A senior SNP MSP has accused a former party spin doctor of launching a “personal attack” on him for speaking out against Government policy.
Fergus Ewing said Murray Foote’s claim he should be disciplined showed he had “lost the argument”.
Ewing is a former SNP Cabinet Secretary who has turned into a vocal critic of various Government policies.
He has likened the Deposit Return Scheme to the Poll Tax and ripped up a Government consultation on fisheries policy in the chamber.
It led Foote, who was the SNP’s media chief until recently, to write in the Record: “If Ewing is continually let off the hook, others will believe they too can act with impunity - and that again only benefits the opposition.
Foote, a former Record editor, added: “His histrionics are the latest in a repeat pattern of very public dissent. A cynic might consider he is still in the throes of a 24-month huff since he left the government.
“Or perhaps he believes, as a son of the venerated Ewing dynasty, his surname entitles him to behave as he chooses, free of consequence. If so, it’s time he was dissuaded of the notion.
He continued: “If a select few elected members at Holyrood and Westminster refuse to police themselves, then the leadership will have no option but to impose discipline.”
Ewing hit back by saying he had fought “for fishermen and oil and gas workers for 50 years and will continue to do so”, adding:
“Mr Foote chooses to make a very personal attack on me – and I’m always happy when that happens because he knows he’s lost the argument.
“The SNP have always stood up for our fishermen, and our policy commitment on the dualling of the A9 and A96 is long-standing. So is our campaign for developing Scotland’s oil and gas for the benefit of our people.
“Why does he think I should abandon these decade-long commitments?”
Foote resigned his post earlier this year after providing an inaccurate response to the media.
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