THE MP suspended by the SNP for six months for posting anti-Semitic material online has claimed he has been "tortured" by his punishment.
Neale Hanvey, currently the Independent MP for Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath, also told BBC Scotland he experienced an "internal moral panic" as he does not feel he holds bigoted views about Jewish people.
He said he never meant to cause offence and was "earnestly trying to make amends" by working with the Antisemitism Policy Trust to better understand the issue.
In a separate written statement, Mr Hanvey said he had also taken steps “to build constructive relationships” with representatives of the Jewish community at Westminster.
Mr Hanvey was the SNP candidate in Kirkcaldy for the general election until he was suspended by the party on November 28.
It emerged he had previously promoted an article online about the Hungarian financier George Soros which depicted him as a puppet-master, a classic anti-Semitic trope.
He issued an “unequivocal apology” for what his “dreadful errors of judgment”.
After a disciplinary hearing last weekend, the SNP told Mr Hanvey on Tuesday that he would be suspended for six months back-dated to the initial action against him in November.
It means he will be readmitted to the SNP on May 29, provided he completes a course on anti-Semitism and apologies to the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities.
Mr Hanvey said: “As has now been widely reported in the media, I have been informed of the outcome of my meeting with the SNP’s Member Conduct Committee which took place on Saturday.
“Whilst the details of the sanction applied are now known, the party have been clear with me that this is a private internal matter, so it follows that I will respect that position of confidentiality.
“I am therefore unable to comment further on the details of the decision.
“I have independently taken steps to build constructive relationships with representatives of the Jewish community in Parliament, and I am very grateful for their support and guidance.
“To assist me with this I began a course of study some weeks ago which I hope to complete shortly.”
Despite being suspended by the SNP in the election, Mr Hanvey won in Kirkcaldy thanks to a crowdfunder appeal and it being too late to remove the SNP logo next to his name on the ballot paper.
He defeated Labour’s Lesley Laird, the then deputy leader of Scottish Labour, who was defending a majority of just 259 votes.
Since winning by a majority of 1,243 votes, Mr Hanvey has sat and voted in Westminster alongside SNP MPs, pending his return to the party fold.
An SNP spokesperson said: "The decision of the Member Conduct Committee is open to appeal and so we cannot make any additional comment as this stage. As was said at the time of Mr Hanvey's suspension, there is no place for anti-Semitism in the SNP or in our society."
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