A Highland councillor has quit the SNP, slamming Humza Yousaf’s "incoherent" independence strategy and policies which are “disproportionately focused” on the Central Belt.
Karl Rosie said he was quitting the party with immediate effect and would see out the rest of his term in his Caithness ward as an independent.
The councillor - who was the SNP’s candidate at the 2019 election and worked for Scottish Government minister Maree Todd - said he had “pondered this decision for some time".
READ MORE: East Renfrewshire tops table as Scottish house prices surge
In a statement, he said: “As a staunch supporter of independence for Scotland, I find myself increasingly disillusioned with the incoherent independence strategy that the party has adopted.
“It has become apparent to me that we cannot continue to make promises of independence to the electorate when I believe it is no longer a priority for the party, and I can no longer stand by such inconsistencies.”
Last year, SNP members backed plans to give “democratic effect to Scotland becoming an independent country” if the party wins a majority of seats at the next general election.
That means if they win 29 of Scotland’s 57 constituencies, the First Minister will demand the UK Government start independence negotiations, or begin talks on either a new referendum or devolving the powers to hold a referendum to Holyrood.
Mr Yousaf has long insisted independence will be "line one, page one" of the party's manifesto.
However, polls have shown the SNP may struggle to win the most seats when Rishi Sunak finally calls a vote.
In his statement, Councillor Rosie went on to say he was “deeply troubled by the SNP's policies, which often seem disproportionately focused on the Central Belt, neglecting the needs and priorities of regions like ours in the Highlands".
He cited Highly Protected Marine Areas, the Deposit Return Scheme, the lack of progress on dualling the A9 duelling and “missed opportunities to develop a meaningful industrial strategy.
READ MORE: Labour's Rochdale by-election mess was of its own making
Ms Todd, the SNP MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, said: "After years of positive and successful working together as part of the SNP Highland team, it is regretful to see Karl take this decision.
"I wish Karl well on a personal level and hope that we can continue to work together in the best interests of people across the Highlands.
"The SNP will continue to focus on getting the best solution not just for the Highlands, but all of Scotland, and that is through independence.”
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 hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel