News / Urquhart leaves SNP over NATO
SCOTTISH nationalist MSP Jean Urquhart who entered parliament as a list MSP after standing in Shetland last year has resigned from the SNP.
Urquhart and her Highlands and Islands list MSP colleague John Finnie both stood down following Friday’s vote at the party’s conference in Perth to stage a U turn on its defence policy and join NATO.
A colleague of Urquhart described it as “a red line issue” for the pair, who felt they could not take the party whip following the decision, which they had been fiercely arguing against behind the scenes right up until the vote.
Both MSPs will remain in Parliament where they will sit as backbenchers.
They will continue to support the campaign for Scottish independence but not as members of the SNP.
Several of the SNP’s 67 MSPs opposed the resolution for an independent Scotland to join the military alliance that supports nuclear weapons, but the policy was voted through by 426 to 332.
Urquhart has been a supporter of independence for 25 years and a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament for 35 years.
She told the BBC: “The issue of nuclear disarmament and removing Trident from Scotland’s waters is a red line issue for me, and I could not remain committed to a party that has committed itself to retaining membership of NATO.
“We are both steadfast in our belief that Scotland should be an independent country, and will actively and positively campaign for a Yes vote in 2014.
“We believe in an independent Scotland, not a NATO-dependent Scotland.”
Finnie added: “I cannot continue to belong to a party that quite rightly does not wish to hold nuclear weapons on its soil, but wants to join a first strike nuclear alliance.
“Although I envisage that I will continue to share common ground with the SNP on many issues, I cannot in good conscience continue to take the party whip.”
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