An SNP MP has said he is "confident" his party can win a crunch by-election if Margaret Ferrier is finally recalled by voters.
David Linden also claimed he did not recognise reports that some in the SNP Westminster group feel the party lacks a clear offer to the electorate.
Ferrier, a former SNP MP who now sits as an independent, lost her appeal against a 30-day suspension from the Commons for her Covid rule-breaking.
It brings the possibility of a by-election in her Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency closer, though a recall petition must take place first before this can go ahead.
Linden was asked today if he was worried about the constituency in the event of a by-election.
He said he was “absolutely confident” the SNP would win the seat, adding: “We look forward, as we’ve already been doing, to taking our message to people on the doorsteps, that we are laser-focused on that cost-of-living crisis.
“That’s the concern that has been raised by the people in Rutherglen and Hamilton West and we relish the opportunity to get the focus of the UK Government in that by-election on to the cost-of-living crisis.”
Ferrier has stubbornly refused to resign as an MP despite facing calls to do so from many in her former party. Rutherglen is a key Labour target with the party already having selected its candidate, Michael Shanks, for the possible by-election.
Ferrier faces the sack from voters after she spoke in parliament while awaiting the results of a Covid test in September 2020. She then took a train home to Glasgow after learning she had tested positive.
Linden was also asked about an “away day” meeting of SNP MPs, which said there is disquiet among the group due to a lack of strategy in the party. Linden said he does not recognise this description, saying: “Our firm focus is on holding the feet of the Tories to the fire on the cost-of-living crisis.”
Scottish Conservative MSP Craig Hoy said: "David Linden did well to keep a straight face as he shamelessly and repeatedly claimed the SNP was ‘laser focused’ on the issues that matter to Scots. This is the same SNP that’s been indulging in a brutal civil war for months and is consumed by an internal financial scandal.
"The same SNP that is once again obsessing over independence by setting up a party convention on the issue, promising fresh ‘prospectus’ papers and sending ministers on marches. The SNP’s ‘laser-like focus’ is on throwing red meat to the diehards on the one topic this feuding party can agree on."
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