SNP should consider abstaining from Westminster 'if impasse isn't broken', says MSP

Steven Bonnar, who previously served as an MP, said the Nationalists should think about copying Sinn Fein abstentionist policy - if the UK government continues to block an independence referendum.

The Uddingston and Bellshill MSP said Scotland and Northern Ireland “have different constitutional arrangements and are at different junctures on our national stories” but added that abstention “should be considered”.

Abstaining from the House of Commons is not SNP policy.

Mr Bonnar’s comments come just days after SNP leader and First Minister John Swinney appeared at a summit alongside the Irish republican party’s leaders.

He told The Scotsman: “While we have different constitutional arrangements and are at different junctures on our national stories, everything should be considered in the round, including abstention.”

He added: “Nothing should be off the table. If the impasse isn’t broken then everything needs to be considered.”

Although Sinn Fein stands for election in Northern Ireland, the party does not take up the seats or receive a salary.

This is because it opposes the legitimacy of the UK Parliament in the six north-eastern Irish counties and the oath to the King - which MPs need to make to be sworn into the House of Commons.

Sinn Fein won seven of the 18 Northern Irish constituencies at the 2024 general election - the most of any party.

Unlike the Irish nationalists, the SNP takes up its seats in the Commons. It currently has eight MPs, although it had the majority of the 59 Scottish constituencies between 2015 and 2024. It won a whopping 56 of them in the 2015 general election.

An SNP spokesperson said: “For as long as decisions are taken by Westminster that impact people in Scotland, SNP MPs will be there to stand up for Scotland at every turn.

“Westminster's time is coming to an end, but until that day comes when we democratically achieve our independence - only the SNP will always put Scotland’s interests first in that parliament.”

Mr Bonnar served as SNP MP for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill between 2019 and 2024, where he was beaten by Labour’s Frank McNally. He was elected to Holyrood in May this year.

During his House of Commons swearing in ceremony, he crossed his fingers in protest at the oath of allegiance to the king.

SNP First Minister Mr Swinney met with Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald and vice president Michelle O’Neill - who is also first minister of Northern Ireland - in Cardiff on Monday.

Alongside Welsh first minister and Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorweth, they jointly declared that “Westminster’s time is coming to an end”.

Mr Swinney added that Labour’s Andy Burnham would be the last Prime Minister of the UK.

During Prime Minister’s Questions last week, Mr Burnham indicated that Scotland could have a second independence referendum if there was enough support.

He said Scotland is “exactly the same situation” as Northern Ireland - where a vote would be triggered if the UK Government minister thinks a majority of people want one.

This was despite him having previously said IndyRef2 was “off limits”.

Under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the Northern Irish Secretary can decide to hold a referendum at any time - if there has not been another border poll in the last seven years.

The act also imposes a duty on the Secretary of State to hold a border poll if it appears likely that a majority of people in Northern Ireland would vote for Irish unification.

Before May’s Scottish Parliament election, Mr Swinney had said the SNP winning a majority would be a mandate for a second independence referendum.

That did not happen, with the SNP taking 58 of the 129 seats.

He has since said that there is a mandate for a referendum because the SNP and independence-supporting Greens have a majority between them.