SNP Nato rebels set to defy call to give up seats

TWO rebel MSPs who quit the SNP over the decision to join Nato look set to remain in parliament, despite calls for them to go.

Nationalist backbencher Christine Grahame, who convenes Holyrood’s justice committee, said Highland MSPs Jean Urquhart and John Finnie should step down.

Both were elected on the regional list for the Highlands and Islands, meaning they took their seats to represent support for the SNP, not as individuals.

Ms Grahame said: “On the list, you are in on a strictly party vote because, after all, it is there to give proportional representation of the votes cast for the SNP in a region.

“Accordingly, if you remove yourself from the party, you should remove yourself from the parliament.”

She said that the SNP’s code of conduct states that “if you remove yourself from the party, you are duty-bound to remove yourself from any office you are holding, such as local government or parliament”.

The pair shocked the SNP on Tuesday when they announced they would be leaving because their strong anti-nuclear beliefs were not compatible with a “first-strike nuclear alliance”
 like Nato. But sources close to both MSPs last night said they would not be leaving parliament.

Another Nato rebel, the Central Scotland MSP John Wilson, confirmed yesterday that he would not be leaving the party, although his councillor wife has quit. North Lanarkshire councillor Frances McGlinchey said she “did not see a place” for herself in the party.