Should Scotland’s politicians withdraw from Westminster to push for indy?

Alba MPs Kenny MacAskill and Neale Hanvey were thrown out of the House of Commons during Prime Minister’s Questions last week after staging a pro-independence protest.

The pair – who have been suspended from the House for five sitting days – expressed their anger over Boris Johnson ruling out granting a Section 30 order earlier this month while his Cabinet fell apart around him, infuriating Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle in the process.

The bold move has sparked discussions among Yes supporters around whether a boycott of Westminster would move the independence case forward.

But Pete Wishart, who has previously suggested withdrawing the SNP’s participation in certain institutions of the UK Parliament, insisted staging a walkout would not progress the cause.

“There is no way on earth we would ever boycott Westminster,” said the Perth and North Perthshire MP.

“We are there to represent everyone that elected us and there is no way that [a walkout] would be considered.

“It would not get us closer to independence. The only people it would hurt would be the people we are elected to represent.

“We have earned the trust of the people who voted for us and you do not betray that. It’s an extremely bad idea.

“A few years ago, when we were moving towards asking for another referendum, I was exploring how we could force them [the UK Government] into giving this referendum if they were of a mind to do that and I suggested we could look at withdrawing from the apparatus of the UK state such as joint ministerial committees or public bill committees for the whole of the UK, not Parliament itself.

“I would not say that now though, we are in a new situation. We know they are not going to grant a referendum and we have a new plan about how we are going to go forward.”

READ MORE: SNP slam Tory MP Andrew Bowie's claims that Rishi Sunak will 'circumvent Holyrood'

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon – who is hoping to stage a fresh independence vote on October 19 next year – was asked for her reaction to the Alba MPs’ showing as she unveiled her paper on the democratic deficit in Scotland last week, with supporters of Alex Salmond’s party urging the SNP to follow their lead.

However, she said “my job is not to indulge in gesture politics” and ruled out getting her MPs to join any boycott.

SNP president Mike Russell said he agreed with Sturgeon and insisted while gestures can be impactful at times, all efforts must be focused on further increasing the Yes vote through pure hard work.

He added becoming an ­abstentionist party – like Northern Ireland’s Sinn Fein whose MPs abstain from Parliament – would ­require SNP MPs to stand for ­election on that ticket.

“The Westminster establishment is angry and frightened by the ­independence case and the ­hysterical and bullying reaction of the Speaker proved it,” said Russell.

“That fear of Scotland’s democratic right to choose its own future – and our ­determination to make that happen – is also confirmed by the firm position in the polls of the independence vote and the fact that support is increasing and will increase further as the campaign builds.

“Everything we do must therefore be directed towards further increasing that vote and demonstrating as constructively as possible what is happening to our country and the ­alternative that exists.

“Abstaining from Westminster at this juncture would be gesture politics. Gestures are useful, but they can never substitute for the hard and sustained work that is required in ­order to regain our independence.

“Becoming an abstentionist party would require not just the SNP to agree to that move, but then the election of candidates who made that clear to their electors.”

Author and Yes activist Lesley Riddoch said the “ducks were not in a row” for staging any boycott of Westminster at this stage, and such a move would need careful consideration to ensure it had the desired effect of catapulting the independence campaign to victory.

She said: “Boycotting ­Westminster can be meaningful but only as part of a larger strategy. The best moment to withdraw should be carefully chosen to demonstrate a new level of Yes momentum or ­democratic outrage.

“SNP MPs could take their place in a Convention sitting in Scotland to create the case for independence – but such a body doesn’t yet exist. So the ducks are not in a row, and that matters because a Westminster boycott is a card the SNP can only play once.”

An Alba party spokesperson said: “This week, we showed the impact that two MPs can have in standing up in the UK Parliament to demand that Scotland’s undeniable mandate for an independence referendum is respected by the Westminster establishment.

“All options of ­Parliamentary intervention, public protest, and peaceful civil action on the streets must now be on the table.

“Pro-independence members of the UK Parliament should not be there to administer the British state but [to] pursue independence and protect Scottish interests.

“It has often been said over the years that the job of independence-supporting MPs is not to settle down but to settle up for Scotland. It’s time to put that rhetoric into action”