Alba MPs thrown out of PMQs over indyref2 protest

Two pro-independence Scottish MPs have been thrown out of the Commons ahead of Boris Johnson's appearance at prime minister's questions.

Neale Hanvey and Kenny MacAskill were told to "shut up and get out" by the Speaker amid rowdy scenes.

When the two Alba Party MPs refused to comply, the Serjeant at Arms was told to escort them out.

They said they had been protesting about the PM's refusal to grant consent for indyref2.

Mr MacAskill could be heard trying to raise a point of order and appeared to say "we need a referendum", before he was drowned out by other MPs.

He then refused to sit down and continued to speak, which infuriated Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

Sir Lindsay initially warned Mr MacAskill and Mr Hanvey that "I will not tolerate such behaviour" before shouting at them to "shut up and get out".

After naming the two MPs, he then told the Serjeant at Arms, who is responsible for security in the Commons, to "deal with them - escort them out".

Formally naming the pair means they will be now be suspended from the House.

In a statement released moments after they were removed, the MPs said they had asserted that "Scotland's voice will be heard".

They accused Mr Johnson of refusing to allow a "consented and legal Scottish independence referendum to take place in accordance with the democratic mandate given by the Scottish people to their elected representatives in the Scottish Parliament".

They also published a letter that had been sent to Mr Johnson warning him that "any decision to defy the will of the Scottish people cannot be allowed to stand".

Mr Hanvey and Mr MacAskill were both elected as SNP MPs before leaving to join Alba when it was formed by former SNP leader and Scottish first minister Alex Salmond last year.

They were escorted from the chamber ahead of Mr Johnson's second-to-last appearance at the weekly PMQs before his replacement is announced on 5 September.

It saw him face calls from SNP MPs to "respect the mandate" for another referendum on independence.

The party's Westminster leader Ian Blackford told the prime minister that "people in Scotland don't just want rid of him, they want rid of the whole rotten Westminster system".

Mr Johnson said the SNP should focus on educational standards in Scotland instead of asking for a repeat of the 2014 referendum, adding: "We had a vote Mr Speaker, they lost."

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wants to hold a referendum in October on next year, and has asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether she has the power to do so even if the UK government does not grant formal consent.