Veteran Western Isles MP Angus MacNeil’s expulsion from the SNP shows the extent of deep rifts which have fractured the nationalist movement.
A longtime internal critic, Mr MacNeil was suspended in July and has now been permanently exiled from the party he has served in Westminster for 18 years.
Commenting on Thursday night, he said: “I didn’t leave the SNP – the SNP have left me.”
Here are five key rows which led to one of the party’s most experienced faces being left out in the cold for good.
1 – Bust-up with chief whip
Mr MacNeil’s long-running frustration with his own party boiled over in a sensational row with SNP Westminster chief whip Brendan O’Hara last month.
The nationalist veteran was suspended by SNP House of Commons chief Stephen Flynn for one week after he accused Mr O’Hara of bullying.
Mr MacNeil was initially banished from the party for one week, but opted to remain as an independent once his suspension had ended.
He said he had no plans on returning to the fold until at least October in a protest against the party leadership.
2 – Frustration over independence
As each year passed without any sign of an independence referendum, Mr MacNeil grew increasingly disillusioned with the SNP’s strategy.
In July, he claimed his former party had “become a brand name missing the key ingredient”.
He added that “the urgency for independence is absent” and claimed the SNP was “utterly clueless” on how to progress its central cause.
Mr MacNeil was also heavily critical of Nicola Sturgeon’s decision to take her case for a referendum to the UK’s Supreme Court.
Last November, Britain’s most senior judges ruled the Scottish Government could not hold a vote on independence without Westminster approval.
3 – Anger over deal with Greens
Mr MacNeil has been among a growing number of nationalists who have spoken out against the SNP’s Holyrood deal with the Greens.
Following his expulsion, the Western Isles MP described the party’s power-sharing arrangement with them as “daft and dangerous”.
In June, he compared the Bute House Agreement – which saw the Greens gave two ministerial posts – to a packet of cigarettes.
4 – Opposition to gender reforms
Last December, Ms Sturgeon faced a mini-rebellion in Holyrood over her government’s proposals to make it easier for transgender people to self-identify.
Mr MacNeil has long been a strong opponent of the SNP’s controversial gender reforms which have divided the party.
In March, the Western Isles MP claimed the government had expended “so much political capital” for “zero effect”.
He insisted plans to challenge Westminster’s decision to block the reforms in court would have no chance of succeeding.
5 – Snubbing disciplinary hearing
Mr MacNeil’s fate within the SNP was eventually decided at a disciplinary hearing held by the party’s conduct committee.
But the SNP say the Western Isles had broken party rules by deciding not to rejoin the Westminster group as he declined to even attend the hearing.
Mr MacNeil will now continue to sit as an independent in the House of Commons, and it’s understood he will fight to keep his seat at the next election.
Fife Alba Party MP Neale Hanvey, who previously left the SNP, slated the decision to banish his former colleague from the party.
He said: “If Angus MacNeil’s is no longer welcome in the SNP, that’s as big an indicator as you can possibly look for that they’ve lost their way on independence.”
Mr MacNeil previously said he had no intentions of joining the Alba Party.
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