FORMER Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe has called for the Scottish Parliament to be abolished, calling it a "talking shop".
Lowe, who is an independent member after he was suspended from Reform UK earlier this year following a string of allegations about his conduct, which he has strenuously denied.
The Great Yarmouth MP took to social media to call the Scottish Parliament, which was established in 1999, "a bloated, taxpayer-funded talking shop", adding that it was "time to scrap" it.
On Twitter/X, he wrote: "It’s time to scrap the Scottish Parliament — a bloated, taxpayer-funded talking shop that duplicates what MPs already do.
"Waste of time, waste of money. With the English being unfairly treated, again.
"Abolish the Scottish Parliament."
It comes after Nigel Farage — Lowe's former party leader — visited Scotland for the first time since 2019 this week, and said "devolution is here to stay" but hinted he would scrap the Scottish Parliament’s funding mechanism if he won power in Westminster.
Farage said the mechanism was “out of date”, adding: “What I’d like to see is a Scottish Government that’s able to raise a bit more of its own revenue and a Scottish economy that’s actually got genuine growth and I don’t believe that can happen without this sector [oil and gas] booming.
“I think, you know, the Barnett formula goes back to the 1970s. Is there an argument it should be looked at again? Of course there is.”
Lowe was suspended from Reform UK in March after he was accused of making verbal threats against party chairman Zia Yusuf, and of bullying.
The Crown Prosecution Service said no criminal charges would be brought against the independent MP earlier this month in relation to alleged threats towards Yusuf.
Lowe has since accused his ex-colleagues of engaging in a “sinister” attempt to use the police to silence him, and branded Farage a “coward and a viper”.
The MP has hinted in interviews since his suspension he would be interested in setting up his own challenger political party on the right.
He has also suggested he would be open to joining the Conservatives, if the party were to undergo reform.
