On 5 April 2021, I sent a short and simple Freedom Of Information (FOI) request to the Scottish Government asking for:
“All written evidence to James Hamilton’s QC investigation into the FM under the ministerial code. This includes evidence from the FM, her chief of staff Liz Lloyd and any other individuals within the Scottish Government who have submitted evidence.”
Over four and a half years later, because of the government’s pathological aversion to transparency and accountability, we’re still not there.
But we’re inching closer.
Read the rest of this entry →
Category
analysis, corruption, investigation, scottish politics
I became an SNP member aged 15 on the back of the 2014 independence referendum – gutted that we had not taken the step but hoping that it was just a matter of time.
Every Yesser I knew was either in the SNP or had just joined it, so I did too. Like many others, I didn’t want to disappear into the shadows and be put back into our box. We weren’t going anywhere.
Thus Nicola Sturgeon became SNP leader and FM, and rightly so – nobody was more qualified or deserving of the post. I went to her tour of Scotland and began to think how lucky we were that there was one of us, a woman of the people, leading the country.
Someone who spoke honestly, candidly, and you could relate to. Someone who upon speaking everyone’s hearts would open and our smiles would never leave our faces. She reaffirmed my commitment to the SNP and there was no doubt that she was going to take Scotland to new heights.
Alex Salmond had resigned, and even though he was also my hero and without him I would not have joined the SNP nor became interested in politics, the FM was the most important figure. She was FM, he was not. Where Alex Salmond had not succeeded, she would.
Read the rest of this entry →
Tags: Benjamin Harrop
Category
comment, scottish politics
