The SNP is a party at war with itself

Britain’s third party, in terms of the number of MPS at least, is the Scottish National Party and by virtue of its principal policy – independence – it has enjoyed a remarkable period of internal discipline. No longer. The SNP group in Westminster now appears to be in open revolt.

The SNP’S MPS in London seem to have decided that they, and not Nicola Sturgeon, should decide who should be their leader in the House of Commons. Two weeks ago, the First Minister was believed to have been the prime mover in preventing Ian Blackford from being replaced. Now Mr Blackford has said that he is standing down before the party’s annual meeting in the Commons next week, when a new leader will be appointed. SNP MPS also claim that they are ignored by the First Minister and never consulted on policy.

With the break-up of Britain being the party’s sole aim, it has been thus far relatively easy for Ms Sturgeon to urge her MPS, MSPS and activists to ignore the critics and “keep their eyes on the prize”. If they all stuck ferociously to party policy, went the reasoning, independence would surely follow. To a large extent, these exhortations worked. True, the nationalists lost the Scottish independence referendum in 2014. But the SNP has won every Scottish Parliament election since 2007 and, in 2015, won every Scottish parliamentary constituency, except three. In the present House of Commons, they hold 44 out of 59 Scottish seats.

In recent years, however, there has been a dramatic change in SNP fortunes. Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court issued a withering rejection of Ms Sturgeon’s demand to be allowed to hold another independence referendum next October without the agreement of the British government. That judgment followed arguably the most trying period ever for the Sturgeon administration in policy terms, with a rebellion over her controversial plans to permit individuals aged 16 and over to change their gender through selfdeclaration. This has been accompanied by impatience at the lack of progress towards independence and poor outcomes for the Scottish people as regards the health service and education.

These reverses have led to a more fractious SNP at both Holyrood and Westminster, which has revealed a party at war with itself.

It is a situation that can only augur well for the maintenance of the Union.