JOANNA Cherry has called on Mhairi Black to "apologise" to her SNP colleagues after claiming some MPs were “too comfortable” in Westminster.
During an interview with Times Radio earlier this month, Black said: “I’ve seen folk who you would have thought would have been the first one marching to the Border with a claymore but now absolutely love being in London. I wouldn’t have expected that,” Black said.
“I will not specify if they are current or not, but yes, I’ve come across ones where I’ve thought, ‘hmmm, you appear slightly more comfortable than I think you should be’.”
However, after previously taking issue with the comments in her column for The National, Cherry has now called on Black to apologise to her colleagues.
Speaking to BBC’s Good Morning Scotland, Cherry was asked if she was one of the MPs who Black described as “too comfortable”.
She replied: “Well, I heard what Mhairi Black had to say and what I will say about that is that I am absolutely delighted with the way in which Stephen Flynn is leading the Westminster group. I think he’s doing a great job.
“However, when he made Mhairi his deputy he gave her a position of great responsibility, particularly in an election year when so many of her colleagues are facing difficult fights to hang onto their seats.
“So, I don’t think it’s appropriate for Mhairi to be attacking our colleagues in public.
“She needs to live up to her responsibilities or give the post over to someone who will and I’m hoping that Mhairi will apologise to her colleagues this week.
“To answer your question directly: No, I’m not too comfortable at Westminster.
“But the SNP is not an abstentionist party and if Mhairi wants to change that policy then she needs to put the work in to do it.”
She added: “It’s not easy being an opposition member of parliament at Westminster. But if you work hard and if you’re present there, if you build alliances, then you can achieve successes.”
It comes as Cherry said she expects to receive cross-party support for her bid to allow Holyrood to split the role of Lord Advocate – the head of Scotland’s prosecution service who is also the Scottish Government’s top legal adviser.
Cherry said her private member’s bill would set right a “historical anomaly” by allowing these two elements of the role to be held by different people.
Her 10-minute rule bill is due to be heard at Westminster later this week.
“Because of reservations in the Scotland Act, it’s not open to the Scottish Parliament to create a new law officer or a new public prosecutor,” she said.
“There would have to be devolution of the power from Westminster to Holyrood to do that.
“That’s what my 10-minute rule private member’s bill is designed to do.”
She added that reconsidering the role was part of the SNP manifesto, while she expected “cross-party” support from Labour, the Conservatives, the Lib Dems and Alba.
She said: “All major political parties in Scotland have called for a review of the role of the Lord Advocate, there is widespread support for splitting the roles and I trust that my bill will have cross party backing when it comes before the Commons.”
