Veteran SNP MP suspended after public bust-up with Chief Whip
SNP MP Angus MacNeil during a previous appearance on GB News
GB News
A veteran Scottish National Party MP has had the whip suspended following a public row with a senior nationalist in Parliament.
Angus MacNeil, who was first elected to the House of Commons in 2005, was reprimanded after accusing SNP Chief Whip Brendan O'Hara of bullying yesterday.
The Na h-Eileanan an lar MP berated O'Hara in public in Parliament's division lobbies.
The row reportedly erupted when MacNeil called O'Hara a "small wee man" before throwing disciplinary notices about his attendance in Westminster at the SNP Chief Whip.
SNP Chief Whip Angus MacNeil
House of Commons
Doubling down on the bust-up, MacNeil wrote on Twitter yesterday: "Always stand up to bullies, - esp any abusing their positions - particularly those who scurry around shouting to anyone listening, 'I'll get him, I'll get him, I WILL get him! - mark my words'.
"These are people, who from school, we should get taught to face down."
He also shared a reply to his tweet, which said: “Yes.
"They are cowards. They can never operate without a similar wee clique of nasty cowards around them.
SNP MP Angus Brendan MacNeil intervenes on Chancellor Philip Hammond while not wearing a tie
PA
“They’re also never intelligent people, or they wouldn’t behave that way to cover it.”
MacNeil has since responded to his suspension by accepting the decision taken by SNP leader Stephen Flynn.
The 52-year-old said: "Stephen has his views and I have mine, but as leader he has his own pressures to balance and I accept the decision he has taken."
MacNeil has long been considered as a close ally to ex-First Minister Alex Salmond.
Nicola SturgeonPASalmond, who led the SNP from 2004 to 2014, set up rival nationalist party Alba in 2021.
Allies of MacNeil suggest his often unpredictable commute from the Isle of Barra to London is part of the reason to explain his absences.
However, the Chair of the Energy Select Committee has heavily criticised the SNP's top brass in recent years, particularly over its independence strategy.
MacNeil was among a small number of SNP figures to call on party chiefs to suspend Nicola Sturgeon amid Police Scotland's Operation Branchform investigation.
Stephen Flynn standing the House of Commons
GB NewsScottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy said: “The scandal-ridden SNP are clearly in a state of open warfare, with personal feuds spilling into public.
“Perhaps this is the ‘toxic’ culture Mhairi Black was lamenting when she became the sixth SNP MP to announce they were stepping down at the next election.
“It’s telling that Angus MacNeil has been suspended by the leadership for a fallout with the chief whip, yet Nicola Sturgeon retains the whip – contrary to party precedent – despite having been arrested.
“But this ugly soap opera doesn’t just affect the SNP – it impacts all of us.”