John Swinney says SNP yet to decide on 'double jobbing' MPs looking to join Holyrood

dailyrecord.co.uk:

John Swinney has said the SNP has yet to make a decision on whether the party's MPs will be allowed to stand for Holyrood in 2026.The Nationalists previously insisted its members at Westminster had to resign their seats before they could be approved as candidates for the Scottish Parliament.But that rule appears to have fallen by the wayside after Stephen Flynn announced he was aiming to become an MSP in two years' time - while also planning to keep his job as an MP.A further two SNP MPs - Dave Doogan and Stephen Gethins - have since confirmed they have also applied to the party to be considered as potential Holyrood candidates at the next election.

Nationalists in the Scottish Parliament have previously attacked opposition members - such as former Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross - who also held seats in the Commons or Lords.Swinney said today: "We’ve had times in the past when we’ve had dual mandates – I had a dual mandate myself for two years in the early days of devolution.“The party has got to come to its conclusions about these particular issues and it will do in the fullness of time.”But gormer SNP minister George Adam said it was "wrong" for SNP MPs to try to also sit at Holyrood, adding he was "disappointed" with how Flynn had handled his decision.The Paisley MSP noted his party had spent years "attacking others" for having dual mandates.Kate Forbes today claimed Flynn would be a "brilliant asset" to the Scottish Parliament.But last year she criticised Douglas Ross - who was an MP, MSP and professional football referee at the time - branding him “three jobs”.Responding to Flynn’s announcement, she added: “The beauty of democracy is that it ultimately will be a decision for the local electorate as to who