SNP MP Angus MacNeil has been expelled from the party and will now sit as an independent.
No longer one of its politicians, Mr MacNeil said he has also been barred from the ‘rank and file’ after 30 years as a member and almost 20 as a politician.
How has it come to this?
Mr MacNeil's expulsion followed a clash with chief whip Brendan O'Hara and criticism of the party's strategy on independence describing it as "utterly clueless".
READ MORE: Angus MacNeil expelled from SNP after row with chief whip
He was initially suspended from the party's Westminster group for a week in July- but refused to rejoin and said he would sit as an independent MP until October.
The party's conduct committee met on Thursday evening to discuss the case - and Mr MacNeil, 53, later tweeted saying he has been expelled, using a kangaroo emoji to refer to the member conduct committee.
What’s been going on in the background?
Something of a fundamentalist when it comes to independence, Mr MacNeil has been critical of the party’s enthusiasm for a second referendum.
He has criticised former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon for not having a ‘Plan B’ after attempts to force a vote through the courts failed, and also tlambasted the strategy of “kicking the can down the road”.
In his letter announcing he would not retake the whip, he said: “"The SNP still have no clear understanding that it has to use elections to negotiate Scottish independence from Westminster by getting the backing of the majority of the electorate.
"The SNP membership must have a say at conference on the policy direction, which it hasn't until now.
READ MORE: Angus MacNeil will not rejoin SNP until party 'pursues independence'
"The tricks of the last six years of kicking the can down the road has not served Scotland well in matching our successful neighbours, instead we are trapped with Brexit in a socially failing UK.”
Has he said anything else?
In an exclusive interview with The Herald, before his expulsion but after his suspension, Mr MacNeil said he was “in despair” over the party’s “fear” to do anything about independence.
He said: “In my view the best way to proceed is to have a stand-alone Holyrood election that specifically calls for a referendum.”
“Humza Yousaf is saying it’s a majority of seats that’s required in a de facto referendum, but it’s not. A de facto referendum is won on votes not seats."
He added: “Humza needs to be bold and say: ‘Look, I know a majority of the electorate have indicated a preference for independence and I also know a lot of people don’t like my party or what we’ve done in government. But regardless, I’m willing to put everything we’ve got on independence. It may damage us and end our political careers, but when you vote in this it will be a de facto referendum and afterwards you’ll have the chance to vote for which party you want to lead an independent nation’.”
Is there a way back for him with the party?
It’s not looking likely, given how events have unfolded. The MP is now saying he will stand as an independent in his seat at the next general election.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here