Brazenly back in SNP fold, antisemitism scandal MP
HE was elected as an MP despite an SNP suspension for antisemitic remarks and warnings from Nicola Sturgeon not to support him.
But last week, as the latest group of Nationalist politicians took their places in the House of Commons, prominent SNP backbenchers – including Joanna Cherry – appeared to challenge their boss’s ruling by letting Neale Hanvey sit with them.
The member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath is officially classed as an independent. He had the whip withdrawn by the SNP only days before the General Election after accusations of antisemitism.
Mr Hanvey has said publicly he hopes to return to the SNP fold if cleared by an internal investigation – but last week it appeared that his fellow Westminster members had already forgiven him.
A Scottish Tory spokesman questioned the SNP’s conflicting stance on the issue, saying: ‘At a time when the SNP should be distancing themselves from Neale Hanvey and his comments, it appears their MPs are cosying up to him.
‘That simply isn’t good enough. If the SNP wants to show it is serious about stamping out antisemitism
‘It appears they are cosying up to him’
then it needs to exclude him from its Westminster group entirely.’
Mr Hanvey’s suspension came after it emerged that he had posted two antisemitic tweets on social media in 2016 – one involving a cartoon depicting Jewish billionaire George Soros as a puppet master controlling world leaders.
Denying he was antisemitic, Mr Hanvey issued an unreserved apology, saying he ‘did not give any thought to Mr Soros’s faith and did not consider the connotations of the image in that context’.
The SNP hierarchy immediately condemned his actions, but it was so close to the Election that Mr Hanvey’s name remained on preprinted ballot papers as the party’s candidate for that constituency.
In the end, he opted to carry on as an independent with the backing of the ‘Yes Kirkcaldy’ group – despite calls by the First Minister for SNP supporters to steer clear of him.
She told activists: ‘I’ve been very clear, I’ve said it publicly, I’ll say it again – SNP members in that constituency should not be supporting his campaign... He’s not an SNP candidate, he shouldn’t be using SNP materials. We have zero tolerance to antisemitism.’
Mr Hanvey went on to oust Labour’s deputy Scottish leader Lesley Laird with a majority of 1,243 and said he was ‘humbled’ by the grassroots support for him.
On his suspension, Mr Hanvey, a former leader of the SNP group on Fife Council, said: ‘It is a matter for the party. I hope, with the busy time of an Election over, we can have a constructive conversation.’ But on
Thursday and Friday, following his official swearing-in as an MP, he could be seen on the Parliament’s TV channel sitting within the SNP ranks, significantly with Ms Cherry, who was part of the successful legal challenge three months ago to Boris Johnson’s unlawful prorogation of Parliament.
Yesterday, when asked why Mr Hanvey had been sitting with the Nationalist MPs, an SNP spokesman would only say: ‘Neale Hanvey has been suspended by the SNP pending disciplinary action. Support from his campaign was withdrawn. He is not a member of the SNP Westminster group.
‘Antisemitism has no place in Scotland and no place in the SNP.’
Mr Hanvey was unavailable for comment.
The Scottish Council of Jewish Communities said: ‘Mr Hanvey has gone through the motions of apologising but his behaviour demonstrates that he does not understand the offensiveness of his comments.
‘The party acted promptly to suspend him; now it needs to take definitive action to show it will not tolerate racism in any form.’