John Swinney faces growing calls to sack Angus Robertson from Cabinet following Israel meeting

dailyrecord.co.uk:

John Swinney is facing growing calls from within his own party to sack Angus Robertson after the SNP minister met with a senior Israeli diplomat.Several senior Nationalist are furious the meeting on August 8 went ahead at a time Gaza is still subject to regular bombing raids from Israel's armed forces.Hundreds of rank-and-file SNP members are also understood to have quit the party in protest in recent days.

Robertson, the Cabinet Secretary for External Affairs, spoke with Daniela Grudsky, Israel's deputy ambassador to the UK, at St Andrew's House in Edinburgh.The meeting "discussed areas of mutual interest" according to a spokesman, while the SNP minister was also said to have "reiterated the Scottish Government’s position in calling for an immediate ceasefire by all sides in Gaza".It comes after veteran Nationalist MSP John Mason had the party whip removed over the weekend after following “utterly abhorrent” comments about the Israel-Hamas conflict.The Shettleston member posted on social media: "If Israel wanted to commit genocide, they would have killed ten times as many."Mason also held a meeting with Grudsky, describing it as a "useful discussion on what Israel hopes to achieve in Gaza".Alex Neil, a former SNP MSP, said: "People won’t understand why John Mason has been suspended but no action has been taken against Angus Robertson. "It’s time for the First Minister to act decisively and remove Angus from the cabinet.

This is the only credible way forward."SNP national secretary Lorna Finn added: "Disappointment doesn't begin to cover how I feel about a minister and backbench MSP from my party meeting.