Ex-SNP MSP to sit as independent after 'no genocide' row

John Mason plans to step down as an MSP at the 2026 election

An MSP expelled from the SNP over social media posts about Israel has "very reluctantly" decided not to appeal against the decision.

John Mason had the whip removed in August after posting on X that there was "no genocide" in Gaza.

The Shettleston MSP plans to sit as an independent until the 2026 Holyrood election, before stepping down from parliament.

At the time of the suspension, an SNP spokesperson described his comments as "utterly abhorrent".

'Less tolerant'

In a statement announcing his decision, Mason said: "The SNP when I joined it was a ‘big tent’ or ‘broad church’ type of party, allowing a wide variety of views within it, as long as there was a commitment to Scottish independence.

"However, it does seem to have become less tolerant and narrower over the years and is not as inclusive as it used to be."

However, he said it was for members to decide the direction of the party.

The MSP added: "I do not think that my spinning out the process even longer would be to anyone’s benefit. Therefore, I have very reluctantly decided not to appeal."

He said he "totally disagreed" with the decision of the party's conduct committee to expel him.

Mason, an SNP MSP for 16 years, was given 21 days to appeal. If successful, he could have been reinstated.

He was previously reprimanded by the party for defending anti-abortion protests outside clinics.

Mason began his political career as an SNP councillor in Glasgow. He was later elected as an MP Glasgow East before entering Holyrood in 2011.

He thanked former colleagues, including ex-party leaders Nicola Sturgeon and the late Alex Salmond, for their support during his SNP career.

John Mason thanked former SNP leaders Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond

Mason said he would “continue largely supporting the SNP group at Holyrood and voting with the party as much as possible”.

He added: “I hope it is clear that while the SNP may be rejecting me, I am not rejecting the SNP and I will do what I can to encourage constituents and others to vote for the party in elections at all levels.”

The SNP confirmed that Mason had informed the party's national secretary that he did not intend to appeal his expulsion.

The MSP has repeatedly stood by his assertion that Israel is not carrying out a genocide in Gaza.

'Completely unacceptable'

Last week, he told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland: "Lives have been lost, desperately sadly, as they have been in Ukraine, as they have been in every war.

“But there is a difference between war and genocide and to say that every war is genocide is not the way we use that word.”

At the time of his suspension, a spokesperson for the SNP chief whip said: "To flippantly dismiss the death of more than 40,000 Palestinians is completely unacceptable.

"There can be no room in the SNP for this kind of intolerance."

About 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage during Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023.

Since then, more than 42,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.