Joanna Cherry: Holyrood independence vote 'utterly performative'

The former party MP even suggested its leadership hoped to use the vote as a "dead cat" to distract from the Peter Murrell scandal.

It comes after First Minister John Swinney vowed not to “kowtow" to Downing Street after it dismissed calls for a second referendum.

He said he will use the “independence majority” in the Scottish Parliament – with 73 of the 129 MSPs supporting leaving the UK – to “deliver independence”.

MSPs backed a motion earlier his week from Mr Swinney demanding the UK government hand over powers to enable a fresh referendum.

READ MORE: John Swinney publishes plan for independence if SNP returned to power

A Downing Street spokesperson dismissed it, saying: “The UK government does not support independence or another referendum.”

The SNP has been thrown into turmoil this week after Murrell, its former chief executive and Nicola Sturgeon's estranged husband, pled guilty to embezzling more than £400,000 from the party over a 12-year period.

Speaking on The Steamie, The Scotsman's politics podcast, Ms Cherry said: "This stooshie surrounding Murrell's guilty plea has completely overshadowed the vote on independence on Tuesday.

"The level of cynicism that the leadership of the SNP - current leadership - are guilty of I think is quite breathtaking, because I believe that vote was an utterly performative thing.

"I think they must have hoped that somehow it would be a dead cat to put on the table to distract from the Murrell story. That obviously hasn't worked.

"Where's the strategy to take the fact there has been yet another vote in favour of independence in the Scottish Parliament forward? What's John Swinney going to do?

"I mean, Keir Starmer has already said no to another indyref. John Swinney says they are going to have talks about it. You don't have to be a rocket scientist or have a crystal ball to know that Keir Starmer is going to say no again.

"What's John Swinney going to do? What's his plan? I don't believe he has a plan.

"I think John Swinney's main function in life was to try and pull the party back together as leader and to get a big brush and dustpan and sweep as much of the scandals of the last few years under the carpet as possible.

"I don't actually think the SNP will advance, govern well or deliver independence until it addresses the scandals of the last few years, faces up to them, puts matters in order and then moves on.

"And I don't think that will happen under John Swinney because he is too much associated with the Sturgeon era."

READ MORE: Former Edinburgh MP Joanna Cherry quits SNP after becoming 'ashamed of being a member'

Ms Cherry was the SNP MP for Edinburgh South West from 2015 until 2024, and became an outspoken critic of the party's leadership under Ms Sturgeon.

Last month, she revealed she had resigned her membership after becoming "absolutely disgusted" by the party and "ashamed of being a member".

She also branded Mr Swinney a "coward" who was not implementing the Supreme Court ruling on sex and gender.

Ms Cherry told The Steamie: "The internal governance of the SNP matters to me. I would like to be able to rejoin the party at some point in the future, but I'm quite happy to be outside the tent just now. I left the party because I was ashamed of what the SNP had become."

An SNP spokesperson said: “The SNP will get on with delivering the opportunity of a fresh start with independence, which the people of Scotland voted for when they elected a historic number of pro-independence MSPs, including 58 SNP MSPs - only a few weeks ago.”