Bitter splits plunge SNP into further turmoil

MEETINGS of Nationalist MPs have been axed and their WhatsApp chat group deleted as tensions grow among the party’s members at Westminster.

The SNP’s leader at Westminster, Ian Blackford, has sensationally blasted ‘bad apples’ among the ranks – and last week threatened MPs who leak to the media with expulsion, sources say.

It follows ‘blazing, chaotic’ clashes between senior figures, including MPs Mhairi Black and Joanna Cherry. Party insiders say it is increasingly split on three issues: how best to secure another independence referendum, the criminal allegations against Alex Salmond – all of which he denies – and the Scottish Government’s plans to allow people to ‘self-identify’ as a different gender.

Mr Blackford is understood to have been angered by leaks from internal meetings and the MPs’ WhatsApp group. And in a sign of the growing paranoia gripping the SNP, he has tried to silence debate, with MPs complaining they are no longer able to influence party policy.

One source said: ‘There have been arguments between Joanna and Mhairi.

‘Then, on Tuesday, Ian said that because information from WhatsApp was being reported in the newspapers, and there were leaks from people in the group, he was not going to have group meetings any more.

‘He has threatened that anyone who speaks to the media about SNP discussions will be expelled and said there are bad apples in the party. It was really uncomfortable.’

The source added that the group was increasingly fractured, saying: ‘There’s the trial. There’s people who support Alex and people who support Nicola.’

Last week, it emerged Ms Black, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South, had confronted colleagues for not standing up for her when she was criticised for attending a school event with a drag queen.

A Scottish Tory spokesman said: ‘The infighting is getting worse by the week.’