MSPs call for oath to King to be scrapped
A motion put forward by Kevin Stewart, a former SNP minister, heaped praise on the Commonwealth island nation for this month officially abandoning the need for officials to pledge loyalty to the monarch, and instead promise to serve the 'people of Grenada'.
The Aberdeen Central MSP said that the Scottish parliament should also have the power to 'have its members pledge allegiance to the people of Scotland and not an unelected monarch'. His call has so far been backed by 14 of his colleagues, with mainly nationalists from the SNP and Greens putting their names to his motion, as well as Mercedes Villalba, the left-wing Labour MSP.
On entering parliament, MSPs are required by law to swear to be 'faithful and bear true allegiance' to the British head of state, despite a sizeable number of republicans sitting in Holyrood.
Murdo Fraser, the Tory MSP, accused Stewart of launching a 'shameless bid to try and pander to republican voters both inside and outside his party'.
While official SNP policy remains to retain the British monarch as head of state should Scotland become independent, the position is widely seen as being designed not to alienate royalist voters.
In her memoir, Nicola Sturgeon admitted she was a republican 'at heart and by instinct', a position shared by her successor Humza Yousaf.
John Swinney has reiterated that it is the SNP's position that an independent Scotland would keep the King as head of state, but he has not made his personal views on the issue known.
'The reality is that the King and the monarchy remain one of the most loved and respected institutions across Scotland,' Fraser said. 'Most people will wonder why nationalist MSPs are focusing on this constitutional navel-gazing at a time when they should be tackling the real priorities of Scots.
'They want this SNP government to be focused on reducing NHS waiting times, growing the economy and restoring standards in our schools, rather than engaging in the worst sort of petty student politics.'
Under the Scotland Act, which created the devolved parliament, MSPs must take the 'oath of allegiance' and are not allowed to take part in proceedings until they have done so. Those who do not do so within two months of being elected cease to be MSPs. Holyrood does not have the power to change the requirement, meaning the law would have to be altered at Westminster for the rule to be abolished or changed.
Republican MSPs who feel strongly opposed to swearing allegiance to the monarch have typically undertaken acts of protest before doing so, for example by stating that their real allegiance is to the Scottish people.
Dickon Mitchell, Grenada's prime minister, wants the nation to become a republic and remove Britain's monarch as its head of state. The legal changes to oath requirements on the island took effect earlier this month as Caribbean nations marked Emancipation Day, the anniversary of slavery being abolished in the British Empire in 1834.
The law states that the word 'Grenada' should replace 'His Majesty King Charles the Third, his heirs and successors' in its oath. It adds that in any law requiring an oath the words 'our sovereign lord the King' must be deleted and replaced with 'the people of Grenada'.
Asked whether the Scottish government supported Stewart's call for Holyrood to gain the powers to make similar changes, a spokesman declined to comment.
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