“As I have been expelled as a rank & file SNP member by a ‘member conduct committee.'” “I didn’t leave the SNP – the SNP have left me,” he added. “I wish they were as bothered about independence as they are about me!” He also tweeted a kangaroo emoji in an apparent reference to the conduct committee. Mr MacNeil was one of the SNP’s longest-serving MPs, having first been elected in 2005, but has been a vocal critic of the party leadership in recent years, particularly over its independence strategy.
He was involved in a row with chief whip Mr O’Hara in July over missing votes in the House of Commons. It was alleged he had threatened Mr O’Hara during a confrontation – an allegation Mr MacNeil denies – and he had the whip removed for a week. Following the falling-out, he announced he would sit as an independent MP until at least October. His membership of the party was suspended as he refused to immediately rejoin the SNP group. He then released a statement attacking the SNP leadership’s approach to independence, accusing it of a lack of urgency. “I will only seek the SNP whip again if it is clear that the SNP are pursuing independence,” he wrote.
