Two MSPs resign from SNP over party's Nato stance The rebels say it is hypocritical for the SNP to support Scotland joining a nuclear-armed military alliance while at the same demanding the UK remove Trident-armed vessels from their base on the Clyde. Two SNP MSPs who led a rebellion against proposals for an independent Scotland to join Nato have resigned in protest. John Finnie and Jean Urquhart, both MSPs in the Highlands, announced they had quit after the party very narrowly voted to overturn the decades-long ban on Nato membership, following an intense conference debate last Friday. Their resignations mark the first major revolt against Alex Salmond's leadership since the party won power at the Scottish parliament in 2007, illustrating the scale of the controversy over the new pro-Nato policy. The rebels insisted it was both hypocritical and probably unworkable for the SNP to support the idea of Scotland joining a nuclear-armed military alliance while at the same demanding that the UK removes the Trident nuclear weapons system from its base on the Clyde. Finnie, a former police officer who has been an open critic of Scottish government policy, and joined the SNP at 16, said: "I cannot belong to a party that quite rightly does not wish to hold nuclear weapons on its soil, but wants to join a first-strike nuclear alliance. Although I envisage that I will continue to share common ground with the SNP on many issues, I cannot in good conscience continue to take the party whip. Jean Urquhart, a Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament member for 35 years, who been considering whether she might resign before last Friday's knife-edge vote, said: "The issue of nuclear disarmament and removing Trident from Scotland's waters is a red line issue for me, and I could not remain committed to a party that has committed itself to retaining membership of Nato. We are both steadfast in our belief that Scotland should be an independent country, and will actively and positively campaign for a yes vote in 2014. We believe in an independent Scotland, not a Nato-dependent Scotland. Finnie said other Nato rebels at Holyrood had decided to stay within the party and fight against it internally. One, Sandra White, the MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, has indicated she will ask the party's leadership to produce evidence that Nato will allow an anti-nuclear independent Scotland to join the alliance, while it also demands the UK removes Trident from the Clyde. Both MSPs will now sit as independents. Their resignations still leave Salmond with a healthy majority at Holyrood. The SNP will now have 65 MSPs, compared to 37 for their nearest rivals, Labour. After winning 69 seats in May 2011, it lost one backbencher after Tricia Marwick became presiding officer at Holyrood. It lost another after Bill Walker, the MSP for Dunfermline, was suspended by the SNP after allegations emerged about violence towards previous partners and children. Isobel Lindsay, the vice chair of Scottish CND, said the group "have great respect for John Finnie and Jean Urquhart's integrity. We are sure that they will continue to work for a non-nuclear independent Scotland that is not part of an aggressive military alliance.