THE SNP's conference is to take place online once more when the party gathers next month.
It is the fourth time Nicola Sturgeon's party has held a party conference virtually since the start of the pandemic.
The decision may not be popular with some members wanting to push the party leadership on their strategy and timing for holding a second independence referendum.
"It's easier to silence dissent when conference is online," one SNP activist told The National.
READ MORE: Speaker Lindsay Hoyle furious with Tory ministers over Budget leaks
But the party said the decision was to "keep people safe, protect our NHS, reduce our carbon footprint and make the entire conference more accessible".
Earlier this month the Scottish Greens held their conference in person with the UK Conservatives and Labour doing likewise last month.
The SNP annual conference from November 26 to 29 also comes after the precedent of COP26 taking place in Glasgow from October 31 to November 12 when 30,000 delegates meet for the event in Scotland's largest city.
In September, the SNP held a conference online over the same weekend that Alex Salmond's Alba held its inaugural conference in person in Greenock Town Hall.
The SNP held its annual conference last November and this year's September conference online. It also held a campaign conference in April this year online.
An SNP spokesman said: "For the time being, in order to keep everyone safe, protect our NHS, reduce our carbon footprint and make the entire conference more accessible, we will continue to host conference online."
The First Minister has warned that the NHS in Scotland is facing its worse winter as Covid infections continue to be high and as the service tries to catch up with a backlog of patient treatment paused earlier in the pandemic.
Over the weekend Humza Yousaf said that “of course” there will be an increase in coronavirus as a result of the COP26 climate change summit descending on Glasgow next month.
The Health Secretary said there was “absolutely a risk of Covid cases rising thereafter”, but said the Scottish Government would do all it could to keep them to a minimum.
Last week, the Government’s public health adviser Professor Devi Sridhar of Edinburgh University warned COP26 was likely to trigger a spike in infections.
She said the arrival of around 25,000 people from around the world would “make Covid worse for Scotland” and “increase the risk of further restrictions”.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel