SNP floats Westminster boycott to mirror Sinn Féin if Burnham blocks independence referendum

From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026.

SNP MSP Steven Bonnar has raised the prospect of Scottish Nationalists withdrawing from Westminster entirely if Andy Burnham's government refuses to grant a second independence referendum. Bonnar said the party should consider copying Sinn Féin's longstanding abstentionist policy if the current impasse over a vote is not broken. The Herald warns Burnham has already slipped up on the referendum question and the SNP is poised to exploit the opening.

Bonnar's intervention is the most dramatic escalation of SNP pressure on Burnham since he entered Downing Street.

A Westminster walkout would mark a historic shift for the SNP, which has sat in the Commons since its founding.