On Sunday, Nicola Sturgeon told Laura Kuenssberg that the SNP’s accounts “went up and down” as her excuse for not noticing that hundreds of thousands of pounds had suddenly vanished from them overnight.
Several things leap out immediately from that clip.
One, there absolutely very much WAS “something glaringly suspicious in the accounts that I should have seen” – the party she led had raised almost £700,000 in two “ring-fenced” fundraisers that wasn’t there any more, which ought to have made its leader at least mildly curious.
And two, attempting to fob responsibility off onto the independent auditors simply won’t wash. It’s not their job to determine whether the SNP has kept its political promises or not, their job is simply to match up money coming in against money going out and produce a set of numbers to show what it all adds up to. It makes no odds to them if it was spent on a party conference, a fancy motorhome or a 50-foot golden statue of Danny La Rue. All they can see is numbers.
But even leaving those things aside, if we’re going to learn anything about how The Great Indyref Swindle got to this calamitous point unchecked we need to examine just how hard Nicola Sturgeon had to look the other way to fail to see what was going on literally under her nose and literally in her own back yard.
To tell you the truth, readers, we’re suffering from a little bit of option paralysis at the moment, although happily not in the same way Peter Murrell is.
The endless torrent of revelations following on from Murrell’s conviction a week ago isn’t just fascinating in its own right – it also forces numerous historical issues to be seen in a new light. At any given second there are half-a-dozen different articles we could be writing, but also so many to read that it’s hard to find the time.
We suspect this matter is going to run and run all through the summer silly season because there are simply so many angles and so many unanswered questions.
Sadly, this turned out to be prescient this morning.
Laura Kuenssberg did give Nicola Sturgeon an uncomfortable time in their interview on her Sunday programme on BBC News, but when confronted with the one gaping open goal that Sturgeon has no answer for – and even when Sturgeon TWICE set it up on a plate for her – Kuenssberg failed to knock the ball into the empty net.
That doesn’t – by some distance – mean there was nothing of interest to note, though, so let’s take a walk through (the first instalment of) what was said.
Now that Nicola Sturgeon is finally free of her gruelling MSP workload, which could give her anything up to two extra hours of spare time a week, she might like to start making a proper dent in the contents of her fully-loaded bookshelves.
The multi-statement meltdown that has been the unravelling of Nicola Sturgeon this week has been quite something to behold. Last night, for example, we swear our Twitter feed presented these two tweets one after the other.
We’ll be honest with you, readers, if we were in a situation where a lawyer was issuing statements for us, this isn’t what we’d want to hear.
“If my client had been charged, she’d be in prison right now” is a worrying distance short of a vote of confidence in your client’s innocence.
But the statement Aamer Anwar put out for Nicola Sturgeon last night – her FOURTH in 48 hours, despite saying on Monday morning that she’d be making no further comment on the Peter Murrell case – had rather more wrong with it than even that.
So, having made a statement on Monday morning which asserted that she wouldn’t make any further statements, then making another statement on Monday afternoon, Nicola Sturgeon and her solicitor issued a third statement in 36 hours last night.
And while we acknowledge that this is a very high bar to clear, it contained one of the most troubling and blatant lies she’s ever told.
And as the Nicola Sturgeon Loyal, led by her most faithful of lieutenants, set out to try to take control of the post-conviction narrative, let’s take a look at just what a boatload of bare-faced bullshit the above is.
There will be no trial, no cross-examination, no explanation. The people of Scotland, the members and supporters of the SNP, the wider Yes movement, none of us will ever know what really happened. Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?
Despite what you or we might think, in the eyes of the Scottish Football Association this ISN’T a pitch invasion. This is simply what a football match in progress looks like.
Because according to the absolutely extraordinary statement they’ve released this evening, that was game time. The clock was still running, nothing was being added to account for the fact that there were thousands of thugs rampaging across the field, and the game was still happening in that moment, until it was ended four seconds later.
Young Lochinvar on Up The Hill And Down The Slope: “D The only policy development seems to have been field testing multiple expensive coffee machines to see which best “pepped…” Jun 3, 16:49
100%Yes on Up The Hill And Down The Slope: “I some how reckon if all the true Scots hadn’t left the SNP, who would have been stitched up for…” Jun 3, 16:43
David Blake on Up The Hill And Down The Slope: “Swinney has now effectively admitted that all this is true. What I still don’t understand is what the police investigation…” Jun 3, 16:36
Mark Beggan on Up The Hill And Down The Slope: “I have been waiting a long time to read this article Rev. A long time. As one commentator said ‘Its…” Jun 3, 16:32
James on Up The Hill And Down The Slope: “Well said, Northy and a relevant link, too. “It was the Scots wot done it to themselves by supporting a…” Jun 3, 16:23
James on Pandora’s Campervan: “Look in a mirror, petal. Your Tory is showing.” Jun 3, 16:00
Northcode on Up The Hill And Down The Slope: “It’s clear that Phil Boswell’s mind has been well and truly decolonized when he says: “Why there will be no…” Jun 3, 15:59
sam on Up The Hill And Down The Slope: “Aye, I know – Daily Record. https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/peter-murrell-stole-money-alex-37202693 “One source said: “Alex would hint at impropriety by Peter when he worked…” Jun 3, 15:41
Marie on Up The Hill And Down The Slope: “According to her majesty she was suffering from occupational burnout. A serious psychological disorder.” Jun 3, 15:22
Frank Gillougley on Up The Hill And Down The Slope: “This article is truly a masterclass in editing, never mind the dogged endurance and attention to detail over the years…” Jun 3, 15:20
holymacmoses on Up The Hill And Down The Slope: “The pulling together of years of labour – great stuff. The timing though, is raising more questions than answers for…” Jun 3, 15:14
100%Yes on Up The Hill And Down The Slope: “She’s the soul reason Scotland is still in this union and the only reason Swinney became leader. If there is…” Jun 3, 15:02
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Up The Hill And Down The Slope: “‘Why the British state protects Nicola Sturgeon’ (Phil Boswell, Through a Scottish Prism, 30 May 2026) – www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO9xU4bp2v0” Jun 3, 14:57
David on Up The Hill And Down The Slope: “Great work Stu. When you go back and look at things again it often becomes clearer what was going on.…” Jun 3, 14:46
Northcode on Up The Hill And Down The Slope: “I don’t give a damn about ‘The Murrell Affair’ – some guy nicking £400K is small beer in The Plundering…” Jun 3, 14:23
agentx on Up The Hill And Down The Slope: “John Swinney admits £600k independence ‘fighting fund’ has been spent. https://archive.ph/HH9Lu#selection-1235.0-1235.69” Jun 3, 14:21
Anton Decadent on Up The Hill And Down The Slope: “Truly superb work, chefs kiss. With regard to the media not going after her, remember what her new employment role…” Jun 3, 14:12
sam on Up The Hill And Down The Slope: “Link to Alex Salmond. https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/politics/7026875/peter-murrell-peterhead-snp/ “Sources told The Press and Journal that Alex Salmond repeated allegations about Murrell from when…” Jun 3, 14:07
Aidan on Pandora’s Campervan: “Alright James – you’ve been made to look stupid, don’t let’s have a tantrum. It’s your own fault.” Jun 3, 14:00
agentx on Up The Hill And Down The Slope: “The Scottish Information Commissioner v The Scottish Ministers Jun 3, 2026 Lady Poole today delivered her judgment in the case…” Jun 3, 14:00
holymacmoses on Up The Hill And Down The Slope: “2017 I think. After Brexit. Theresa May visited Sturgeon in March 2017 and then did the weird trip to Crathes.…” Jun 3, 13:58
george wood on Up The Hill And Down The Slope: “Buried in a couple of lines in an article I read was a assertion by MacAskill that Salmond kicked Murrell…” Jun 3, 13:56
Lorncal on Up The Hill And Down The Slope: “Northcode: she did have a miscarriage, so she must have lent him her favours at one point. I do agree…” Jun 3, 13:49
James on Pandora’s Campervan: “Joint training, eh? Ooooooooooh! Piss off.” Jun 3, 13:38
Tinto Chiel on Off-topic: “This plus 60-year-old song seems to have strange relevance for recent Sturrellian events: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2hXBf1DakE Spooky that this song should have…” Jun 3, 13:03
