George Osborne: SNP MPs are ‘noisy and aggressive’

George Osborne has described the group of 54 SNP MPs in Westminster as a “noisy and aggressive bloc”, as he restated his opposition to a second independence referendum.

The Chancellor highlighted the acceptance that the 2014 vote would settle the issue “for a generation”, adding: “As far as I am concerned, the deal done before the referendum is the deal that should stay after the referendum.”

Osborne, who was speaking in New York to the Council on Foreign Relations, said the success of the SNP in previous Labour heartlands left the door open for the Conservatives to make gains north of the border.

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“Certainly if anything it’s an opportunity for the Conservative party to rebuild itself in Scotland a little,” he added.

The SNP won 56 of 59 available Scottish seats in May’s general election, though two have since temporarily resigned the whip amid investigations into their financial affairs.

The Chancellor said the SNP’s expanded number in Westminster marked a shift in parliament.

“They are a noisy and aggressive bloc in the House of Commons who are not trying to be part of the UK Government and that is a departure,” he said.  

“Now, whether that ends up being some kind of settled position for Scotland, that they elect a nationalist but don’t want to leave the UK, I don’t know.”

Nicola Sturgeon has identified a number of potential “triggers” that could lead to demands for a second independence referendum.

However, the First Minister and SNP leader stressed that any vote would only come when the Scottish people demanded it, rather than at the behest of her party.