Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

SNP under fire over Scottish Questions

Stewart Hosie
Stewart Hosie

Critics have accused SNP MPs of failing to pull their weight after just 15 Nationalist members applied to take part in the first Scottish Questions of this parliament.

Less than a third of the parliamentary party entered the ballot for the chance to put a question to Secretary of State for Scotland David Mundell this week.

Labour’s Shadow Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said: “The SNP claimed they would be roaring lions but it appears they are more interested in where they sit and if they can clap than doing their job.

“They can’t properly hold this awful Tory government to account if they don’t use the opportunities to do so. It’s clear they are too busy throwing their weight rather than pulling their weight.”

Scottish Questions takes place every six weeks. It’s a session set aside to quiz the Secretary of State about Scottish issues.

Those wishing to ask a question must enter a ballot with 45 Labour members putting their names forward, nine Tories and 15 nationalists.

Just four SNP members were drawn, although Westminster leader Angus Robertson will automatically get to quiz Mundell.

SNP depute leader Stewart Hosie said: “You don’t need to table a specific question to stand and catch the Speaker’s eye something the SNP did very successfully in the last parliament.

“Labour are packing Scottish Questions with English members to mask their lack of strength in Scotland.”

Related stories: Politics podcast – the man who coined the phrase ‘cybernat’ gives his views on the SNP