Robison refuses to be drawn on possible disciplinary action against veteran MSP

The Deputy First Minister said the issue was a matter for the parliamentary group and not for her as a government minister.

The SNP’s Fergus Ewing previously voted for a Conservative motion of no confidence in Green circular economy minister Lorna Slater (Paul Campbell/PA) (PA Wire)

Deputy First Minister Shona Robison refused to say if veteran SNP MSP Fergus Ewing would be disciplined following a series of rebellions in recent months.

On Friday, The Times reported the party would remove the whip from Mr Ewing who voted, in June, for a Conservative motion of no confidence in Green circular economy minister Lorna Slater.

Speaking to BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show, Ms Robison said the issue was a matter for the parliamentary group and not for her as a government minister.

When asked if he should be suspended from the SNP group, Ms Robison said: “I’m not going to discuss somebody’s situation or the difficult issues someone has to wrestle with. The group will make that decision.”

The PA news agency approached the SNP to confirm reports that Mr Ewing could face suspension but received no response.

The Conservative motion of no confidence in Ms Slater was brought to Holyrood after the company set up to run Scotland’s deposit return recycling scheme called in the administrators, putting scores of jobs on the line.

SNP leader and First Minister Humza Yousaf refused to say if he would take action against Mr Ewing at the time.

Mr Ewing is also expected to vote against the Scottish government next week when a debate over short-term lets takes place at Holyrood.

The Inverness and Nairn MSP has previously spoken out against a licensing scheme for short-term-let operators which he said would “decimate” the sector.

Last month, he told BBC’s Good Morning Scotland: “I was the tourism minister for over six years in all and came to understand how important this is for tourism … not only to tourism but providing accommodation for workers who need to work away from home.

“They are the lifeblood of tourism but also important to society as a whole.

“As of the beginning of August, only a very small number of these premises had made an application for a licence and only about 8% granted across Scotland.

“In Edinburgh, a staggering 97% of businesses haven’t submitted an application.

“So there’s no way, not a cat’s chance, that these applications can be dealt with by the deadline.”