Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

SNP insiders fear independence ‘talking shop’ will be overshadowed by Nicola Sturgeon

The special event, held in Dundee on June 24, has been called for members to agree a path to a referendum.
Derek Healey
Nicola Sturgeon. Image: Michal Wachucik/PA.
Nicola Sturgeon. Image: Michal Wachucik/PA.

It’s the highly anticipated event billed as the chance to thrash out a path to Scottish independence but before a word has even been spoken, insiders fear the SNP’s special conference will become a “talking shop” overshadowed by Nicola Sturgeon’s arrest.

Former health secretary Alex Neil warned the situation surrounding the former first minister and her husband Peter Murrell will put a “dampener” on proceedings as delegates come together for crunch talks.

Meanwhile, one current SNP MP said: “I think only two things will come out of the conference: hee and haw.”

Bad timing for conference

The special event, held in Dundee on June 24, has been called for members to forge a consensus ahead of the party’s full conference in October.

But the timing could hardly be worse. The meeting comes less than a fortnight after Ms Sturgeon was questioned for hours in police custody before later being released without charge.

Leader Humza Yousaf has heard calls to have his predecessor suspended, and there have been reports of him telling MSPs to back Ms Sturgeon or leave the party.

Nicola Sturgeon talking in parliament with Humza Yousaf looking on
Humza Yousaf has been one of Nicola Sturgeon’s most trusted allies. Image: PA.

Mr Neil said one item on the agenda should be building a Yes alliance of organisations and parties with campaigners ready to chap on doors.

But he raised concerns over how useful the talks will actually be.

“Is there anything concrete going to come out of it?” Mr Neil asked.

“To me it looks a bit like a talking shop.

“Maybe that’s what necessary, to let people put their views without being too restricted.

“But at the end of the day, what matters is when we reach decisions and they’re not going to come until the party conference in October.”

Former SNP minister Alex Neil. Image: Shutterstock.
Former SNP minister Alex Neil. Image: Shutterstock.

The former health chief was critical of the role played by Ms Sturgeon in the efforts to secure Scottish independence.

He said she “quite frankly didn’t move the dial on independence in nine years as first minister” and could now become a distraction.

Mr Neil said: “With everything going on and the big question mark over where the police investigation is going to end up, clearly that’s a bit of a dampener.

“But the good thing is that all the opinion polls that have come out show support for independence is actually holding up, even though support for the SNP has dipped.

“The key thing is that people are able to differentiate between parties and causes.”

Yousaf branded ‘weak’ by own MP

One current SNP MP described the decision not to suspend Ms Sturgeon as a sign of “weakness” from the party.

He said it leaves Mr Yousaf as a “hell of a hostage to fortune”.

Ms Sturgeon became the third SNP figure to be arrested and interviewed by detectives as part of Operation Branchform.

It is looking into what happened to money raised by the party for a second independence referendum.

Police search the garden at the home of Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell.
Police search the garden at the home of Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell.

Like former chief executive Peter Murrell and former treasurer Colin Beattie, she was released without charge pending further investigation.

A former MSP said the situation is “hanging over everything”.

She said: “It was quite extraordinary what Humza Yousaf said, that people who don’t support Nicola Sturgeon should leave the party.

“For someone to be arrested and then for the first minister to come out and say we all have to support her, is just absolutely extraordinary.

“What land are they living in?

“It’s chummy, it’s him saying he’s going to stick by his friend.

“The whole party machine got behind him. He owes his position to that and as far as I can see, now it’s payback time.”

‘We need to be honest about mistakes’

The MSP said she fears the conference will be merely “performative” given the troubles faced by the leadership.

“I think some really serious thought needs to go into the next steps and that means taking a critical look at decisions that have been made in the past,” she said.

“We need to be honest about the mistakes, and one of the biggest of those was to go to the Supreme Court. That was a huge mistake.

Nicola Sturgeon shocks Scotland by quitting. Image: PA.
Nicola Sturgeon shocked Scotland by quitting. Image: PA.

“There needs to be some really serious conversations and I don’t think that’s happened so far.

“It should have happened after 2014. It was the arrogance of the party not to go back to the people who campaigned in 2014 to find the way forward.”

A ‘damp cloud’ over conference

Western Isles MP Angus Brendan MacNeil is calling for members to back a plan that could see the SNP frame elections as single-issue referendums.

He warned any strategy that relies on an electoral pact with Labour, if there is a hung parliament after the next general election, “could be blown to bits within about six hours of the polls closing”.

Western Isles MP Angus MacNeil. Image: Supplied.
Western Isles MP Angus MacNeil. Image: Supplied.

But Mr MacNeil said people are “right” to be concerned that nothing concrete will come from the conference.

He also warned it is a mistake not to place a barrier – what he termed as a “political cordon sanitaire” – between Ms Sturgeon and the rest of the SNP.

Mr MacNeil said: “Nobody knows what’s happening next.

“It’s certainly a damp cloud over the conference. That can’t be denied.”