Sturgeon’s ‘threat to demand phones and email details’ over SNP civil war
Senior party executive’s extraordinary claims about smear campaign in letter of complaint
NICOLA Sturgeon told senior SNP officials they would have their mobile phones seized and emails checked amid a growing civil war in the party, the Scottish Daily Mail can reveal.
She warned them they would be asked to ‘hand over phones and email accounts’ if politicians and members did not stop briefing against each other, according to a letter of complaint.
In the damning letter, a member of the party’s ruling body claims Miss Sturgeon threatened desperate action if bitter infighting ‘did not end now’.
The email, obtained by the Scottish Daily Mail, was sent to the First Minister, her husband – party chief executive officer Peter Murrell – and SNP business convener Kirsten Oswald by national executive committee (NEC) member Chris McEleny.
The Inverclyde councillor earlier claimed he was asked to ‘curtail’ discussions of his Roman Catholic faith in the event of his selection as a parliamentary candidate.
Mr McEleny has now raised concerns that senior SNP officials have been attempting to ‘discredit’ MPs including Joanna Cherry and Dr Lisa Cameron.
He has called for ‘formal’ action to be taken against senior Nationalists who have been briefing against others amid growing splits in the party.
Dr Cameron has raised fears she was the victim of a ‘smear’ campaign and said people in the party were spreading ‘lies’ about her.
The complaint states: ‘At the NEC meeting of July, I asked for a formal investigation into the continued discrediting of party representatives by members of the NEC. I produced an email that showed that three members of the NEC had been repeatedly aiming to discredit myself, Joanna Cherry MP and others.
‘The First Minister was clear that members of the NEC would be asked to hand over phones and email accounts in the future if this “did not end now”.’
Mr McEleny said he withdrew his motion for an investigation but is now seeking formal action as attacks within the party have ‘not ended’.
The letter emerged after senior SNP officials were accused of trying to stamp out religious beliefs amid a furious row over vetting.
Dr Cameron was the last MP to pass vetting before a likely snap general election, after claiming she had been persecuted for her religious beliefs. She has raised concerns that her decisions to vote against liberalising abortion rights in Northern Ireland, based on her faith and personal experience, could lead to her being deselected. A formal complaint was made to the party regarding her case, with the SNP vetting process branded ‘tainted’.
Miss Sturgeon was forced to write to the Bishop’s Conference – part of the Catholic Church in Scotland – to deny that any MPs would be deselected over their religious beliefs.
Concerns have also been raised over the treatment of other MPs, such as Miss Cherry. It is understood she and other MPs raised concerns that other senior figures in the party were briefing against them to the Press during a heated group meeting at Westminster before summer recess.
Last night a source said: ‘It’s clear that there is now a smear campaign against certain individuals and Nicola Sturgeon has lost control over this.
‘There are splits, it’s obvious for anyone to see. But one side won’t listen to the other and it’s just starting to unravel.
‘At the last group meeting in Westminster there were a lot of raised voices and MPs were not happy that others have been talking about them.’
A Scottish Conservative spokesman said: ‘Normally this kind of desperate move is exactly the kind of thing Nicola Sturgeon would denounce as dictatorial.
‘All it demonstrates is the total chaos within the SNP and the First Minister’s total lack of authority over her own party.’
‘It’s just starting to unravel’