SNP veteran quits party amid rebellion against leader

John Swinney, the Scottish First Minister, has been dealt a blow to his leadership after an SNP veteran quit the party.
Fergus Ewing, who has represented the Inverness and Nairn constituency since 1999, will stand as an independent candidate at next year's Holyrood elections.
The 67-year-old accused the SNP of having 'deserted many of the people whose causes we used to champion' amid rumours of a wider revolt.
SNP rebels are said to be plotting to oust Mr Swinney following the party's disastrous defeat at the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election. That contest saw Scottish Labour take the seat from the SNP, while Nigel Farage's Reform UK came third.
The rebels are also reportedly concerned that Mr Swinney has failed to advance the cause for Scottish independence, and have not ruled out a leadership challenge at the party's October conference.
On Friday, opposition politicians claimed Mr Ewing's decision was a hammer blow to Mr Swinney's credibility.
'It speaks volumes about John Swinney and the SNP's appalling failures in government that even nationalist royalty is prepared to twist the knife in this way,' said Edward Mountain, the Conservative Highlands and Islands MSP.
'By standing as an independent, Fergus Ewing has made it clear he simply cannot defend his party's record to voters while out on the campaign trail.'
Mr Ewing said he had taken the decision to abandon the SNP 'because I love the people of Inverness and Nairn and the people of Scotland more than my party, which I have been in for more than half a century'.
He had been increasingly at odds with the SNP over gender recognition reform and net zero, also raising issues over the deposit return scheme and marine protected areas.
Mr Ewing said Holyrood was more fractious and tribal than ever before and accused the SNP of having 'lost its way'. He also said devolution was 'letting Scotland's people down'.
He added: 'Too much power rests unchecked in the hands of party leaders, free to choose candidates who will slavishly support them, rather than stand up for the people who sent them to Holyrood. Choosing the pliant over the talented.'
'Faithful servant'
Mr Ewing first hinted in March that he could stand as an independent at next year's election. At the time, Mr Swinney said that he was sorry to learn of the possibility, describing him as a 'faithful servant' of his constituents who had contributed much to the Scottish Parliament.
Mr Ewing is the son of Winnie Ewing, whose 1967 by-election victory in Hamilton was a historic breakthrough for the SNP, and is the brother of Annabelle Ewing, the Cowdenbeath MSP.
He was first elected to the Scottish Parliament when it was re-established in 1999 and held a ministerial portfolio for 14 years in the governments of both Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.
Mr Ewing added: 'It's time for Holyrood to live up to the high expectations people rightly held for it, when my mother, Winnie, reconvened our own Parliament in 1999. It came of age some years ago – surely now it's time for it to grow up.'

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