THE SNP has “pressed pause” on independence, one of the party’s MPs has claimed.
In an apparent swipe at Nicola Sturgeon’s leadership, Angus Brendan MacNeil said it was now time to “pivot away” from Brexit and focus on Scotland leaving the UK.
The Western Isles MP has previously criticised his party for dithering on its core aim.
On Wednesday, he defied Ms Sturgeon and the SNP whip to abstain on the idea of a second EU referendum when it was put an indicative vote in the Commons.
He and Perthshire MP Peter Wishart refused to back a People’s Vote in case it set a precedent that could be used to try and overturn a future Yes vote on independence.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon hits back after Jeremy Corbyn claims SNP helped put Thatcher in power
Mr MacNeil, who has been critical of the SNP leadership, made his latest claim on the SNP’s position on Thursday’s Alex Salmond Show on the Kremlin-backed channel RT.
Asked by presenter Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh if the SNP was campaigning harder for a People’s Vote than an independence vote at the moment, Mr MacNeil said: “I can see why people would say that, with the attention all on Brexit at the moment.
“Perhaps the way I’d like to put it is the SNP have perhaps pressed pause a little bit when it comes to independence and are pushing the revocation (of Article 50) or a People’s Vote a little bit more, and the emphasis has been on that.
“But I think it’s time for the SNP to pivot away from that. The SNP have done their best to bring order to the chaos.
“But, you know, if people frankly don’t accept order and want to continue with chaos, well it’s time for Scotland to get out and to be in the safety we Ireland in, or Denmark in, or whatever, and be an independent country.”
READ MORE: Alex Salmond takes swipe at SNP leadership over Indyref2
The remarks chime with concerns in the wider Yes movement that Ms Sturgeon, who has promised an update on Indyref2 in a "few weeks" for several months, is drifting on independence and failing to push for a fresh vote.
Tens of thousands of independence supporters marched across Scotland last year for Indyref2, but Ms Sturgeon was not among them.
However, she did address Saturday's rally for a People's Vote in London on Saturday.
The Scottish Greens have also been pushing the First Minister for an update.
She is expected to say more at the SNP conference at the end of April.
An SNP spokesperson: "The Westminster Brexit shambles is making the case for independence stronger by the day, and the SNP will continue to make that case vigorously."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel