James Cleverly pulls rank on Humza Yousaf as Foreign Secretary undermines SNP on international stage

As well as threatening to stop facilitating meetings between SNP ministers and foreign officials, the Foreign Secretary threatened to humiliate the party on the international stage.

He warned the SNP that his officials will "communicate to host governments that we do not judge it appropriate for them to meet" with SNP ministers unless a diplomat is present.

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Cleverly penned a letter to the Scottish External Affairs Secretary, Angus Robertson, in which he expressed his disappointment at the SNP for preventing Foreign Office officials from attending the talks last month, saying it contravened "longstanding" guidance.

The guidance referred to by Cleverly applies to all ministers in the UK Government and devolved administrations and states that a senior official must be present.

The Foreign Secretary said he puts "enormous importance" on ensuring the UK displays a "coherent and consistent message to our international partners".

He said that - if SNP ministers continue to prevent attendance by UK diplomats - he will instruct Foreign Office officials to "withdraw from facilitating meetings between Scottish government ministers and ministers of foreign governments".

A Scottish government spokesman said: “We have received the Foreign Secretary’s letter and will respond in due course.”

Meanwhile, a senior SNP source said: “It is extraordinary, given everything that’s going on in the world, that in this week of all weeks, the Foreign Secretary should regard picking such a trivial row as a priority.”

Robertson has had an official from the UK Government present at every meeting he has held with foreign ministers overseas.

Earlier this year, Cleverly announced a crackdown on SNP ministers using taxpayer-funded trips overseas to promote Scottish independence.

This came after Lord Offord of Garvel, a Scotland Office Minister, claimed that the then first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, had discussed independence in its foreign activities, something which oversteps into issues reserved for Westminster.

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Offord said the Government was "aware" that the SNP had been "encroaching" on reserved matters on issues such as "separatism and the constitution".

The latest humiliation for the SNP comes ahead of the First Minister's main stage speech at the party's conference, taking place in Aberdeen this afternoon.