'Sturgeon would have suspended Sturgeon' says Douglas Ross

‘Nicola Sturgeon would have suspended Nicola Sturgeon’ says Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross following the former SNP leader’s arrest as he says she had proved she was willing to remove the whip from anyone under police investigation

• Nicola Sturgeon was arrested by Police Scotland before being released 

Nicola Sturgeon would have suspended a fellow SNP politician if they had been arrested as she has, Douglas Ross has claimed.

The Scottish Conservative leader said the former First Minister had proved she was willing to remove the whip from anyone under police investigation.

He said Humza Yousaf, her successor as SNP leader, had made himself look feeble by not taking decisive action after Ms Sturgeon was arrested and quizzed in the police probe into her party’s finances.

Mr Ross said: ‘What I think should have happened yesterday should have been Nicola Sturgeon being suspended by the SNP because she is now under police investigation. 

‘And of course Nicola Sturgeon would have suspended Nicola Sturgeon because when she was leader of the party she suspended a number of SNP politicians who were under investigation by the police.

Douglas Ross said the former First Minister had proved she was willing to remove the whip from anyone under police investigation

‘The fact that Humza Yousaf has refused to do this shows how weak he is in the role of SNP leader.’

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said he also believed Ms Sturgeon should be suspended while the police investigation is ongoing.

He said: ‘Ultimately, that’s a matter for the SNP, but if you look at previous incidents that are similar, then those individuals have been suspended. The question is for Humza Yousaf, is he strong enough to take action? Or is he too weak?

‘That’s a decision for them. What I’m more interested in is the fact that we now have an incompetent and dysfunctional SNP Government.’

Liberal Democrat MSP Willie Rennie also accused the SNP Government of being side-tracked by the police investigation instead of focusing on governing the country.

He said: ‘Nicola Sturgeon knows better than anyone the precedent that exists within her party in relation to parliamentarians voluntarily suspending their membership or having the whip removed.

‘One in seven Scots are on an NHS waiting list, islanders can’t get the lifeline ferries they need and sewage is being dumped into our rivers. The escalating chaos at the heart of the governing party means the SNP simply aren’t focused on the day job and we are all paying the price.’

Nicola Sturgeon was arrested by Police Scotland yesterday before being released under investigation in a probe into SNP finances 

Former Nationalist MP Margaret Ferrier had the SNP whip removed after allegations emerged that she had breached Covid rules in 2020 by making an 800-mile round trip by train, having contracted coronavirus. 

Within an hour of admitting what she had done, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford removed the party whip – with Ms Ferrier also suspended from the parliamentary party.

At the time, Ms Sturgeon described her SNP colleague’s actions as ‘indefensible’ and said she could not express her own anger enough.

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