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.
What puzzles many about the Alex Salmond situation is motive. It’s incredibly difficult for some Yes supporters to imagine any motive that could justify the awfulness of what Alex Salmond has been put through by his successor, and so they reject the whole idea of any sinister goings-on out of hand.
However, it’s far easier to understand what went on when you look at the personality of Nicola Sturgeon and her historical pattern of behaviour.
Because the core fact is that Sturgeon simply cannot bear to lose. She’s very single-minded, and doesn’t really adapt or regroup in the face of adversity. When events and new information make problems for her ideas and plans, she just keeps going – often creating more problems as she tries to force the plan back on track.
Sturgeon’s main priority – in common with most politicians – is to stay in power and to boost her own image and profile. We can look at some hot topics and her behaviour around them, and gain clear insights into what happened to Alex Salmond and why.
We’re only two-thirds of the way through Nicola Sturgeon’s evidence to the Fabiani inquiry, and there’s probably not much point in expressing our opinion on it because you could almost certainly have guessed what it was going to be. The First Minister has been disingenuous, evasive, defensive and at times outright dishonest.
But although we were expecting all of that, this truly shocked us:
That’s the First Minister flatly stating, under oath, that even now she doesn’t know who all the complainers are. And readers can make their own minds up about how credible a claim that is. But I can tell you this:
I know who they all are.
Craig Murray knows who they all are.
Every journalist who covered the trial knows who they all are.
(And we can reasonably assume their editors also know who they all are.)
In fact pretty much everyone who’s in any way connected to Scottish politics knows the identity of every single one of these women. If you’re willing to believe that we all do but Nicola Sturgeon doesn’t, well, fair enough. But also, I’m a Nigerian prince and I’d like to pass several million pounds through your bank account. Please get in touch.
Yesterday’s evidence session at the Fabiani inquiry had several standout moments, but by a narrow margin this was our favourite.
And just in case you were wondering, yes, that IS Scotland’s top prosecutor, the Lord Advocate, chief of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, James Wolffe QC, repeatedly refusing to tell an MSP whether or not it’s a criminal offence in Scotland to refuse to comply with a court-ordered search warrant.
So next time you’ve ramraided a load of iPads and the polis come knocking on your door asking if they can have a nosy around your attic for them, just tell them they can’t come in because it’s a matter of your motivations.
We’ll say one thing for Police Scotland – when it comes to Freedom Of Information requests, dealing with them compared to the Scottish Government or Crown Office is a breath of fresh air. Responses tend to be reasonably swift and you actually get some straight answers, like these.
And in this case they’re pretty remarkable answers.
We’re just watching today’s session of the Fabiani inquiry, featuring the Lord Advocate, the Crown Agent and the Principal Crown Counsel. There’s been an extremely long preamble from both Fabiani and James Wolffe mainly concerned with the anonymity order passed by Lady Dorrian during (not before) Alex Salmond’s trial, which is the foundation stone of everything crooked that’s happened around the Salmond case.
The order – and for clarity we make no suggestion whatsoever that this was its intent – is the basis for every piece of evidence that’s been suppressed in the inquiry, and for the prosecutions of Mark Hirst, Craig Murray and others, and also for the threats of prosecution issued to this site, The Spectator and to Alex Salmond himself, preventing him giving his evidence in full to the inquiry.
And we couldn’t help wondering how different things would have been, how much less damage would have been done to the integrity and credibility of the entire Scottish political and legal establishment, if it hadn’t been for this guy.
(Doleman was not prosecuted for actually naming one of the women, although Craig Murray still awaits a verdict, five weeks after his trial, which could see him imprisoned for up to two years for merely allegedly hinting at their identities.)
Without the order, it would have been perfectly lawful for people to discuss the names of the complainers – whose allegations the jury found to be false – after the trial. It would have been possible for people to know, and form an opinion based on, who they were and who they were connected to and what the “plan” they were “mulling” was.
But because it isn’t, Scotland has been turned into a laughing stock – a byword for ham-fisted corruption and malice – the independence movement has been torn in two, and the Scottish Government itself may yet collapse.
So, y’know, thanks for all of that, James. Great job.
Iain Lawson’s fine blog today reveals that Nicola Sturgeon has already taken it upon herself to answer Jim Sillars’ complaint from Thursday – which was sent to Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans, not to the First Minister – about her breaking the Ministerial Code by casting doubt on the jury’s verdicts in the Alex Salmond trial.
It’s certainly an innovative approach to justice – we presume that if we were to murder someone tomorrow the police would now simply forward the allegations to us and allow us to find ourselves not guilty without any external input.
But it was the precise nature of Nicola Sturgeon’s self-acquittal that really left us with an uneasy feeling about the current state of Scotland.
From 12.30 this afternoon, Alex Salmond will attempt to tell the people of Scotland the truth about what happened to him in the last two years – a grave injustice which saw an innocent man have his reputation dragged through the gutter, be placed under incredible personal stress, be left greatly impoverished by proving his innocence, and then have the jury’s verdict endlessly traduced by the media and a gang of criminal conspirators protected from the consequences of their lies by lifelong anonymity.
His job will be a difficult one. Every single person in the room will be bitterly hostile to him – the four Unionist committee members because he’s Alex Salmond, and the others because he represents a deadly threat to the First Minister.
The inquiry’s convener – a woman sacked by Salmond years ago – will attempt to prevent him from presenting large swathes of evidence, despite having made him swear to tell “the whole truth”. The SNP members will try to run down the four-hour session with questions designed to only deflect from the real issue – the actions and behaviour of the Scottish Government. Andy Wightman will probably just cry.
We’ll be extremely surprised if there aren’t some attempts to slyly re-try Mr Salmond and paint him as a guilty man who cheated justice, and to drag up salacious details of the allegations in an effort to smear him in front of the cameras.
We believe Alex Salmond will be more than equal to the task.
When the Faculty Of Advocates – the most senior body of lawyers/QCs in the country – is handing out barely-veiled smackdowns like this to the First Minister, then you know you’re in some pretty uncharted jungle.
I had hoped that Stewart Stevenson, the new National Secretary and convener of the Conferences Committee, would be similarly inclined.
In summary, my endeavours have been ignored.
In the three months since our election (supposedly more than halfway towards a spring conference), and despite repeated emails, documents and requests for meetings, the Conferences Committee has never been convened.
As a result I have resigned from both the committee and the SNP, and the reasons for my doing so are outlined below.
Hatey McHateface on The End Of Law: “You don’t understand how this “sovereignty” thing works. The more we don’t use it, the more powerful it becomes. The…” Jun 21, 07:40
Captain Caveman on The End Of Law: “Ah, I note that I’m still living rent-free in your echo-skulled head I see, [capital “J”] Jay. It’s very commodious,…” Jun 21, 07:38
robertkknight on The End Of Law: “Posted upstream, but I’ll state again… Almost two-thirds of transgender prisoners have committed sex crimes. Compare that to the the…” Jun 21, 07:31
Angus on The End Of Law: ““Because our wee country has been stolen by arrogant gangsters and there appears to be nothing we can do about…” Jun 21, 01:10
Jay on The End Of Law: “Casper, the SNP are the rats on the ship. Alf Baird has been explaining the underpinnings of the rotten situation…” Jun 21, 00:40
Jay on The End Of Law: “Lorncal, can you add a link for seeing the 1960’s video, please?” Jun 21, 00:25
agentx on The End Of Law: “It looks like Murrell appearing for sentencing in tight pink leggings isn’t going to work now!” Jun 21, 00:19
Jay on The End Of Law: “049/26 from L. Pollock shows that she has no intention to comply with the findings of Lady Ross, an insolent…” Jun 20, 23:37
Lorncal on The End Of Law: “That was how the narrative was changed by Stonewall. Previously, these men – the autogynephiles and fetishists – who were…” Jun 20, 23:05
Phil on The End Of Law: “It’s the only way forward. https://capx.co/is-it-time-to-abolish-holyrood” Jun 20, 23:03
Lorncal on The End Of Law: “gm/Dave G: that is why it now has to be brought under the auspices of the criminal law. ALL biological…” Jun 20, 22:48
Lorncal on The End Of Law: “The judge left a loophole through which the ‘trans’ lobby will slither: that certain ‘trans’ identified men who are especially…” Jun 20, 22:42
willie on A Fishy Tale: “Ah, and supported by Brendan O’Hara a man who publicly declared that Nicola Sturgeon was the greatest ever Scots Woman…” Jun 20, 21:27
Red on The End Of Law: “The far-left position that trans individuals — particularly those who are biologically male — pose no statistical or situational risk…” Jun 20, 20:54
gm on The End Of Law: “Cheers Dave. I was thinking along the lines of a complaint being made against the SPS by relatives of a…” Jun 20, 20:53
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The End Of Law: “Worth a watch. Episode on trans issues from online channel of veteran club-bouncer, street-violence survival advisor, and mainstream defence sector…” Jun 20, 20:34
Dave G on The End Of Law: “Failing to comply with Lady Ross’s ruling is potentially contempt of a civil court but it is not a criminal…” Jun 20, 20:30
Hatey McHateface on The End Of Law: ““trigger some kind of intervention from the Westminster Parliament to shut the entire Scottish Parliament altogether” If you can access…” Jun 20, 20:27
gm on The End Of Law: “Someone complains to the police and they report to the Crown office who don’t do anything. Is there anything else?” Jun 20, 20:21
A2 on The End Of Law: “however they could face dicipline for saying otherwise and without a union that will support them they all (have to)…” Jun 20, 20:20
gm on The End Of Law: “If the SPS, any organisation, refuses or fails to comply with the law. What mechanism exists to make them comply?” Jun 20, 20:20
Red on The End Of Law: “Linda Pollock – who should be stacking shelves in a supermarket based on her CV – is paid over £125,000,…” Jun 20, 20:13
Hatey McHateface on The End Of Law: “Wasn’t it psychology earlier, Alf, around half past four? I’m sure it was psychology earlier, because I just went back…” Jun 20, 20:03
Hatey McHateface on A Fishy Tale: “Wear your tea towel with pride, Marie. Learn some Arabic chants too. Fat lot of good any of it will…” Jun 20, 19:54
Hatey McHateface on A Fishy Tale: “@Captain Caveman The warming melts the ice. The melted ice ends up in the sea. The sea level rises. It’s…” Jun 20, 19:48
Hatey McHateface on A Fishy Tale: “A perfectly valid viewpoint, CC. Perhaps you believe that poot will happily stop at the borders of his former colony,…” Jun 20, 19:39
Alasdair Roy on A Fishy Tale: “The carnal tendencies of SNP Westminster MPs had slipped my mind until Confused mentioned the current and fragrant spouse of…” Jun 20, 19:27
100%Yes on The End Of Law: “The Scottish prison Service has been given a golden opportunity to protect the women held under there care, from both…” Jun 20, 19:08
Heather McLean on The End Of Law: “What is the actual point of the Scottish Government? Under the SNP they’ve managed to f**k almost every area supposed…” Jun 20, 19:03
Red on The End Of Law: “If we had a Save Our Scotland party to vote for, we can put these people in jail where they…” Jun 20, 19:01
