MP warns against Sturgeon 'cult' and stifling debate as members hit out at 'politburo conference'

The SNP invited Scots to contrast Nicola Sturgeon's style of leadership with that of Boris Johnson on Saturday as the party battled to contain growing discontent within its ranks over a stifling of debate on independence.

On the morning that party's online conference got underway, Joanna Cherry, the Edinburgh MP, launched an extraordinary attack over shutting down dissent, warning of an unhealthy leadership "cult" being built around the First Minister.

Many delegates had been hoping to discuss tactics for securing another independence referendum, with Mr Johnson insisting that he will not allow one to take place under any circumstances.

Opinion polls suggest the SNP is on course to claim a mandate for a new vote at next year's Holyrood elections and support for independence is at a record high.

However, members were instead presented with an anodyne agenda of largely non-controversial motions, in a tightly-controlled event that offered little opportunity for them to register disagreement or put forward alternative suggestions.

Iain Lawson, a former SNP office bearer, raised concern that results of votes were not being made clear to members, claiming many had voted against the report setting rules for the event online,  and branded it a 'politburo conference'.

Topics discussed on Saturday included reaffirming support for the party's long-standing policy of free tuition fees and peatland.

Ms Cherry, a respected QC who played a major role in the successful legal challenge to the UK Government’s attempt to prorogue parliament last year, had wanted to swap Westminster for Holyrood in May, but has claimed she was deliberately blocked by a rule change by the SNP’s powerful ruling committee, which made it harder for nationalist MPs to swap parliaments.

Ms Cherry warned it was damaging to “put all your faith on one person”, adding the party “shouldn’t be about the cult of leader, whether it’s Alex [Salmond] or Nicola, or anyone else”.

In an interview with the Scottish Times, she added: "This no debate mentality is really unhealthy. It’s an unfortunate tendency in modern political discourse. I think it’s very unhealthy and I don’t think it represents the majority view in the party."

In an intervention likely to enrage Ms Sturgeon, she also called for Mr Salmond, who was cleared of sexual assault charges in March and is engaged in a bitter dispute with his successor who he believes participated in a politically-motivated plot against him, to be readmitted to the party.

She said: “I want to see him as a member of the party again and I want his place in the party’s history reinstated. The not guilty verdict needs to be respected by all of us."

A Holyrood inquiry is currently investigating how more than £500,000 of taxpayers money came to be lost to Mr Salmond, after he successfully challenged the legality of a separate Scottish Government probe into two sexual harassment complaints against him.

John Swinney, the deputy First Minister, has repeatedly been accused of obstructing the probe, by refusing to hand over crucial legal advice received by ministers and blocking witnesses from giving evidence. Mr Salmond has always denied any criminality.

In his speech to delegates on Saturday, Mr Swinney sought to shift the focus to perceptions of Ms Sturgeon’s handling of coronavirus pandemic among the wider Scottish public.

Despite evidence showing that death and infection rates have been broadly in line with England’s, and presiding over a major scandal in care homes, opinion polls show that a wide majority of Scots are supportive of the First Minister’s handling of the pandemic while holding the Prime Minister in contempt.

Mr Swinney claimed Covid-19 had led to a “seismic shift in the psyche of Scotland”, with control of public health policies meaning the Scottish Government’s actions had far more tangible impact on the everyday lives of Scots than those of UK ministers.

He said: “In the moment of crisis, our nation’s eyes did not turn to Westminster. It was not the Prime Minister who people looked to.

“It is deeply telling that even those people yet to be convinced by the merits of independence did not look to London, to Westminster or to Boris Johnson.

“When it mattered most, we all looked to Scotland’s own leader, our own government, and our own Parliament.”

There will be a motion about independence on Sunday, although it merely states that the party “should not accept” a Westminster veto to a new referendum.

It states that an internal party assembly will be held in future to discuss tactics, but advocates of a ‘plan B approach’, which could see the SNP seek to turn next year’s election into a de facto vote on independence, believe this is an inadequate substitute for a conference debate.

Issues such as the party’s approach to gender identity are also dividing the SNP.

Ms Cherry complained on Saturday that a letter was circulating, signed by some of the party’s parliamentarians, which included a reference to defamatory material about her about the gender debate.

She claimed SNP politicians signing the letter were in breach of the party’s code of conduct and urged them to “withdraw their support for this attack on me.”

Chris McEleny, the leader of the SNP group on Inverclyde Council and a leading advocate of setting out an alternative strategy for delivering independence, also complained that the results of votes at the virtual conference were not being made available to members.

He said: “Note to colleagues. If you want to stop people asking questions about transparency then don’t conceal the results of votes.”

Addressing concerns about the Tories blocking a new referendum, Keith Brown, the SNP’s deputy leader, repeated Ms Sturgeon’s argument that the Prime Minister would be forced to relent in the face of a clear mandate.

Mr Brown, as well as other senior SNP figures, has claimed a new vote could be held in 2021 - within seven months of the election - although impartial experts have raised significant doubts over whether this would be possible even in the unlikely event that UK ministers immediately u-turn after May and offer cooperation.

He said: “They [UK ministers] know a referendum cannot be refused in 2021 if there is that majority for independence we will all work tirelessly to deliver. This is not wishful thinking. Look at the evidence.

“Would Gove be flying a kite about changing the franchise if he didn’t think there was a referendum coming? No.

“Would Gove have established his “Union Unit” in the UK Government? No.

“Would Boris Johnson have risked facing the fearsome Scottish midge during his summer holiday before retreating in defeat if he didn’t think the referendum was coming? No.”

He added: “Boris Johnson has been responsible for more about turns than a parade ground drill sergeant.

“If you don’t believe that Boris Johnson will change his position, ask the 27 leaders of the EU who thought he was acting in good faith when he signed the Withdrawal Agreement.”