Fresh SNP chaos as MP suspended by Flynn after bust-up with chief whip

One of the SNP’s longest-serving MPs has been suspended following a bust-up with the party’s chief whip.

Andrew MacNeil has had the whip suspended for a week by the SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn and will sit as an independent until the end of the sanction.

It comes after a row between the Western Isles MP and Brendan O’Hara in the Commons division lobbies on Monday night.

The clash is said to have erupted over Mr MacNeil’s attendance record in Parliament.

Mr MacNeil – who has represented his Scottish constituency since 2005 – reportedly branded the chief whip a “small wee man”.

According to the Guido Fawkes website, he threw a series of letters about missing Commons votes at Mr O’Hara before storming off.

Responding to his suspension, Mr MacNeil 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.”

It is understood that the suspension only impacts Mr MacNeil’s status within the SNP Westminster group and not his membership of the SNP.

In a cryptic tweet yesterday, Mr MacNeil appeared to refer to the confrontation.

He said: “General advice — 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.”

It comes as the SNP has faced months of chaos amid a police investigation into its finances.

The nationalist party was already bruised by a bitter leadership contest following Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation, which Humza Yousaf won.

The SNP has faced a drubbing in the polls with Scottish Labour on course to make major gains at the next general election.

The SNP and Mr O’Hara have been contacted for comment.

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