A Perthshire MP refused to confirm or deny whether he was being disciplined by his party for not backing a second EU referendum.
Pete Wishart, the SNP’s longest-serving member in the Commons, did not follow the whip to support a confirmatory vote on any Brexit deal, in a rare defiance of party orders.
It would normally trigger a procedure that could lead to his local party being notified of the voting breach.
Asked about reports that he faces a disciplinary procedure, Mr Wishart said: “I can’t discuss anything that’s happened internally in the party processes.”
The Perth and North Perthshire representative said he was acting in the best interests of his constituents when he abstained on indicative votes in favour of a confirmatory referendum, which SNP MPs were told to back.
On why he went against the party, he said: “If a public vote was the only way for a semblance of a possibility of remaining in the EU, I’d have to look at it very carefully.
“But right now revoke is still a player in all of this and it’s the most convenient, easiest, cleanest and clearest way to end the Brexit madness.”
The former SNP chief whip added: “If we do have a confirmatory vote for an EU referendum and we support that process then it’s quite logical people would then turn around and say to us….’we now expect you to do the same for an independence referendum’.”
The SNP Westminster office was asked for comment.
