THE SNP will defy Westminster convention and not applaud Theresa May when she appears for her last Prime Minister’s Questions this week.

The party says it would be wrong for progressive parties to applaud a Tory leader who has done so much harm to people across Scotland and the UK.

SNP MPs refused to clap David Cameron as he finished his last PMQs in July 2016 after he quit following the EU referendum result.

It is understood the party’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford will take a similar approach as his predecessor Angus Robertson when May takes questions for the final time in the Commons on Wednesday.

READ MORE: Theresa May's hypocritical reply to Donald Trump's 'go home' tweet

Robertson said that he wished Cameron and his family well, but ended his comments on a critical note saying Cameron’s abiding legacy would be Brexit.

There were warm words for Cameron from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and MPs rose to give Cameron a standing ovation, SNP MPs remained seated and did not clap.

Kirsty Blackman, the SNP Westminster group’s depute leader told the Sunday National they wished the outgoing Prime Minister well for the future but would not ditch their principles and “join a cosy Westminster establishment back-slapping exercise” given the Tory leader’s “shameful legacy” in government.

Blackman said Theresa May “once claimed she would tackle burning injustices – in reality, she has only created them”.

The examples she gave included:

Prioritising tax breaks for the rich, while millions of children are pushed into poverty

Introducing the hostile environment, racist Go Home vans, and the Windrush scandal

Cuts to social security – forcing families to rely on foodbanks and emergency aid

The continued detention of children and pregnant women at Dungavel

The imposition of Brexit against Scotland’s will and refusing to build consensus across the UK nations

Blackman said: “Theresa May’s shameful legacy in government has left millions of people poorer and worse off.

“Mrs May is leaving the UK in a Brexit crisis of her own making. Throughout her time in office she pandered to the extreme wings of the Tories and the DUP, while ignoring Scotland and refusing to build any consensus across the parliaments and nations of the UK.

“While she once claimed she would tackle burning injustices – in reality, she has only created them.

“After almost a decade of damaging Tory governments, it is no

wonder that support for independence is growing in Scotland – with a majority supporting a referendum.

“With Boris Johnson about to become prime minister, it is clearer than ever that Westminster is failing Scotland – and the only way to properly protect our interests is by becoming an equal and independent European country.”

When Tony Blair was applauded at the end of his last Prime Minister’s Questions, it was the first time in living memory that clapping had taken place in the Commons. Parliamentary protocol usually bans applause.