Nicola Sturgeon has not been charged with any crime. Yesterday she was arrested, questioned and released without charge pending further investigation. We do not even know which specific suspected crime or crimes she was questioned in connection with, so it is manifestly impossible to meaningfully speculate on her innocence or guilt (save of course for the fact that all are innocent in the eyes of the law until proven otherwise, something Sturgeon herself often appears to forget).
Nevertheless, in Scotland the Contempt Of Court Act 1981 applies from the moment a person is arrested, as the country’s most senior lawyer and its official prosecution service were both keen to remind people yesterday in the clearest possible terms, and it applies equally whether you’re asserting someone’s guilt or their innocence.
So you need to be a really extra-special class of boneheaded numbwit to do this:
Even for Lorna Slater this is jaw-droppingly dumb:
It takes Olympic-class stupidity to publicly put a figure to how much your staggering incompetence has cost Scottish businesses in the middle of an economic crisis.
Either the Scottish Government knew the DRS wasn’t compliant and was hoping the UK government would shut it down, so that it could attempt to clumsily extract some political capital from “interference” (in which case it’s directly responsible for those losses of hundreds of millions of pounds), OR it was so mindbogglingly inept that it genuinely intended the scheme to go into operation but failed to legislate it properly (in which case it’s directly responsible for those losses of hundreds of millions of pounds).
In either case, any minister with responsibility for the gargantuan shambles should – quite obviously – be out on their ears before FMQs on Thursday in desperate hope of avoiding the government being sued by the affected firms. But the SNP/Green coalition has as little shame as it has ability or dignity, so expect the clown show to continue.
This is a wretchedly boring time to be writing about politics for a living, readers. Parliamentarians in Edinburgh and London haven’t technically checked out for the summer yet – Holyrood still has a month to go before taking two months off, while Westminster is currently having a couple of weeks off for “Whitsun”, whatever the hell that is, before coming back for a month and a half then sodding off until September.
But really they’re already at the “bringing board games in” stage of term, and both the elected chambers and the media already have their eyes on the beach, which probably explains why we’re being punted drivel like this.
Even if we must afford the graphics team some grudging kudos for the unicoo.
When I was a boy at Balbardie Primary School in Bathgate in the mid-70s, football was banned in the playground. Of course we were all fitba-daft laddies, so we sought ways around the prohibition. Occasionally someone would bring in a tennis ball, but those were difficult to control in school shoes and also apt to fly over the wall of the outdoor toilet block if somebody caught one sweetly on the volley.
So most playtimes somebody would produce a tin of Pepsi or Irn-Bru or Cresta, chug the contents, stand the empty container on its end and stomp sharply on it, producing something more akin to an ice-hockey puck that would serve for our kickabout.
But even after being skelped and scudded around a concrete playground into stone walls for 20 minutes, that can was still in better shape at the end of our game than the one the SNP have been kicking down the road since 2016.
The SNP now seem to be involved in some sort of competition where they dare each other to come up with the most blatant insult to their own members and/or the wider independence movement and see just how much they can get people to put up with.
First up was this drivel:
Humza Yousaf is leader of the SNP, a political party whose defining purpose – arguably its SOLE real purpose – is the pursuit of Scottish independence, but his “vision for Scotland” didn’t include a single mention of it.
Instead, Yousaf intends to spend the next three years on “equality”, “opportunity” and “community”, three meaningless buzzwords which every political party on Earth would claim to be in favour of. He might as well have identified his key values as kittens, lollipops and hugs.
Once again, we’re dismayed to report that we called it right. Because last night SNP MSP Mairi McAllan, officially representing the party on Question Time, told a weary audience in Fort William that that was precisely the case.
And readers, if ever a policy has been tested in battle and found wanting, it’s that one.
Just over a year ago, Shona Robison – then the Cabinet Secretary For Social Justice, now the Deputy First Minister – told the Scottish Parliament this:
There now follow some quotes from the media regarding the case of Andrew Miller, aka Amy George, who yesterday admitted the kidnap and repeated sexual abuse of an 11-year-old girl at his home in Galashiels earlier this year.
gm on Before Action: “It confused me after the referendum, everything had changed. It took me until 2018/2019 to get a handle on it.…” Aug 21, 23:09
Captain Caveman on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “”did you think you acquitted yourself well yesterday?” In comparison to you, my meths-imbibing, solvent-sniffing pal? Fuck yeah. Who wouldn’t?…” Aug 21, 22:55
Stevie on Before Action: “All the Brit political parties are disgusting, but the worst is the SNP – they betrayed everything and everyone including…” Aug 21, 22:27
GM on Before Action: “Good news is shy these days. Well done to councillor Higgins. Any analysis yet on the repercussions?” Aug 21, 21:54
GM on Before Action: “Absolutely spot on. The paid UK trolls on here are similar to the paid UK trolls squatting under an upturned…” Aug 21, 21:44
Alf Baird on Before Action: ““When did the Indy movement become the post colonial movement?” I think you may mean ‘become the liberation movement’. According…” Aug 21, 21:21
Mark Beggan on Before Action: ““You can’t always get what you want but if you try sometimes you get what you need.” A Rolling Stones…” Aug 21, 20:17
James on Before Action: “That right, aye, Einstein?” Aug 21, 19:56
Alf Baird on Before Action: “Scotland is not “the colonialist mother country”, Hatey, that’s the country next door that annexed us in 1707 and has…” Aug 21, 19:55
Confused on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “come on then caveman and spartan – say something interesting, or insightful, or the slightest bit funny that indicates an…” Aug 21, 19:39
Mark Beggan on Before Action: “Badges? Badges! We don’t need no stinking badges!” Aug 21, 18:32
twathater on Before Action: “So gobshite what are you doing about making Scotland a better place ,who did you and your fellow unionists vote…” Aug 21, 18:29
Hatey McHateface on Before Action: “If you’re coming to the colony, form an orderly queue behind the flood of formerly oppressed and crushed colonised victims…” Aug 21, 18:06
Captain Caveman on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “Another day, another stellar display of rank, ignorant stupidity I see Confused. You’d be banned anywhere else, ten times over.” Aug 21, 18:03
Mark Beggan on Before Action: ““What good is sitting alone in your room? Come hear the music play Life is a Colony, old chum Come…” Aug 21, 17:45
Hatey McHateface on Before Action: “Very true, Alf, we can only imagine. In fact, the rest of us don’t even have to imagine while we…” Aug 21, 17:36
Hatey McHateface on Before Action: “No referendum, section 30, or UDI required? It’s bold, James, but I guess you wouldn’t have posted it if you…” Aug 21, 17:29
Spartan 117 on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “You can’t help yourself, can you. You’ve just proven my point, yet again. What an arse to make of yourself,…” Aug 21, 17:14
Mark Beggan on Before Action: “The cash incentive is one thing but I prefer, ” tell us what we want to know or it is…” Aug 21, 17:10
Alf Baird on Before Action: ““The Scottish establishment will always kowtow to Westminster until we manage to get out from under the “union”.” Yes sarah,…” Aug 21, 16:03
Gavin on The Aims Of Justice: “Thank you for sticking with this, Stu. What you are doing is really important. Without your courage and tenacity, we…” Aug 21, 15:37
James Che on Before Action: “All this effects and affects how the law is dealt with in Scotland. If a Colonial Country comes to light…” Aug 21, 15:35
James Che on Before Action: “For instance is the 1800 Anglo- Irish agreement in 1800 with the parliament of England or the supposed parliament of…” Aug 21, 15:27
James Che on Before Action: “Alf, Indeed this is not Scots laws but the justice and laws of England, That said Scots know now that…” Aug 21, 15:18
Mark Beggan on Before Action: “I reckon the Scottish establishment will fight this with every means at their disposal. If they lose the legal battle…” Aug 21, 14:37
And Spouse on Before Action: “What is the chance that there might be a long game here. If they, SNP, can summon up the money…” Aug 21, 14:21
Confused on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “arday got the martyr’s death alright – he also fills a more pagan role; the “fool”, the “king for a…” Aug 21, 14:18
Mark Beggan on Before Action: “I understand that Sarah but to ride a bike you must first posses one then you need to learn how…” Aug 21, 14:15
Confused on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “incoherent as usual, main. I think you are in “must have a dig, because”- mode. do you have some perverse…” Aug 21, 14:13
Mark Beggan on Before Action: “Woke ideology! As you say it is a concept, nothing more. It has no foundation or academic relevance. Professor Alf…” Aug 21, 14:03
