MP Angus MacNeil expelled by SNP after chief whip row

MP Angus MacNeil has been expelled from the SNP after he was suspended from its Westminster group last month.

The Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Western Isles) MP had been suspended after reportedly clashing with party chief whip Brendan O'Hara.

The SNP conduct committee met on Thursday after he refused to rejoin the group at the end of his suspension.

The party confirmed that Mr MacNeil was expelled after a breach of their code of conduct.

Mr MacNeil said he would stand as an independent candidate at the next general election.

Speaking to BBC Scotland News, Mr MacNeil reiterated that he had not left the SNP and that he had been expelled in an "ad hoc" manner by a committee on Thursday night.

He said the party had "lost its way quite badly" and criticised a number of policies championed by the Scottish Greens, including gender reform and Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs).

However he said the SNP's main problem was "not personalities", adding: "The real problem the SNP have got is not being serious about independence and believably serious about independence.

"Jobs at Holyrood are far more important than creating an election that might give the people the chance to get away from… anything that's associated with the difficulties in Westminster.

"It's in the SNP's gift to do something about it and it's chosen not to take that opportunity and that's what I find very frustrating."

• SNP 'clueless' about independence plan - MacNeil

• SNP MP suspended following clash with chief whip

During an event at the Edinburgh Fringe, First Minister Humza Yousaf told broadcaster Iain Dale that Mr MacNeil's expulsion was the correct move.

He said: "The party did not leave him. He left the party. He wrote a statement to say he left the party.

"Regardless of length of service as a politician, you were elected on party ticket and you can't pick and choose when you are in or out of party. We should all be held to same standard.

"Joanna Cherry demonstrates how we can have differences and remain within party."

Angus MacNeil was one of the SNP's longest-serving MPs, having first been elected in 2005, but has been a vocal critic of the party leadership in recent years, particularly over its independence strategy.

He was involved in a row with chief whip Mr O'Hara in July over missing votes in the House of Commons.

It was alleged he had threatened Mr O'Hara during a confrontation - an allegation Mr MacNeil denies - and he had the whip removed for a week.

Leadership attack

Following the falling-out, he announced he would sit as an independent MP until at least October.

His membership of the party was suspended as he refused to immediately rejoin the SNP group.

He then released a statement attacking the SNP leadership's approach to independence, accusing it of a lack of urgency. "I will only seek the SNP whip again if it is clear that the SNP are pursuing independence," he wrote.The SNP's code of conduct requires members who resign from a party group - at any level of government - to also resign as a member of the parliament they were elected to.

A party spokesperson said: "Following his decision to resign from the SNP Westminster Parliamentary Group, and therefore no longer sit as an SNP MP, the unanimous decision of the SNP's Member Conduct Committee is that a breach of the code of conduct has occurred and Angus MacNeil MP has been expelled from the Party.

"Mr MacNeil was given the opportunity to rejoin the group, and subsequently chose not to attend the hearing."

Scottish Conservative deputy leader Meghan Gallacher said Mr MacNeil's expulsion was evidence of "civil war engulfing" the SNP and questioned the first minister's ability to manage party conflicts.

She said: "Humza Yousaf cuts a weak, inconsistent figure - a leader in name only, being buffeted by events rather than shaping them."

This saga brings to an end Angus MacNeil's 18-year SNP representation of the Western Isles at Westminster.

A colourful character and well-liked across the political divide, he's not made any secret of his frustrations about the party's independence strategy. Things have now come to a head.

Mr MacNeil will stand as an independent candidate at the next general election, after a year languishing on the green benches as an independent.

This will cause another headache in the constituency for the SNP - possibly splitting the pro-independence vote against a Labour candidate that is said to be liked and respected locally. He is Torcuil Crichton, the Daily Record's former Westminster editor.

More fundamentally for SNP leader Humza Yousaf, this expulsion further tears open divides in the party that had been almost masked under the Sturgeon leadership.

The SNP already faces a by-election following the recall of Rutherglen MP, Margaret Ferrier

Furthermore, Mr Yousaf could face internal dissent at SNP conference in October. We've already heard this week rumblings against the SNP's deal with the Greens.

Angus MacNeil is said to have been an SNP member for almost 30 years. For the first time in a generation, he will not be able to attend the conference now he's been expelled from the party.