenes of course post-summer.
“But people aren’t going to be expelled or punished for criticising me as leader or criticising the party’s direction on certain positions. People always look to adhere to the standing orders that apply to me just as much as they apply to Fergus or Angus MacNeil.”
Asked if there was more unrest in the SNP now than five or 10 years ago, the party leader said it was hard to quantify.
He went on: “There’s a section of our group, it’s relatively small, Fergus Ewing chiefly, who publicly disagree with the direction of travel in relation to our cooperation with the Greens, but no I don’t think it’s any more or less.”
Speaking to the Holyrood Sources podcast, Ewing had said: “I’ve reached the stage now where I can see very clearly that I know what needs to be done, I respect others that disagree with me, but I’m certainly not going to be deterred simply because there’s a bit of a toxic atmosphere amongst the SNP group in Holyrood.”
The former cabinet secretary went on to say he did not believe Yes could win a referendum in the next few years, owing to “extremist” policies such as gender self-identification, HPMAs, and the deposit return scheme.
