Suspicions over rise in SNP's Asian membership POLITICS:

Sunday Herald, The, Apr 3, 2006 by Paul Hutcheon Scottish Political Editor

SNP officials are being asked to investigate possible membership irregularities after it emerged that dozens of Scottish Asians recently joined the party in Glasgow.

Nationalist bosses are checking the city's electoral register after concerns were expressed about the mass sign-up by their Glasgow regional association.

Party insiders believe the surge in membership is an attempt to influence the forthcoming selections to pick electoral candidates in the west of Scotland.

The controversy follows an unparalleled surge in SNP membership in parts of Glasgow in the past few months. Local activists have expressed surprise that over 100 Scottish Asians have tried to join branches in Cathcart and Shettleston.

Similar fears have been expressed over sign-ups in Maryhill, Pollok and Kelvin.

The Sunday Herald understands that two branches contacted the SNP's Glasgow Regional Association (GRA) outlining their concerns.

GRA, which organises the SNP across the city, has reported the matter to party HQ in Edinburgh. Officials are now verifying whether the new members can take part in SNP business by checking their names on the electoral register.

The membership rise is particularly sensitive given the backdrop of internal SNP selection contests for Holyrood.

The nationalists will soon embark on eight regional contests to select potential MSPs for the Scottish parliament.

SNP insiders are suspicious about the Glasgow surge because the new members joined ahead of last week's cut-off point for eligibility to vote in selection contests. One SNP source said: "This looks dubious. Some of these branches have never seen such a level of sign-ups.

But now, a few weeks before the List rankings start, we get dozens of members from the Asian community joining.

I don't know what to make of it."

The switch in 2004 to selecting candidates by one-member-one- vote (Omov) is thought to have opened up options for potential abuse. The source said: "Omov means anybody can persuade 20 folk to sign up and then get them to vote." Party leader Alex Salmond has long courted Scots Asians as an ethnic group likely to support independence. He has stated his commitment to the SNP having at least one MSP from an ethnic minority background after next year's Holyrood polls.

He believes the SNP have a good chance of electing a Scots Asian to Holyrood from Glasgow, where his friend Bashir Ahmad, a Glasgow councillor, is on the register of approved candidates.

The controversy is the second set of allegations this year about SNP selection contests. The Sunday Herald recently revealed that Edinburgh activist Calum Cashley told his boss, MSP Fiona Hyslop, that he could "knock-up" activists in her Lothians constituency to help ensure her reselection, a practice that is forbidden.

Bruce Crawford, the SNP's business convener, said of the Glasgow row: "There has been an increase in numbers applying all over Scotland. Only people who complete the forms and who are subjected to a check can legitimately become a member." A Labour spokesman called on the SNP to clear up their membership problems. "This looks bad for the SNP. The reality is, with their unpopular policy of independence they are unlikely to attract support, " he said.