STEPHEN Flynn has called for SNP members to “stop pointing fingers” and to focus on providing “hope and optimism” to voters as he admits the party has fallen short in providing.
The Westminster leader has warned his colleagues that they must shift the focus from themselves to their voters ahead of the party conference this week.
In a column for the Daily Record, Flynn issued his “call to action” to his SNP peers who have been reeling since the General Election in July which saw the party lose 38 seats at Westminster.
Flynn said the party now needs to look forward instead of inward ahead of the party conference which kicks off on Friday and finishes on Sunday.
He said: “Of course, our party conference offers us the first opportunity to run the rule over what has gone wrong in recent times. It could perhaps be argued that a weekend isn’t long enough on that front!
“But we must be careful not to spend too long talking about ourselves at the expense of talking about the public. Their needs, their aspirations, their future.”
Over the last few weeks, leaders of the party have been heavily criticised over External Affairs Secretary Angus Robertson’s secret meeting with Israel's deputy ambassador to the UK.
Senior figures in the party had called the meeting out of touch, with former MP Mhairi Black calling it a sign of “stale” thinking, while John Swinney publicly backed Robertson.
Flynn has now said the SNP needs to regain the trust of its voters which has “gradually eroded” and prove as a team that things can get better for the people in Scotland.
He said: “All politics is personal and it’s time we got ourselves back into the business of delivering the hope and optimism that has been in such short supply for people living across Scotland.
“Now the harsh truth is that we have failed on that front in recent times. The trust that drove the SNP to unprecedented heights has gradually eroded. That’s a burden we all must share and accept irrespective of our role in it.
“In a team, you don’t point fingers, you accept that the mistakes of others are yours too. Just as it is our collective burden to bear, so too is it now our collective challenge to mend the trust that has been lost."
He added: “I believe the job required has already been spelled out by the public at the General Election.
“They want to see aspiration put front and centre. They want to know that things can and will get better.”
