A secrecy scandal and ANOTHER defection… it’s hard to escape the conclusion that the nationalist project is very quickly falling apart, writes EUAN MCCOLM

The defection of former SNP leadership challenger Ash Regan to Alex Salmond’s Alba Party piles misery on top of misery for First Minister Humza Yousaf. 

In the six months since he succeeded Nicola Sturgeon, Mr Yousaf has seen his party’s famous unity crumble. 

Those who were once allies, marching together under the independence banner, are now turning on each other.

And voters, once seduced by the idea the SNP could be depended upon to deliver competent government, are waking up – in ever increasing numbers – to the truth about a party which puts petty constitutional wrangling before the common good.

In her letter of resignation from the SNP, Ms Regan – who came third behind Mr Yousaf and former Scottish Government finance secretary Kate Forbes in the contest to succeed Ms Sturgeon – was brutal in her assessment of the party she once hoped to lead.

Humza Yousaf, flanked by Ash Regan, left, and Kate Forbes, enjoys his leadership win – but now Ms Regan has undermined his authority 

‘Sadly,’ she wrote, ‘it has become increasingly clear that the SNP has lost its focus on Independence, the very foundation of its existence.

‘I could not, in good conscience, continue to be part of a party that has drifted from its path and its commitment to achieving independence as a matter of urgency.’

Ms Regan reiterated her opposition to SNP plans to reform the Gender Recognition Act and criticised the influence on the party of its Scottish Green Party partners in government at Holyrood.

The MSP – now styled Alba leader at Holyrood and the first MSP to directly transfer their allegiance to another party, informed Mr Yousaf that her door would remain open for constructive dialogue. 

The likelihood of the First Minister taking up that offer seems slender.

Ms Regan’s defection to Alba came little more than a week after East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow MP Dr Lisa Cameron quit the SNP to sit on the Conservative benches at Westminster.

Dr Cameron complained of bullying by colleagues and a toxic culture in the SNP group in the House of Commons. 

It’s hard to escape the conclusion that the nationalist project – for so long a model of discipline – is falling apart.

When the SNP began to move from the fringes of Scottish politics and into the centre ground under the leadership of Alex Salmond almost 20 years ago, unity was crucial to the success of the project. 

For decades before, the nationalist party had been riven by disagreement over strategy.

On one side of the divide were those, like Mr Salmond, who favoured a steady-as-she-goes approach to achieving independence. 

On the other side were the ‘independence, nothing less!’ fundamentalists, for whom compromise was betrayal.

Mr Salmond, on behalf of the gradualist wing, defeated the fundamentalists and – for the first time in its history – the SNP united behind a single strategy. 

But the past is a foreign country. Today, Mr Salmond casts himself leader of the independence movement’s fundamentalist wing. 

He rejects the cautious approach he once preached and relentlessly criticises the current SNP leadership for failing to act boldly in the fight to break up the UK.

Now, in the shape of Ms Regan, Mr Salmond has an emissary at Holyrood who can be expected to deliver, on his behalf, attacks on the SNP’s performance. 

Mr Yousaf had more than enough on his plate before Ms Regan’s defection yesterday afternoon.

The SNP is mired in a deepening scandal over the failure of Ministers and civil servants at Holyrood to hand messages sent between each other using WhatsApp to the UK-wide public inquiry into government handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite an unequivocal promise from the First Minister earlier this year that all records of communications would be made available, not a single WhatsApp message has been submitted and lawyers for the inquiry are now threatening legal sanctions if the necessary material is not supplied.

That scandal erupted just days after an SNP conference during which Mr Yousaf gave a speech in an auditorium with several rows of empty seats.

Throughout the Nicola Sturgeon years, leaders’ speeches were strictly standing room only affairs. 

Under the new regime, many delegates preferred to stay away. Of course, that lacklustre conference was supposed to be Mr Yousaf’s opportunity to rally the SNP troops after their devastating defeat by Labour in the by-election to choose a new MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West.

Even the SNP leader’s most enthusiastic opponents must, surely, feel at least a twinge of sympathy for a man about whom the phrase ‘if it wasn’t for bad luck, he’d have no luck at all’ could have been invented.

Since succeeding Ms Sturgeon, Mr Yousaf has appeared to be a ‘dog-that-caught-the-car’ First Minister. Having fought to win power, he seems unsure about what to do with it.

Lacking the natural authority of Nicola Sturgeon, he has tried to be all things to all people.

To SNP members, Mr Yousaf is ‘First Activist’ promising that –should the nationalists win most Scottish seats at the next General Election – he’ll have a mandate to begin independence discussions with the UK Government.

Meanwhile, he tells the pro-UK majority he shares their priorities of tackling the cost of living crisis and improving public services.

Ash Regan’s defection shows that some in the pro-independence movement recognise the absolute incoherence of the First Minister’s position. 

While the SNP grew to become the dominant force in Scottish politics, it told a story of politicians from other parties becoming complacent and taking voters for granted.

That charge may now fairly be levelled against the SNP. For 16 years, nationalist politicians have seen victory as a right rather than something to be earned.

Nicola Sturgeon treated the unionist majority with contempt, failing to make the slightest effort to understand why they rejected her divisive project. 

And she showed little more respect to her own supporters, leading them up the garden path to a second referendum which, although frequently promised, was undeliverable.

Mr Yousaf shows no sign that he has moved on from that approach. He is a First Minister without a vision, whose authority diminishes by the day.

Shortly after Ash Regan announced her decision to join Alba, her former party leader was dismissive.

‘It is no great loss to the SNP group, I have to say, and it is hardly a surprise, either, given Ash’s statements for many months, in fact for longer than that,’ he said.

Mr Yousaf added: ‘Ash should do the decent thing; she should resign her seat – she was elected on an SNP ticket.

‘I can give you a guarantee that people did not vote for Ash in her constituency because of any personal vote, they voted for her because she had the SNP logo next to her name in the 2021 election.

‘So if she had principles she would do the right thing and resign – but I have to say it is no great loss to the SNP.’

Humza Yousaf should be careful what he wishes for. If Ash Regan were to force a by-election, there’s every chance the SNP would be humiliated by the result.

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