SNP MSP says party Nato rebels should quit Holyrood

Thursday 25 October 2012

A senior SNP politician is calling for two former colleagues to leave parliament after resigning from the party in protest at the decision to back Nato membership.

Christine Grahame, who convenes Holyrood's Justice Committee, said Jean Urquhart and John Finnie must step down.

Both MSPs were elected on the regional list for the Highlands, meaning they took their seats to represent support for the SNP, not as individuals.

Ms Grahame said: "On the list, you are in on a strictly party vote because, after all, it is there to give proportional representation of the votes cast for the SNP in a region. "Accordingly, if you remove yourself from the party you should remove yourself from the parliament. "Members of the Scottish National Party have a code of conduct, and it says at paragraph 12 that if you remove yourself from the party you are duty-bound to remove yourself from any office you are holding, such as local government or parliament." The effect of their resignations from parliament would mean lower ranking candidates on the SNP list could automatically be elected. But both MSPs said they had no intention of resigning and are likely to maintain their positions on Holyrood committees, which were gained as members of the SNP. Lower-ranked SNP candidates from the 2011 election include Drew Hendry, who is the SNP group leader on Highland Council, Mhairi Will and Highland councillor Richard Laird. A decision by a councillor to take up the position could force a local by-election to the local authority. The party resignations were made in light of a controversial vote on Nato at the SNP conference in Perth on Friday last week. The leadership narrowly faced down an internal rebellion over its attempt to overturn long-standing opposition to the nuclear-armed military alliance. The u-turn means that the SNP would now apply to keep Scotland in Nato if it is elected to lead the first post-independence government.

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SNP MSP says party Nato rebels should quit Holyrood

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