Stephen Flynn is with us this morning. Hi, it's good to see you. Thanks for taking the time to join us. Thoughts on Diane Abbott, first of all.

I think it's a pretty sorry state of affairs. Natalie Elfick is obviously welcomed with open arms. The right wing populist into the Labor Party, Diane Abbott, obviously gets her membership back at the very last minute, but isn't allowed to stand. I'd just like to thank Diane for everything she's done as a trailblazer for women in Parliament, but also as the first black female in Parliament. She's a phenomenal individual, and her legacy is going to be long lasting.

Are you confident that We'll see her potentially stand either somewhere else or at the next election.

I have no idea, to be honest, but I think this is a pretty sorry reflection of the Labor Party and where it stands, what its values are and what its principles are at the moment, and the public will be reflecting on that heavily.

How's your campaigning going? I'm reading that Tommy Sheppard, SMPMP for Edinburgh East, has only raised £70 for his election campaign by last Sunday.

I bet you any money in the world that Tommy Sheppard will have one of the best funded and most exciting campaigns in Edinburgh. That's wrong. A crowdfunder is one thing in particular, but we all get donations from individuals on the side, and there's people who don't like to put things on crowdfunders and all the rest of it. But Tommy will have a fantastic campaign in Edinburgh, and I'm very confident that he'll hold the seat.

Okay. You've got a reserve for candidates, haven't you? The SMP, Holyrood. Are you handing that out?

A what? Sorry.

A reserve. So you help candidates come the election to not just crowdfund, but also to raise their own funds?

Oh, yes.

And donate funds to them.

So Our party, of course, our party in particular, relies upon our members to donate. We don't have the unions, we don't have big business like the Conservatives Party do. So our membership donates to the party, and our party makes sure that candidates are supported. But of course, as MPs, as candidates, we are able to attract donations from individuals. I'm very confident that right across Scotland, we'll be in a position to fund our campaign and to take forward our positive message of putting Scotland first at this election.

And yet it looks as though your numbers could halve at the next election.

Well, isn't this the exciting thing about an election. Polls swing one way, they swing the other way. What we know is the most important poll is on the fourth of July. On Independence Day, no less, as I'm sure you know. The thing for us is we need to be talking about the cost of living crisis and support that people deserve for their mortgages or food bills or energy bills, the economic growth that we need to see. We're a little bit different from the Westminster consensus in that regard. We want to see access to the single market, we want to see freedom of movement, and we want to see doubling down of investment and net zero. We want to see £28 billion of investment, not just the £5 billion that Kier Starmer's wrote back on. But perhaps most important of all, we want to see an end to Tauri austerity. The IFS say there's £18 billion of public sector cuts coming, a conspiracy of silence between the Labor Party and the Tauri Party. We reject that. We want to see investment in our NHS because it's the right thing to do.

Surely most important of all, as far as your party is concerned, is independence.

Well, indeed. The poll is going to take place on Independence Day, which I think is quite a nice thing for people to keep in their minds. But the reality is people Scotland have got very many challenges in their life at this moment in time. If we can make the positive case for why they should back us to put Scotland first and Westminster, we should do that. Of course, what we would ultimately like to see is Scotland to become that independent nation so that we don't have to rely upon Westminster to try and improve the lives of people. We can take that power into our own hands, decide our own future, and make sure that the austerity, Brexit, and cost-a-living chaos that Westminster has brought to us has ended.

What does the mandate look like for you if you lose half your seat?

A mandate mandate for any political party is winning the election, and that's what we're focused upon doing. Now, the hubris of the Labor Party in Scotland is back to the levels that used to be where they took things for granted. We have, of course, taking a slight dip in the polls, but I'm very confident that with that positive message you put in Scotland first, we can get over the line and deliver for the people of Scotland again.

So just to clarify, you could go from 48 seats to 29 seats and still feel that you had a mandate to have an independent's referendum.

You know as well as I do how elections work, and The winner in an election gets to take forward their manifesto, and it will ultimately be for us to seek to do that. The big question here, and this is a question that Keir Starmer is going to have to face up to, is at what point does he recognize the democratic views of the Scottish people? We know the conservative Party, don't? Whether that's Theresa May, Liz Truss, Boris Johnson, Richard Sunak. Is Keir Starmer seriously going to go into the election and say that he's going to stick to the same policy platform as the conservative Party when it comes to the people of Scotland, 50% of whom back Scottish Independence.

Okay, so just to clarify, you could lose half your seats and feel like winners?

Well, I'm looking to retain every single seat that we have and also looking to win other seats from other parties. That's what you do in an election. I'm very confident with the policy platform that we're going to put forward with the very clear fact that we're the ones who always put Scotland first in Westminster, unlike all the other political parties. We've led the charge in Westminster on things like the ceasefire in Gaza, which, of course, is very pertinent to this election, that people will continue to put their trust in the Scottish National Party in the way they've done in the past.

So just to clarify, you're completely confident that even if you lose half your seats at the next election, you could go with all confidence into Downing Street and demand a referendum as part of power share?

The premise of your question there, Kay, seems to suggest that the SMP is going to lose a lot of seats.

I'm not- It's not me saying that, looking at the past. It's not looking good.

Come on. But there is only one poll that matters, and we are very much focused on making sure-You know that that's election bingo.

I can stamp that Off my card again this morning.

But that's what we're here for. It's an election. We need to make sure that we can win everywhere in Scotland. We've got a very strong record to be standing on. We've got a very powerful voice in Westminster, where we always put Scotland's interest first. And I know that that's something that the people of Scotland would like to see continued.

What about this chapie who's been suspended for 27 days, Michael Mathieson, for running up massive bills, £11,000 on his parliamentary iPad.

Yes, so you'll know the backstory to this, that Michael went away on holiday to Morocco, took his parliamentary iPad, and I think it was his kids who tailored the iPad so that they could watch some football matches. Michael, of course, has paid all that money back. I think he did that last year.

Why did he claim it on his axis?

Well, I think Michael made a significant mistake in that regard. Sure did. He had it in a thousand times. And he's recognized that that mistake. And of course, what the Parliament is going to be doing this week is sanctioning him for that mistake that he made. But ultimately, I think all of us in life do make mistakes. The due process has to be followed, and that's what's happening this week.

Yeah, but a mistake is to let your kids use your iPad when you're away to watch the footie and then to realize that they run up an £11,000 bill. It's a very different thing to then claim that on your expenses.

And of course, Michael has paid all that money back in the ERE.

He claimed it on his expenses. He wanted the taxpayers to pay for his kids to watch the footie when they were on holiday.

And of course, what's happened there in terms of his kids watching the football on the iPad, I don't know the ins and outs of who knew what, when, and why in relation to all of that.

He could be running up in eleven thousand by the bill, you'd know about it, wouldn't he? Well- He certainly knew about it when he claimed it on his expenses.

No, know about it, subsequent to the fact, yes.

And then claim it on his expenses.

And of course, every single penny has been paid back, so that's the right thing to do. And this week, we'll obviously see the conclusion of this matter with the sanction that the Scottish Parliament is going to hand out.

Talk to me about Nicola Sturgeon and the Police Pro. What dark cloud is that casting over the election campaign for you. Let me finish the question before you answer. I know you practiced it in the mirror. Where are you going?

Obviously, it's an ongoing police investigation, Kay, and I wouldn't want to provide a running commentary in a relation to that. I think that would be unfair of me to do So the police have got to be able to get on with the work that they are-It does cast a cloud, though, doesn't it? Of course, the people of Scotland are going to have their own views in a relation to this.

You cast a cloud over your campaign?

But Kay, as I'm sure-Come on, it does. I know, but I'm not going to get into business of openly commentating on what is an active police investigation.

I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you about whether the fact that somebody who was the SMP for a very long time and her husband have now got this police investigation and one of them has been charged. I'm sure you asked about it on the doorstep.

Actually, I've not had a conversation on the doorstep about it in a long time, because obviously, the investigation has been going on for a significant period of time. But you know as well as I do, that irrespective of anything I say in relation to this, it's going to make news. I believe that the police should be allowed to follow through with the process that they've started. That's the right thing to do. They should be able to act without fear or favor. That's what I'm saying. Good to see you.

Thanks very much indeed. You.