Humza Yousaf backs suspension of SNP rebel Fergus Ewing
- Published
Fergus Ewing was suspended after voting against the government in a no-confidence motion
Humza Yousaf has rejected Fergus Ewing's claim that the SNP no longer puts Scotland first after the veteran MSP was suspended from the party's group at Holyrood.
The first minister backed a "proportionate" one-week sanction against the rebel backbencher.
Action was taken against Mr Ewing after he voted against the government in a no-confidence motion.
The former SNP minister said his "conscience is clear".
Following the vote, he suggested that the party no longer prioritised "country and constituency".
Mr Ewing has two weeks to appeal his suspension - which was backed by 48 votes for and nine against at an SNP group meeting - before the punishment begins.
Mr Yousaf said he did not vote due to illness and because he was confident the party would agree to the "proportionate" recommended sanction.
"My hope is that Fergus - someone who I like, admire, respect, worked with very closely with when I was transport minister for example, comes back into the party," he said.
The first minister welcomed "diversity of thought" within the SNP but said Mr Ewing had breached party rules.
He said: "People should represent their constituents but if you're a member of the SNP elected on the SNP ticket there is of course standing orders, there are rules that you have to abide by as an SNP MSP and he was in breach of those."
Mr Yousaf added: "Fergus Ewing and other members of the SNP should continue to speak fearlessly."
First Minister Humza Yousaf has backed the decision of SNP MSPs
Mr Ewing, speaking after first minister's questions, said he would have to consider his next steps after being suspended, including whether he would rejoin the SNP group.
"The point of having a parliament is having MSPs that are willing to speak out and sometimes that means one has to speak out in a very strong way in order to get your message across," he told reporters.
At FMQs, the Inverness and Nairn MSP raised the issue of the delayed project to dual the A96, which he described as a "life and death" issue.
"These things are more important than the future of Fergus Ewing," he said. "The future of Fergus Ewing is not something that matters much at all."
The SNP MSP faced action after voting against Green minister Lorna Slater in a no-confidence vote tabled by the Conservatives in June over her handling of the deposit return scheme.
'Clear conscience'
Mr Ewing said: "What's really important to me is that I carry on the job that I've done. And what I can say to you is that I have a clear conscience.
"There is no way that I could have supported the continuance of any minister in office that failed so lamentably on the deposit return scheme."
Mr Ewing said he would continue to vote against the government "if my conscious told me that I must".
Mr Yousaf said his government had invested significantly in the A9 project but that it had to "reprofile" the timeline.
Mr Ewing was supported by his sister and fellow SNP MSP Annabelle Ewing, former party leadership contender Kate Forbes and MSP Christine Grahame following Wednesday's vote.
SNP MP Joanna Cherry, who has been a vocal critic of the Scottish government's gender recognition bill, criticised the suspension.
She described his frequent criticism of the government as "the product of years of inadequate debate in our party about policy making".
Mairi McAllan defended the sanction against Fergus Ewing
Transport Secretary Mairi McAllan said she "fundamentally" disagreed with Ms Cherry.
"It is something I certainly would expect to be the outcome if I had done what Fergus did," the minister told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland
"It is part of a normal party mechanism in a democratic system."
Mr Ewing, who served as rural economy secretary under Nicola Sturgeon, has criticised Scottish government policies on gender recognition reform and Highly Protected Marine Areas, as well as attacking ministers over a lack of progress on dualling the A9.
Last month, he rebelled against the government in a vote over calls for a 12-month delay to a short-term lets licensing scheme.
Mr Ewing, who has been an MSP since the Scottish Parliament was created in 1999, also called for a fresh SNP vote on the 2021 power-sharing Bute House Agreement with the Scottish Greens, who he described as "extremists".