Stephen Flynn rules himself out of SNP leadership race
Stephen Flynn, the SNP's leader in Westminster, has formally ruled himself out of the race to replace Nicola Sturgeon as he declined to say who he is likely to back in the contest.
He told Sky News: "Indeed, I'll not be standing. Of course the next leader of the Scottish National Party needs to have the ability to be first minister. No MP has the ability to be first minister for obvious reasons that we are located in London and not Edinburgh.
"In terms of who I am backing I have not seen anyone throw their name into the ring yet. Once names start going into that ring I’ll have conversations with my colleagues, see what their policy priorities are in terms of immediate challenges that we face, how they intend to overcome some of the issues in relation to the economy , in relation to the health service, in relation to the cost of living crisis and indeed our energy future and of course how they set out their pathway to that independent future."
Senior SNP figure says party's special conference on Scottish independence should be 'paused'
The SNP must delay a crunch summit on how to secure Scottish independence until after Nicola Sturgeon's successor has been selected, Stephen Flynn said this morning.
The SNP's leader in Westminster said the party's special conference on independence which has been scheduled to take place on March 19 should now be "paused".
He told Sky News: "So the party was intending on having a conference on the 19 of March to outline the next stage for us in terms of what comes next because obviously we have been told by the UK Supreme Court that we don’t have the powers to hold an independence referendum despite the repeated mandates that Nicola Sturgeon and the party have won at numerous Scottish elections.
"So we need to chart that next course. How do we get to that independent future. The de facto referendum was obviously put forward by the first minister and we were going to be discussing and debating the merits of that at that party conference.
"I personally think that party conference should be paused for obvious reasons. I think the new leader should have the opportunity and indeed the space to set out their position, their values and their intentions going forward.
"That would be my take in relation to that. I think it is sensible that we do hit the pause button on that conference and allow the new leader the opportunity to set out their vision."