It’s a curious thing to say before either of the inquiries has delivered its report. The only people who are asserting that Sturgeon has been somehow cleared of involvement in a conspiracy are the SNP, and even their own voters are split down the middle on it.
But let’s just check on how big the SNP are winning right now.
When Nicola Sturgeon is finally held to account for the charred, twisted and shattered ruins that she’s made of Scottish political and civic society in her desperate attempts to save her own neck, the complete discrediting of ostensible support organisations for victims of rape will be near the very top of the charge sheet.
But before we talk about that you really need to read this.
Because if you live in Scotland you can only rationally be one of two things at this moment in history: (a) terrified, or (b) an idiot.
We enjoyed doing this site a lot more when it was the dishonesty of Unionists and the Unionist media, not the SNP, that represented the main threat to independence. So let’s make like it’s the old days, just this once.
Which in itself raises some extremely serious questions about the judgement of the First Minister who extended Evans’ contract by two years in January 2020, long after she’d known about the series of disastrous and costly blunders Evans had made in the Salmond investigation.
Writing about the Hate Crime Bill in the Herald today, Kevin McKenna summarises in a sentence a point this website has been making for many months.
Because the real question about the SNP’s sudden demented obsession with focusing the public’s attention on its most unpopular policies right before supposedly the most important election in its history isn’t “Why?”
Last week we warned you to beware of poll questions containing the formulation “Does [X] make you more or less likely to vote in a certain way?”, and this evening Survation have provided us with an example of why.
According to those numbers, the conflict between Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon has caused a staggering 47% of Scots to change their likelihood of voting Yes in an independence referendum. And the bulk of those – 37% – say it’s made them MUCH more or MUCH less likely to vote Yes.
Those numbers break by more than 2 to 1 (23% to 11%) in favour of “much less likely”, which is a margin of change (12 points) bigger than almost any Yes majority that’s ever been recorded in a poll.
In other words, if the poll is to be believed, Nicola Sturgeon’s attempt to neutralise Alex Salmond as a threat to her personal political power has almost definitely turned a Yes vote into a No vote as people have started paying attention to it.
The SNP has of course denied them, but they also denied our recent leak from the party’s draft manifesto and we know for sure that that was real. The trouble with lying all the time is that nobody believes you even if you occasionally tell the the truth.
Of course, there would be an easy way to prove the numbers were a fake – release the real ones, which is in any case the most fundamental element of transparency in a democratic election. And whatever they are could hardly be any more embarrassing than the rumours, which have candidates topping the list (and likely to get seats) on a shocking 2.4% of the vote.
It brings us genuinely no pleasure at all to report that events in Scottish politics are panning out exactly the way we’ve been telling you they would for nearly two years.
Finally, after an astonishing four and a half days of “counting”, the SNP have released their candidate rankings for the regional list in this year’s Holyrood election. We’ll give you the results first, and then something much more interesting.
Like an old man getting up for the fourth time in the middle of the night, the Scottish Government has squeezed out another little dribble of its legal advice in respect of the conduct of its shambolic investigation into false allegations against Alex Salmond.
And to push that gross analogy to its outermost limit, it must have found releasing one of the documents in particular as painful as passing a rather large kidney stone.
twathater on Contempt Of Government: “Your memory seems to be failing you again 100% yes , EVERY party in HR and WM including the tories…” Dec 20, 03:03
Cynicus on Contempt Of Government: “An interesting hypothesis. Do you have any evidence to support it?” Dec 20, 02:37
Angus on A matter of class: “Following the successful appeal, Judge Sandy Kemp must be sacked, no ifs no buts.” Dec 20, 00:06
Kevin Cargill on Contempt Of Government: “I’m sick and bloody tired of saying it but once more for those not listening. Transexual prostitution is one of…” Dec 19, 23:57
Oneliner on A matter of class: “Humbug (or any other kind of topical bug)” Dec 19, 22:53
GM on Contempt Of Government: “Bang on the money there Robert. Non the less it is interesting that she was picked out from the crowd…” Dec 19, 22:09
Peakcrew on A matter of class: “This not the first time Kemp has done this. Claims under multiple heads failed because he found doctors more “credible”…” Dec 19, 21:44
Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: “So why did you leave early?” Dec 19, 21:05
Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: “They’ll be sniffing aroond yer erse next, Northy. It must be the dug in ye. Bad dug! Nae biscuit! If…” Dec 19, 20:53
Oneliner on A matter of class: “I’m just back from the Duff & Phelps Christmas party. They’re all having a good laugh over there.” Dec 19, 20:36
Northcode on A matter of class: “I feel it is incumbent upon me to warn those who find themselves, perhaps in a confused daze, perpetually sniffing…” Dec 19, 20:29
Marie on A matter of class: “Significant falls in the number of mainly women (working class) applying to Scottish nurse training courses year on year. This…” Dec 19, 20:10
Lorncal on Contempt Of Government: “Start stealing their knickers, Lee. If they say anything – they’ll probably blame each other first – step in and…” Dec 19, 20:10
Lorncal on A matter of class: “You hit the nail plum on the head, Rev. It was a travesty. Legally, contemporaneous notes can be strongly evidential…” Dec 19, 19:58
Mark Beggan on A matter of class: “Socialism is a parasite that feeds on the host nation (fanny).” Dec 19, 19:58
Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: “It’s naw, though. I’ve checked. Your vision’s getting blurry, Northy. What have you been up to?” Dec 19, 19:52
Mark Beggan on A matter of class: “The Red menace contaminated the water long before that. Or was it the will of God. No. Alas it’s University…” Dec 19, 19:43
Northcode on A matter of class: ““You missed ane, Northy, Scottish Water.” Nope… it’s right there in the “whatever else is left over” class of things…” Dec 19, 19:42
Hatey McHateface on Contempt Of Government: “I think of the (checks pocket edition of Fanon) hundreds of millions dead at the hand of oppressive, alien colonialism…” Dec 19, 19:34
Mark Beggan on A matter of class: “You’re on those magic mushrooms again.” Dec 19, 19:33
Lorncal on Contempt Of Government: “I would agree with that, Hatey. Our instincts are honed through millennia to protect us. That is why it is…” Dec 19, 19:27
Lorncal on Contempt Of Government: “It is the indulgence of these men in public spaces that is the real problem, James. I have to say…” Dec 19, 19:22
Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: ““NHS, civil service, police force, Judiciary, local councils, education authorities, transport and shipping, financial institutions; arts and culture, the Scottish…” Dec 19, 19:18
Northcode on A matter of class: “The only folk surprised by all this ‘stuff’; this “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” stuff; this “Independence Day” stuff; this…” Dec 19, 18:50
Hatey McHateface on Contempt Of Government: “Animals have “norms” through the functioning of instinct. People have instincts too, far more so than we want to admit.…” Dec 19, 18:48
Ken MacIntyre on Contempt Of Government: “Anarcho tyranny defined: ‘the combination of oppressive government power against the innocent and the law-abiding and, simultaneously, a grotesque paralysis…” Dec 19, 18:40
100%Yes on Contempt Of Government: “I willing to be a well cooked sausage that Bridget Phillipson has banged on over the years while she been…” Dec 19, 18:35
panda paws on Contempt Of Government: ““She is only the SNP’S Minister for Education so ‘m dubious she’s even bothered to try.” Bridget Philipson is the…” Dec 19, 18:28
twathater on Contempt Of Government: “TBQH is anyone surprised at Philipson she has previous for supporting the woke lunacy as does her whole party and…” Dec 19, 18:20
Aidan on The Idiot Rodeo: “Here here CC, well said. How a scumbag bottom feeder like James gets to look down on anyone is beyond…” Dec 19, 18:15