Code Red
In addition to the Survation poll that was in the field last week and which we’ve been reporting on, there was also a Panelbase one going round at the same time.
(It’s as yet unpublished, and having been sent a few of the… interesting questions in it by some people who took the poll we’re very excited to find out who commissioned it. Our money is on either George Galloway’s furious new list party – which incidentally just had its registration refused again by the Electoral Commission – or the collection of anonymous hyper-Unionist nutters ironically calling themselves “The Majority”.)
But as the opportunity was there we slipped a couple of questions of our own in too, and the findings from one of them were pretty dramatic.
Because SNP loyalists on social media endlessly insist that nobody outside the Twitter political bubble cares much about the scandal over the Scottish Government’s conduct regarding Alex Salmond, and it turns out that’s not true.
Because despite her high popularity ratings, more than two thirds of Scots still think the First Minister should quit if either of the two current inquiries conclude that she lied to Parliament.
(The whole question text was “Two inquiries are currently investigating whether Nicola Sturgeon lied to the Scottish Parliament about her knowledge of false allegations of misconduct against Alex Salmond. The Ministerial Code – the rules under which the Scottish Government operates – stipulates that any minister found to have deliberately misled Parliament should resign.
If it is found that Nicola Sturgeon did lie to Parliament, should she resign?”)
That’s a considerably higher number than we were expecting. We thought that at least a large bulk of SNP voters would defend her while Unionists would want her head. The second part was mainly right, but in fact the SNP vote was split right down the middle.
Almost exactly half of the people who voted for the SNP just a year ago said Sturgeon should go if she was found to have lied, along with around three quarters of Lib Dem and Labour voters and over 90% of Tories.
(We’re quite startled by the 22% of Labour voters and 27% of Lib Dems who want to keep a lying opposition leader in office, along with 8% of Tories. We can only assume she’s the SNP leader they consider least threatening.)
Most Yes voters (54-46) also wanted her to go in those circumstances:
There was no significant difference by sex – men want her to resign by just over 2:1 if found to have lied, women by just under.
Most of that difference was accounted for by Sturgeon’s core demographic of younger women, who were a long way out of step with both older women and men of all ages. Younger women were almost 50/50, while older women wanted her to step down by over 3:1 and the middle female group by 3:2.
For respondents who DIDN’T want her to resign even if found to have been lying, we also offered a blank text box – with no prompts or suggestions – where they could explain why, and the results of that were quite surprising too.
(Panelbase, not us, have grouped and paraphrased them below. Some people gave more than one reason so the total adds up to a bit more than 100%.)
We’d expected the main reason to be something along the lines of “the pandemic is too important for a change of leadership”, but in fact it came in a distant second with 21%. As it turns out, most people in the group that’s content to have a liar for First Minister were willing to accept it if they simply thought they were a good leader overall.
One in six thought any lie would have been unintentional (which shows an alarming misunderstanding of what a lie is and a failure to read the question properly), while just 8% tried the Priti Patel defence, and only 5% agreed with the view expressed this week by a young SNP Women’s Officer that nobody cared about the whole thing.
(Of the 9% of “Other” reasons, around 3% – ie 1% of the total poll sample – were people expressing variants of some kind on the view that Salmond was actually guilty or just a bad man who had it coming to him.)
So if the First Minister’s plan is to just ride out any unfavourable inquiry findings on the back of her popularity, she may be in for a nasty shock. Only the most absolutely hardcore among her faithful are willing to have a liar in Bute House.
It seems that Scotland wants the truth, whether the First Minister can handle it or not.
Being in Denial seems to be a modern disease, a feature of people sticking resolutely to their bubbles and never seeking to expose themselves to anything but.
I’ve had SNP loyalists tell me on twitter than nobody outside of twitter has head of the ISP. Well everyone who reads Wings will have heard of us. When I mentioned it to colleagures in the Charity shop I volunteer in folk had heard of it. Knowledge was scanty but they knew.
This is the Yes City, but it’s Yessers we are seeking the votes of. Yes voters are more aware, more plugged in. They are failing to take that into account.
There’s also the women element. Lots of women have left the SNP over GRA and HCB etc. Their networks have heard of us. Many have joined us. Do not discount this.
I’m an SNP member and activist.
I have a great deal of loyalty to Nicola.
What is important to me – and should be to the membership – is independence for Scotland.
She is becoming the story.
The SNP has been ruthless in suspending people for much less.
I think she might be able to remain if Peter Murrell is removed as CEO and suspended; Leslie Evans is sanctioned; any SPADs involved in the Salmond case are removed; she deploys the Westminster MPs to entirely focus on Independence – and so for the rest of the SNP employees.
Failing that, I see no way she could remain as leader.
If she needs to go, then to quote a well-kent “Scottish play”:
“If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well It were done quickly”
For Scotland’s sake – She has to go.
Sooner the better. The more she delays the more folk will loathe her. If she resigns now then she will ameliorate the loathing to some extent.
And no Angus Robertson will not be getting my vote.
@Dickiel
Yet the polling shows if you make people think about they think she should resign. Which means they will accept it when it comes, see that it was right.
Dickiet @ 11.16am – You wish !
Read the poll results.
‘
.
Steve Ellwood : She may survive if she does as you suggest and makes May a plebiscite. Sadly, I just cannot see her doing that. Hope I’m wrong.
I have been hoping that it is only the SNP/Nicola loyalists inside the twitter bubble that don’t care about the SG scandal, it is very reassuring to see evidence that that is very largely the case. Thanks for this Stu.
Number 3 of the interesting questions is particularly fascinating – I eagerly await the answer.
Those who selected ‘No, she should not resign’ are all the bampots on Twitter – the most entrenched, vocal deniers and defenders of the indefensible with the most inflexible rods up their backs and who use Twitter to share with a community of strangers their most private business – the same people who hold-up Scotland’s independence. Oh, and it’s all Wings fault.
Keep the information coming, Stuart, we’re getting there.
She has to go.
This poll is further proof that she cannot simply cling on by claiming that she’s popular, and therefore bulletproof.
The question now is, who will be the first domino to fall?
Will it be Sturgeon herself, or Murrell, Evans, or someone else?
That Kat Cary is great. An American who has only been in the country since 2016 and is shouting the political odds at us, telling us that nobody cares about a wronged patriot, and just move on, you goshdarned Scotchies. I won’t bother writing what I truly think of her condescending, ill-informed dross. Would not be pretty.
I wonder how high that 68% goes if the question were “lied to parliament and was part of a plot to jail Alex Salmond on false charges of sexual assault?”
Good article. I agree with others above that Sturgeon has suspended many for trivial details, yet now with this colossal weight around her neck she’s clinging on to the party for grim death. Even people who support her, or believe there was no wrong doing, should be calling for her to temporarily step down because she is becoming a burden and danger to independence. She has shown little loyalty to anyone else in similar circumstance so I’m still unsure why there hasn’t been more criticism of her not stepping down until she is cleared.
From the raft of new parties, approved and rejected, it’s interesting there were so many mentions of Ryde, and the interesting named Light Party is one I’d like to find more about.
I’m a former SNP constituency association convener and if nobody is sacked or resigns over the conspiracy/coverup then I will leave the party. I joined it as the best route to independence but I absolutely cannot abide corruption. If we tolerate that then we’re no better than that lot in charge down south.
“I think she might be able to remain if Peter Murrell is removed as CEO and suspended; Leslie Evans is sanctioned; any SPADs involved in the Salmond case are removed;”
huvty say, they’re all in this together n backing each other up, but they’re no in the criminal class so expect them to fall like dominos
as should be the case
One wonders about the extent of cognitive development in the 8% of Tory voters who don’t think Sturgeon should resign if she is found to have lied in parliament.
Please do share with us the findings of that panelbase poll when it gets published Rev, it sounds interesting
What do you mean you ‘slipped’ questions in Stu?
Slipped them into someone else’s poll?
“What do you mean you ‘slipped’ questions in Stu?
Slipped them into someone else’s poll?”
Yes. Most polling companies will let you “piggyback” a couple of questions into someone else’s poll if they don’t object. It’s much cheaper than commissioning a full poll of your own from scratch if you only want to ask one or two. We’ve done it before and we’ve also let people piggyback on Wings polls.
@ steve ellwood at 11:17 am
Some points you address bother me, not to mention the money issue
“and should be to the membership – is independence for Scotland.” and what has she done? diddly squat
“She is becoming the story.” She loves herself on the tele, and the constant photos, Narcissist
” I think she might be able to remain if Peter Murrell is removed as CEO and suspended” Ah that old chestnut Supended??? Seriously ? Suspended with pay no doubt? Fired is the answer no Ifs or Buts If you let him resign then what will happen is He’ll still be there behind the scene getting paid a lot Seen that one before
I wonder what are the odds of Murrell having a Black Book of indiscretions relating to MPs,MSPs and Councillors
An example being Does anyone NOT think MacKay had previous?
Leslie Evans Sanctioned!
I would love a job where I got so much wrong for so long which involved so many people and cost so much money and YET I was only ‘sanctioned’.
I wonder how high that 68% goes if the question were “lied to parliament and was part of a plot to jail Alex Salmond on false charges of sexual assault?”
I have great faith in both Scottish and British people when it comes to being horrified at an innocent person being framed. Oddly enough, when the allegations first emerged in the media, with the list of charges, most in Scotland were hesitant to take any view. No one wanted to believe it but very few were willing to stand up and publicly say what they thought at that point. The first person who said to me, “What’s all this crap about Salmond? That’s such an obvious stitch up” was a very unionist Northern Irish friend of mine who hates Salmond. If and when the accepted and understood narrative is that he was stitched up, expect very few people to be willing to defend that.
Reply to my tweet linking this article
“This is a crucial time for Scotland I dont want it fecked up cos some think she should go if she lied WHEN THE ENTIRE BRITISH STATE ALL IT`S WESTMINSTER PARTIES AND ALL THE MEDIA HAVE LIED DAILY FOR FECKING YEARS.
Do scots have to wait for an angel?”
Sorry O/T
Just read a story saying the Lord Advocate cost us,
the Scottish Tax payer £40 Million for the wrongful
conviction of former Rangers FC directors?
I can see this guy costing us £100 million for not having
a clue about the law.
I don’t know much about the law but I could answer any questions
about being able to justify my actions and who I work for.
How about a hundredth of what he is costing and I’ll do the job for life as a one off payment?
Well framed Qs Rev and the results have me chortling!
holymacmoses @ 11.53am
Maybe the Rev needs the services of a good sub-editor.
I am rading that section as a typo – he meant she should be “sectioned,” since she was mad to think she could get away with the Salmond stitch-up.
“Yes. Most polling companies will let you “piggyback” a couple of questions into someone else’s poll if they don’t object. It’s much cheaper than commissioning a full poll of your own from scratch if you only want to ask one or two. We’ve done it before and we’ve also let people piggyback on Wings polls.”
Surely Georgie boy would object to wings getting in on his polling action though…
@Jeannie McCrimmon,
That reply you received and posted just highlights the problem. Yes Westminsfer lies. Yes the papers do lie.
However there is a much more valuable issue at stake here.
The FM and government officials clearly plotted against an individual man. Should we accept that then our voices cannot be turned against those who also try such tactics.
We could not even try to criticise the treatment of Assange. and the many many folk currently held captive around the world on similar trumped up charges like the teacher in Iran.
Would we be happy to pay such a price ?
I’m not a regular contributor but am curious to know if any reply was received from the new SNP Treasurer to the letter asking about the ring- fenced funds of around £500k which were not showing in the Accounts?
@Gav,
Im sure Gorgeous George is as interested in these results as ourselves.
He was just not clever enough to think of the questions.
There’s a missing component here, and that’s the effect the braying media would have, launching salvo after salvo of lurid and damaging propaganda which neither Sturgeon nor her cleek could effectively counter or deny.
Nobody likes a corrupt politician. Quickest route from hero to zero.
Just a reminder that it’s FMQS just now , I wonder if we’ll get any questions re the Harassment and Complaints Committee from anyone ?
“I’m not a regular contributor but am curious to know if any reply was received from the new SNP Treasurer to the letter asking about the ring- fenced funds of around £500k which were not showing in the Accounts?”
As I said previously: we got a reply asking us to resend it to Douglas Chapman’s SNP email as he’s not allowed to use the Parliamentary one for SNP business. We’ve done so and await a substantive reply, but that’s already more than we got from Colin Beattie.
“Surely Georgie boy would object to wings getting in on his polling action though…”
It’d be no skin off his nose – doesn’t cost him anything and is more likely to be reciprocated in future. But I have no idea if he’s actually the person who commissioned the poll. It’s a little bit hatstand even for him.
Question 5 will have sounded like a question of parliamentary procedure to many, yet a remarkable 68% think she should resign as a result of that procedure.
Given that Colin Murray made clear the facts known, even to those following closely, are – ‘… only the tip of the iceberg’.
link to wingsoverscotland.com
And Robin McAlpine’s prediction that – ‘this is all going to pour into the public domain like it or not’.
link to wingsoverscotland.com
There is every likelihood that a large part of the 32% will join the 68%, when they are made aware of the iceberg.
My take from that is that despite the current worldwide craziness, amongst ordinary people, at least here in Scotland there is still an inherent belief in the truth. Good.
Is Galloway not a great thing in a corner of Scotland
that is forever England?
He could dilute both Tory and Labour votes as some
of these unionist will like his hat, his pussy cat impersonations
and his indefatigability? lol
Breeks
With the dramas of the inquiry, the conspiracy, covid and brexit as the backdrop I think the tide has turned in our favour. If the media continue to back Sturgeon then we know the devolved government is going nowhere on independence, as planned. If they turn against her then it’s game over for the wheeshters. The morass now has a life of its own and there no single event that can undo it.
The longer this continues the more people will realise that there is only one way out. We’re already seeing the public is way ahead of the politicians. There’s more talk of plebiscites, there’s more talk of constitutional issues. The number of trolls coming here and trying their powers of persuasion is going down. Even the the upper layers of the SNP are all out of material – misogyny? really? is that the best they can come up with.
The games up on the Union and everybody knows it.
FMQs – and The Baroness again bashes her fat head against a brick wall, by going on Covid – ignoring the sparsely-defended alternative area of the stitch-up.
The Unionists have quite clearly been telt to steer clear of an area where the FM is clearly vulnerable – Why?
Then, up steps Jackie Baillie to ask a meaningless question about vaccine wasteage. She’s been like a dog with a bone during the Salmond inquiry – today, at FMQs, she ignores this – Why?
Aye, the Unionist shit storm is coming, but, not until we get down to the Holyrood Election campaign.
Sturgeon is being protected – Why?
“FMQs – and The Baroness again bashes her fat head against a brick wall, by going on Covid – ignoring the sparsely-defended alternative area of the stitch-up.”
It’s been AWFUL. As far as I could tell Davidson spent her entire time quibbling about a target being met in the first week of February rather than the end of January. It’s so fucking boring. There’s no actual news – there’s still a pandemic, we still need to socially distance and wash our hands, and we’ll all get a vaccine as soon as possible – and everyone knows that all they’re doing is dicking around trying to score shitey wee points off each other.
Sturgeon is akin to visiting in-laws or fish which start to smell real bad once they have extended their visit too long.
The longer she stays the more rancid the reek will get, however it would seem like so many who have BO she is not aware.
Someone needs to tell her, but I fear she does not have many close friends.
Most people, even the most cynical among us, hope for some measure of probity in government, in public life. That is what is being expressed here. People don’t actually actively vote for authoritarianism and graft, for example, but they can be gulled into voting for it.
The FM is far from being stupid, so I have no doubt that she is well aware of the precariousness of her situation. If she remains true to form, she will try to ride it out; if she weighs up the reality of her situation, she might yet confound us all, because, whatever happens, she cannot survive much longer, as revelation after revelation is uncovered. I hope that she will not try to brazen it out, but will weigh up the consequences of trying to do so, and opt for giving her country a chance, in May, at least to extricate itself from the Union.
I’m not at all saying this is what happened, because people still have free will, but it would be interesting to discover just when the Stonewall Diversity Champions captured the SNPG because – and, again, I may be very wrong, there are parallels with corporations, big businesses, etc. in addressing fundamental problems by bulldozing through them. Many people think that Stonewall I just about LGBTi++++, but it goes right to the heart of government and commerce, finance and the law, and its tentacles infiltrate everywhere. It is far more sinister than the trans issue has allowed us to see because we have become hung upon that, when it is a smokescreen for far more insidious infiltrations.
I’m not claiming that what has happened in the SNPG is not down to individuals acting ultra vires, but I am suggesting that the mindset of not backing off even when it becomes apparent that you have already lost the argument (as in the flawed and illegal, and retrospective procedure that led to the Judicial Review, then in the court case, in the Salmond affair) is entirely consistent with the mindset embedded in the ethos of the Stonewall Diversity Champions network, which spreads out from the centre to encompass all aspects of administration, because it is administration – the bureaucracy – that it captures first. If you try to stand up to it, you are ‘unplatformed’/cancelled/denounced.
I see that this has been published ,
A STATEMENT FROM THE BOARD OF COMMON WEAL ,
“The Board of Common Weal and the Director, Robin McAlpine, believe nothing must be allowed to distract from the important work of the organisation. Our policy platform and campaigns have become central to the case for a progressive independent Scotland and are available to all who support this cause. This resource is more vital now than ever.
A recent article written by the Common Weal Director, and its fallout, has threatened to disrupt the common purpose of the Common Weal family as we pursue this goal. As a result, Robin has asked to step down from his position as Common Weal Director. He will focus on a new role dedicated to policy development while a new Director will lead the whole team.
The Board have agreed to set up a working group who – alongside our staff – will restructure the organisation. This will consider how best to create a new leadership team, reflecting the diversity and experience within the organisation, and drawing on the talents of our now extensive network of local groups, volunteers and supporters. Publicly, Common Weal will be represented by a range of spokespeople, reflecting a new phase of development for the think tank.
In addition, there will be an audit of our internal systems and a rigorous approach to ensuring they are fit for purpose, employing the use of external professionals and trade unions to facilitate this process. “
I presume that the Common Weal Group were not happy with the statement that he issued ,
link to wingsoverscotland.com
O god it wee wullie rennie now . LOL
Stuart,
What is your opinion of “mislead” “misled” in the code.
It surely must cover more, lesser faults than flat out lying.
Ommisions of fact in some explanation of some point, say. Removing a page from your official diary.
Interesting stats that backs up what most ordinary voters would likely think: if a government minister has shown to be deliberately lying, then they resign. Simple as that.
People don’t like liars. Having such a person remain in office during an election blows any trust out of the water.
So, we are in the position that if Nicola Sturgeon calls a second independence referendum, the full force of the media and other entities will turn their guns on her at just the right moment, because they will want to destroy the Yes figurehead,
But, if she keeps stalling, they will ‘protect’ her from this media scrutiny and she will remain leader, because there are no real structures in place to remove her!
Oh, Great!
I hope you are proud, Sturgeon!
@all those who say:
“I’m not voting SNP because I’m angry about Nicola”
I remember Alex Salmond overriding due Planning process in my city on behalf of Donald Trump, brushing aside the legal outcome of due process and silencing our elected officials voices, all for a extremely dubious land development that destroyed Scotland’s natural heritage; all for the benefit of the Trump organization and presumably whatever entirely legal and morally sound ‘pro quo’ was on offer. I shouted then; it’s bullshit, this won’t ‘replace the oil industry’! This is corrupt! Anti-democratic!
Then I voted for the sleazy bastard. And I’ll vote SNP this time too, because I want independence, and there are no political angels out there, and none with a credible alternative route. Sure, yeah, she’s a monster, ok, vote SNP.
@Graham,
No.
But Graham that’s the point! You held your nose and voted for Salmond because you thought that on the big question he would do the right thing. Sturgeon’s track record shows that she will never do anything more than talk about the big question. To put it another way, if say a Liberal had over-ridden due planning process to promote the Trump development, would you have voted for them?
What i see in a countries leader regardless of country is not what Sturgeon and her close entourage have portrayed. Resign and give scotland a better chance to recover from the damage she has caused across the board.
If Sturgeon goes, and she may well do and very soon, then many, many more will follow her out the door. Civil servants, lawyers and a few parliamentarians.
Westminster will ask: ‘what are you all doing up there allowing this to go-on for so long’.
That explains the current Holyrood flim-flam from Ruth and Jackie. Even they will have some explaining to do, especially Jackie.
Time to let it happen and for Joanna Cherry/Whitford/Salmond to take over and restore confidence and credibility.
Holyrood and Victoria Quay have become synonymous with criminality, not fair government and that cannot go-on into an election.
And all the while many of the donkey konkey loyalists hoping to get re-elected in May stay wheesht hoping they’ll get re-elected with a leader who is getting more unpopular by the day.
Well they’ll be the losers too when the SNP bombs due to Sturgeon becoming an electoral liability.
But at least it’ll be the MSPs and ministers closest to Sturgeon who’ll go.
This is why in the absence of a change in the SNP the importance off a “ new SNP ‘ supported by a tranche of ISP is needed. Sturgeon is turning toxic, and will do for the SNP what Blair did for Labour.
candidates. Becomes even more important
Stu, if you were to compare the current situation in the SNP with a computer game, which game would you choose?
Lorna Campbell,
Stonewall Diversity Champions has been an excellent marketing strategy. It lets organisations purge themselves of potential troublemakers i.e. people with principles or backbone, leaving the sheep behind, all in the name of diversity. It’s quite brilliant and quite unstoppable.
SNPG has certainly bought into the mindset for exactly the same reasons. Wheesht for indy is a similar strategy, albeit much weaker and, given the SNPG’s penchant for excellence, has delivered the opposite effect, except amongst the most faithful.
“Why?”
Because Sturgeon is ideologically opposed to independence.
She is one of “them”. That’s the whole point of the cabal and the conspiracy against Salmond. Her job is to make sure independence never happens, or at least is delayed for as long as possible. Then, if or when she eventually goes, someone else will get the job of making sure independence never happens.
Rinse and repeat…
That’s how “politics” is done these days. Nobody stands for us or for anything except perpetuating the business-as-usual status quo.
I’ve only been reading these pages for two weeks or so, which is nothing.
I started reading it because I heard that this is where you find-out the actuality of the Salmond Inquiry. I knew there was a lot more to it than could be ascertained from Fabiani and Baillie and what I have read here is shocking, but not that surprising.
So, this is a scandal which Holyrood know about and which we know about too. Arguably, the agenda is now being set by Stuart Campbell and not by Linda Fabiani. Who is more trusted by the voters?……could it be Stuart Campbell?
What if there was another scandal which all at Holyrood know about, but Stuart Campbell doesn’t know about? That would give all at Holyrood something to worry about, wouldn’t it?
@Maggie, 1.05
thanks for that news on Common Weal. This happens after the wide circulation of Robin McAlpine’s hard-hitting essay on corruption? What is going on?
I note also that the despite the Scottish Parliament voting 97 to 27 against introducing Westminster Legislation to allow police, the military and the security services to be indemnified against breaking the law and undertaking criminal acts whilst conducting covert undercover operations, Humza Yousaf stated that such legislation was actually needed.
Now I don’t know how many people would agree with that because we all know that in Northern Ireland undercover cops and military were involved in participating in shootings, killings and bombings whilst operating undercover.
And closer to home such legislation would allow police to get involved in drug dealing, car theft gangs, burglary or even inciting political agitation in let us say independence or environmental groups under the guise of the ends justify the means.
And of the impact for Scots Law.
Forgive me for saying but with statements like this from a Justice Minister who has a criminal conviction for driving without insurance with his then friend who became his second wife, who wants to introduce a Hate Crime Bill, who supported his cousin to be selected as a candidate for North Ayrshire ( under a new name too!) and whose new wife also sought a candidacy – is this the type of person we want in our party, in our government, in our country.
The guy is a creep, a fascist creep, and like Sturgeon need cleared out. Sanctioning criminal illegal behaviour. Yes, that’s our current SNP leadership.
Re Harassment and Complaints Committee ,
I see that this was agreed on 13th January ,
Parliamentary Bureau Motions
S5M-23853 Graeme Dey on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau: Committee Meeting Times—That the Parliament agrees that, under Rule 12.3.3B of Standing Orders, the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints can meet, if necessary, at the same time as a meeting of the Parliament on Tuesday 19 January 2021 and Tuesday 26 January 2021 from approximately 3.30pm to Decision Time.
I wonder if the afternoon session on the 26th * is/was * when they intend to have Nicola Sturgeon appear in front of the Committee and of course that may change now depending on when Alex Salmond is allowed to give his evidence and without the threat of prosecution .
Davidson and Baillie both going on Covid at FMQ’s.
Where Sturgeon is “strongest”. Very effective strategy, chip chip chip.
All the social media manipulation, PR, and presentation doesn’t change the fact that the virus has been disastrously handled and thousands of Scots parents and grandparents have died needlessly.
They have delivered a gold standard death rate. Top 10 in the world, top 3 in Europe. Nothing can hide that going into an election. “Aye, but England”
won’t save them either. That party trick is wearing thin.
Open goal for unionists. Even Johnson (big majority, 4 more years) would tolerate a couple of weeks of damning MSM headlines over the UK coronavirus strategy (which Scotgov have followed like the good little Scotchlanders that they are) in order to neutralise the push for independence.
If the SNP really think they can win a majority led by a granny killing liar, married to, and surrounded by, perjurers, liars, and criminals, then you may as well rip it up and start over. Ineptitude and delusion will not deliver independence nor will “the wee girl vote”. If majorities could be won with the mystical youth vote then Corbyn would be PM and and Watergate would never have brought down Nixon because George McGovern would have been elected president.
I have been trying to find a bookmaker who will offer me an over/under bet on SNP percentage in May. Trying to get under 43% at a good price. None are offering anything other than “Next SNP leader”, probably waiting to see how things play out. Incidentally, Johnson is odds on now to still be PM in 2025 (5/6), a 2021 referendum is 10/1 (not happening), and Scotland is 250/1 to win Euro 2020 this summer. Given that Scotland is more likely to win the Euros than Sturgeon is to deliver independence there is probably some value there.
Is members of the SNP party not allowed to ask Nicola questions at FMQS or are they all spineless?
The question is just about lying to parliament only a tiny part of the story.
It could have been…
If Nicola Sturgeon is found to have conspired to ruin the reputation of her mentor and close colleague Alex Salmond, and to try to have him jailed, committed contempt of court And lied to parliament, should she step down?
I wonder what the result would be,
cirsium @ 1:55 pm
“ thanks for that news on Common Weal. This happens after the wide circulation of Robin McAlpine’s hard-hitting essay on corruption? What is going on? “
It seems to be that anyone who now speaks up about the corruption within the Snp and the Scottish Government are targeted by the * people * who either don’t want to see what’s happening or they know it’s happening but are choosing to sweep it under the carpet . The whole thing STINKS and it’s time for all involved in fitting up Alex Salmond to resign and we now need a judge led inquiry into the whole affair .
Yes and just think for a moment about legislation that the Justice Minister supports in principal indemnifying police against criminal illegal activity.
Think the whole Salmond affair and think about that when asked to vote for Surgeon, or Humza Yousaf.
And then the Hate Crime Bill that’ll throttle free speech. Great linkage there with allowing criminal police activity – and just think how police could burglar the houses of political dissidents hunting for computers, phones or to place watching devices.
Beware the Scottish Nasti Party! – and all tooled up with its very own Yousaf Goebels
@ holymacmoses at 11:53 am
Leslie Evans Sanctioned!
When I read that in the original post I wondered if it was in the CIA sense
I think she needs to go anyway. She is not the leader to deliver independence. Surely everyone understands that now.
Not only has she lied about Salmond, she has lied about the referendum, multiple times. She is a Snake Oil Salesman.
During questions at FMQ she was told of Scottish funds being redirected by english departments, for them to choose which projects will get the money.
And her response was pathetic.
She more or less said that it should stop immediately because that was unfair and it should have been the devolved Scottish Parliament who decided where those funds went.
End of her reply.
Not a mention of how an independent Scotland would be handling their own funds, or that Blackford will cause an absolute stooshie in the Westminster Parliament about it.
Everything she does is shaped around devolution.
Scottish Independence just doesn’t enter into the equation.
Last year Boris pulled us out of europe, America elected a new President,,,yet Sturgeon hides behind Covid and tells us that during a global pandemic all other political matters should be put on the back burner.
So Nicola, if the rest of the world seem to handle two major events at the same time,,,why can’t you?
Good so people are beginning to see through that charlatan Sturgeon for what she really is, I just hope she’s gone before the May elections.
I just can’t get over the SNP’s Keith Brown virtually parroting Theresa May’s now is not the time bollocks, to the fantastic news that the majority of Scots of whom Brown was voted in to do their bidding, want May’s elections as plebiscite.
I’m seriously considering not voting for the SNP in May, if Sturgeon’s still at the helm and the election isn’t used as a plebiscite.
Re Harassment and Complaints Committee ,
The minutes of yesterday’s meeting have been published ,
2nd Meeting, 2021 Tuesday 19 January 2021
The meeting opened at 10.15 am ,
1. Work programme (in private): The Committee considered its work programme. The Committee agreed its final witness list for its inquiry. The Committee agreed that its final witness, the First Minister, would be invited to attend on Tuesday 9 February.
link to parliament.scot
The meeting closed at 1.42 pm.
Effijy @ 12:08
The Lord Advocate position seems to be answerable to nobody, a matter on which I believe the Rev concurs.
There are “clear lines of accountability from the Law Officers downwards”, but not upwards, or so it appears.
link to copfs.gov.uk
Perhaps the most powerful and unaccountable unelected gadgie in Scotland, just like back in the good old 1800s? It seems little wonder he’s a bit of a loose cannon.
@ Jim F. McIntosh at 1:58 pm
Yes they can ,but I believe the questions are set in an informal frame work ie “Does the First Minister agree ….” and then add crap into the narrative, the main thing is they get on the TV “doing important work” with the FM
K.Gibson for example is a Grand Master of this crap(hopefully to be a Past Master)
Heaven knows what would happen if they asked something controversial
Alf Baird at 2:26 today
There’s reason in the Lord Advocate not being answerable to anyone for decisions to prosecute or not. It’s supposed to be an independent position. Would we want him to be answerable to the First Minister, for instance?
Not being answerable sounds an odd position. But it does seem to me to be the least worst option.
Pleased to see this question get an airing in a poll because it was one which unionists or the media were bound to poll eventually.
This way we get a better understanding of what people think sooner, rather than at a time of their (the unionists’ or media’s) choosing.
Re Sturgeon and Covid.
She apparently said to Peston that public opinion would be against her if she didn’t put Covid above everything.
That is not the response of a leader but someone heavily reliant on public opinion.
The latest opinion poll shown by the ref, proves that opinion wrong.
She seems to get more feart by the day
RepublicofScotland @2:25
“I’m seriously considering not voting for the SNP in May”
Trouble is, you won’t be “voting for the SNP” for, assuming she’s still in post, the SNP will spin every vote for the party as being a vote for Nicola Sturgeon the First Minister of Scotland, aka ‘The Dear Leader’.
She’ll be thrown a life-belt, another purge of all those considered a threat will follow, and the gender woo-woo utopia shall commence.
I’m suddenly feeling a bit sick…
“She may survive if she does as you suggest and makes May a plebiscite”
If she makes May a plebiscite I think you find the powers moving her strings would quickly move to have her out of the post. I am of the opinion that the reason why she remains where she is after the fiasco of the complaints procedure, the botched judicial review and the infamous criminal case, is because she is continuing to hand Johnson the power to decide if Scotland can self-determine or not. That has become her main role.
If she was really the pro independence leader she claims to be, she would have left long ago to avoid damaging irreversibly the party and the yes movement.
Personally, I think she has been working with Westminster all along. That is why the powers that be are allowing this farce of a inquiry to continue with two evidence gatekeepers in place: Fabiani restricting evidence coming from external sources (by not ensuring the documentation suggested by Mr Salmond is available and by failing to ensure he can actually say all the truth) and Sweeney restricting the evidence that leaves government.
In my view that poll is the best news the opposition parties could ever hope for. Sturgeon is damaged goods and given the public views expressed by those polls regarding the ministerial code, she is the only chance the opposition parties have to hold onto their seats or stopping a pro-indy majority in the next Holyrood Election.
I am now prepared for Fabiani’s kangaroo inquiry to find the FM’s breach of the ministerial code is farcically “inconclusive” due to “lack of evidence”. Sturgeon will remain in power and leading us to the election, only for a couple of weeks before the election “unidentifiable leaks” to release in mass all the dirty laundry that Fabiani, The lord advocate and Sweeney have been so frantically keeping out of the public eye and the committee. The FM is clearly going along with this farce, because if she didn’t, she would have resigned by now.
If the SNP does not move quickly in the next couple of weeks to chuck this fraud out from their leadership, one way or another the party is finished. Either it will be “check-mate” from Westminster or the SNP was already far too compromised to even notice.
It is staring at us in the face. It is like a car crash in slow motion and the only ones who refuse to open their eyes and see it are the SNP MSPs and most MPs.
Stu,
You are our “Man for All Seasons”
thank you!
Robert @ 2.37
“It’s supposed to be an independent position.”
Doesn’t look it is very independent to me in view of the cases brought against AS, MH, CM etc, and the cases not brought against those behind the AS case and their MSM cheerleaders.
Does not need to be answerable to a FM, could easily be a body set up for the purpose as with Ministers, MSP’s, councillors etc.
@ A. Person Et. Al.
So to be clear, I should not vote SNP because Nicola Sturgeon is a closet unionist, and because her efforts to manage a scandal led her to fib about timing of conversations which means she is wholly unfit for public office. (What amazingly high standards we apply in Holyrood!)
So; if I want independence I should vote for a unionist party, then at a later date organize the leadership ranks of the SNP staffing it with angels, then vote SNP at the following election so that we can become independent under a leader who never tells any lies.
Right?
But won’t that mean that the party of independence “loses” an election and sets the overall cause further back? Wouldn’t it be better to have a consistently pro independence government in Scotland? If not can you please explain why the hell not?!
‘The morass now has a life of its own and there no single event that can undo it.
The longer this continues the more people will realise that there is only one way out. We’re already seeing the public is way ahead of the politicians.’
Yes, Stuart, exactly right I feel. Though I would say that it was politician Kenny MacAskill’s last article here that gave me a hint of hope that there were also politicians gearing up to help push the throne over and that things might come together to make a credible attempt to get things moving. So thank you Mr MacAskill.
@ A Person
‘But Graham that’s the point! You held your nose and voted for Salmond because you thought that on the big question he would do the right thing. Sturgeon’s track record shows that she will never do anything more than talk about the big question. To put it another way, if say a Liberal had over-ridden due planning process to promote the Trump development, would you have voted for them?’
But Sturgeon won’t be leader for long the next term of parliament, even should she survive to lead us to the elections, so I would argue there is all to play for. If there is going to be a leadership election some point soon then would you want to hamper any future leader by failing to vote to give SNP a clear majority, or at least minority, government?
Without that clear cut mandate that the public indisputably wants independence then even the most ardent independence advocate of a new leader would be intolerably hobbled. It would be thrown in their face all day, every day that the Scots didn’t vote for it. So, despite everything we know or fear, I will still vote SNP in this election, not for Sturgeon but for independence. Even if it might be the last time I’m allowed to vote for them, I will vote for them despite her leadership, because any new leader needs that mandate. And any fight for the leadership might have good results.
Alf
I take your point, but it would be possible for the body you suggest to be taken over politically. Think USA, where any such body would split Republican/Democrat, giving whichever party had a majority in the group too much influence.
@ Mia at 2.46pm: Who is this “Sweeney” you keep referring to?
Keith Brown is quick to post a picture of the front page of the National newspaper, showing the that the SNP are to launch an indy taskforce. However Brown isn’t so quick off the blocks to post the front page of the same newspaper today that shows a majority of Scots want May’s elections to be a plebiscite.
We elected Brown and other SNP MSP’s and MP’s to deliver independence, May is a fantastic opportunity to do this, but Brown and Co including the Greens who also said in the article that May isn’t the time, are betraying us. What shower of b*stards.
So if I have this right the only person to be punished for the lies, sleaze, corruption, malfeasance and amnesia emanating from the Scottish Government is Robin McAlpine ?
.
Although I don’t always agree with him nor know him well enough to like or dislike him. Robin isn’t guilty of lying, sleaze, corruption, malfeasance and especially not amnesia (unlike a significant number of MSPs and some of the board of commonweal – allegedly).
‘
.
The next time commonweal have a fundraiser – they can whistle !
@robertknight
Don’t feel sick, they’re just people. It’s really no threat to you, when acceptance of trans people becomes normal and unremarkable (like bastards, orphans, divorcees, cripples, gays, pagans, etc.) the reactionaries fighting for acceptance and justice will have much less fight, and much more love. Hopefully so will we all.
Isn’t the trouble that any vote against the SNP will be spun, or rather accurately interpreted, as a vote against a policy of Scottish independence? The fall of one woman, or the fate of a nation, which is worth voting for?
Wouldn’t you have much more chance changing independent Scottish policy on say gender issues if the SNP becomes redundant and the political landscape divides into natural areas of public attitudes? Until we are independent most of us will vote SNP anyway.
Robert @2.41pm.
I hope not Robert, surely that lying, twisted, conniving, betrayer Sturgeon will be gone by then, she’s doing her utmost to keep Scotland chained to this horrible union.
Michael Laing
Auto-corrected Swinney.
@ Graham
‘So to be clear, I should not vote SNP because Nicola Sturgeon is a closet unionist, and because her efforts to manage a scandal led her to fib about timing of conversations which means she is wholly unfit for public office. (What amazingly high standards we apply in Holyrood!)’
I actually agree with you on your belief we should still vote SNP despite Sturgeon, since it is independence we’ll be voting against if we don’t. But you’re very wrong here. I don’t expect people to be purer than pure, even politicians far less especially them, but Sturgeon is the one who set herself and her government up to be seen as just that. She supposedly set such a high standard of behaviour and gave no quarter to anyone in her party showing any type of failing, or even just being accused of a failing – keeping them at arms length or cutting them adrift. She is proving herself again, just as with her failure to condemn the abuse of Joan McAlpine, a hypocrite and she needs to be held accountable for that. She set the standard, she must live or die by it.
-Davie Oga-
I once read that successful politicians go for their opponent’s strengths, not their weaknesses. It’s why Corbyn moaning about benefit cuts couldn’t lay a glove on the Tories; voters know that the Tories don’t give a fuck about the needy, but vote for them because (contrary to all evidence) they think the Tories will make them better off. Now, when Corbyn and McDonnell attacked the Tories’ economic model as flawed in the 2017 election, that’s when they did better.
If the unionists skewer NS over her handling of covid, that’s her main selling point, and without it, all she has left is…well, nothing.
Overall her handling of it has been crap, but I believe that the narrative of “we’re falling behind with the vaccine” we’re hammering everywhere else except England who are ahead by a statistically negligible margin. Nevertheless, any public perception that vaccination is being botched would be damaging.
“But won’t that mean that the party of independence “loses” an election and sets the overall cause further back?”
With Sturgeon at the helm, you can no longer call the SNP “the party of independence”. It is nothing of the sort, what you will have is another spectacular can kicking exercise for 5 years and that certainly is not going to get us anywhere near we have to be.
You don’t have to vote for a unionist party. You can see if there are other pro indy parties available in the constituency at the time or simply not vote in the constituency and vote in the list.
Endorsing Nicola Sturgeon’s leadership is endorsing corruption and forever subservience to Westminster.
Socrates MacSporran says:
20 January, 2021 at 12:18 pm
holymacmoses @ 11.53am
Maybe the Rev needs the services of a good sub-editor.
I am rading that section as a typo – he meant she should be “sectioned,” since she was mad to think she could get away with the Salmond stitch-up.
Ha ha! I reckon that the Sturgeon ‘believers’ are not too dissimilar to the Trump believers in their naivety and trust of their leader. A few not-so-good women can wreak havoc with the help of a couple of no-so good men
Graham @3:11
“ Isn’t the trouble that any vote against the SNP will be spun, or rather accurately interpreted, as a vote against a policy of Scottish independence? The fall of one woman, or the fate of a nation, which is worth voting for?”
Thing is Graham, I’m not voting “against the SNP”, but nor will I be voting for them in their current guise. Furthermore, I’ll still be voting Indy on the List in the form of the ISP.
If anyone examines the electorate’s appetite for Indy they needn’t restrict their gaze to the Constituency votes, the List will be just as good an indication.
Robert
Nowadays virtually all organisations and professions are subject to a regulator of some sort, and for good reason. The regulators do not always get it right, but at least its there and most of the time does a reasonable job. A regulator does not have to be made up of politicians, and is better not to I would say. Why this particular position is deemed to be above some form of regulation is beyond me. What if malicious prosecutions became the norm? Maybe they are the norm? And I gather Scotland’s prison population is one of the largest in Europe per capita? And the Angiolini report on the workings of the police and PIRC raises further concerns. There is little here to be proud of and much to be concerned by. Leaving such important matters and their consequences solely to the whim of any single powerful individual is clearly not advisable.
So who is at Kat Cary when she isn’t on her back or her knees doing MI5s bidding?
If Nicola Sturgeon creates a plebiscite vote for May and then stands down as leader, would it be safe to vote SNP first at the election? Can she and her cohorts be trusted?
@Polly
Exactly. Dealing Nicola a blow deals the SNP a blow which deals independence a blow.
In the only relevant room in the global political sphere, the SNP are an iScot’s ONLY representatives. No one else is relevant. Not me, not Kenny MacAskill, and not some ginger dog. At the level that matters, we need to put OUR representatives THERE, and then hold them accountable without sabotaging independence.
Rev Stu, if Nicola Sturgeon is investigated, and even if it’s proved did tell a lie, does it matter? To quote the Lib Dem Malcolm Bruce after Alistair Carmichael was found to be lying about that infamous French Memogate affair in order to smear the FM.
“My point is if you are suggesting that every MP who has never quite told the truth or indeed told a brazen lie – including ministers, including Cabinet ministers, including prime ministers – we would clear out the House of Commons very fast, I would suggest.”
Every politician on the planet tells lies, so does it matter if she told a white lie? The public don’t care. Move on and look at the big picture please.
The Lord Advocate is head of the COPFS. He is responsible for criminal prosecutions and investigating deaths. He is also the Scot Govt’s solicitor and part of the Scot Govt.
His deputy, the Solicitor General is also part of the Scot Govt.
The current focus is the Lord Advocate’s role in criminal prosecutions.
However, for a number of years there has been a campaign group who have repeatedly attempted to highlight this issue of the Lord Advocate’s conflicting roles, especially regarding the investigation of deaths in the Scottish NHS.
Where deaths are the result of negligence, and even potentially criminal conduct, in the Scottish NHS, it would be bad publicity for the Scot Govt, as they are ultimately responsible for the NHS and responsible for a system which allows it to happen eg, Health Boards are largely unaccountable.
If you think the Scot Govt situation regarding Alex Salmond is a web of lies and deceit, such conduct is par for the course for Health Boards in covering up abuses / negligence.
Where the Lord Advocate is part of the Govt but is also responsible for investigating deaths, this can introduce a conflict of interest, when Health Boards kill patients.
There are real concerns that a number of deaths in the NHS Health Boards have not been properly investigated because it would look bad for the Scot Govt if the truth came out.
People are now starting to see how conspiracies and cover-ups work between civil servants and politicians in Scotland.
We now face the situation where there has been large numbers of patients and care home users dying of Covid-19. How honest and unbiased will the investigation be into whether Health Boards / the NHS / Scot Govt are in part responsible for poor infection control if the Scot Govt / Lord Advocate are allowed to control or influence the investigation?
In Edinburgh the NHS has legal offices with approximately 38 solicitors that specialise in litigation, defending claims of negligence etc.
So, it’s not just about people’s lives and the truth coming out about how people have died. It’s about something that matters even more to some politicians and civil servants: money.
If the SNP, civil service and the lawyers treat Alex Salmond like shite, how do you think they would treat the rest of us?
There’s a story the press know about which affects all of us here in Scotland and which has been covered-up for more than 5-years by the SNP, Labour and by the Tories.
Maybe that’s why Jackie and Ruth are all-for insipid PMQ’s just now.
@Colin Alexander – Couldn’t agree more.
What if a dangerous building was covered-up….by some at Holyrood. That would be a scandal wouldn’t it?
A new building built by Scottish Futures Trust, for example.
Clwyd Griffiths
A “white lie”
I take it you have never been arrested for a crime you didn’t commit.
‘The public don’t care’.
That’s not what those polling numbers say!
re Commonweal. The statement about Robin McAlpine on their website now is a second, revised and shortened one.
Those few of us who caught sight of the one they issued first, (which soon disappeared, with the link saying Access Denied), recall it saying that Robin McAlpine was parting company with Commonweal altogether, to pursue another role elsewhere.
The later version says that he will have a new role within the existing organisation.
The mud-slinging which attempted to distract from the very serious point of his article is no doubt at the root of all this.
Graham @3:11pm. It’s not just about acceptance of trans people. We are not being asked to accept them as people who are confused over their true sex. We are being compelled to accept them on their say so, as members of the opposite sex. That is not acceptance, that is forcing people to believe lies AND allowing men ( it is mostly an issue with men) into sex segregated women’s spaces. These spaces are sex segregated for very good reasons. So it may be “kind” to these confused men ( plus the fetishistic majority) to let them self identify into spaces they shouldn’t be but it is not “kind” to expect women to just accept it. I will NEVER accept compromise with the TRAs on this.
Do I not recall Ms Sturgeon asking Mr Carmichael to resign following his lie ?
MaggieC at 1.05pm.
The directors of Common Weal have removed Robin McAlpine from their Board because his article – ‘threatened to disrupt the common purpose of the Common Weal family’.
There is only one common purpose that Robin’s article might disrupt and that is Wheesht for Indy.
Clwyd Griffiths says:
20 January, 2021 at 3:35 pm
Every politician on the planet tells lies, so does it matter if she told a white lie? The public don’t care. Move on and look at the big picture please…
Because it isn’t just a lie is it? If the alibi you have provided to specifically exclude your involvement with a criminal conspiracy is revealed to be a lie, what do you suppose are the implications?
The obvious first question is why did the person lie? Why have they subsequently been forced to change their story?
But given that the alibi is now compromised by dishonesty, a huge question opens up about the integrity of the liar who now has no alibi, and whether their dishonesty was a deliberate attempt to mislead, and either evade justice or else pervert the course of justice.
As such, any crumbs of circumstantial evidence which even hint at wider involvement become hugely significant and the net closes in to ensnare the guilty.
Maggie.C @1:42
Re: Harassment Committee.
It seems the latest possible date the Committee have given Alex to appear is Feb. 2nd but Nicola is scheduled for the 9th- a full week later. I wonder if they are leaving time after this for them to play he says/she says. She is not on trial so why would it seem that the defence must give evidence last. We all know she will unknowingly ‘misremember” and either have to clarify with another appearance or in writing.
I have been hoping Alex would slay a few dragons with his appearance, call a press conference and make a major announcement. As he is stymied giving certain evidence by COPFS, I cannot see this happening until there is a Judge-led inquiry where he can tell the whole truth.
@ Clwyd Griffiths at 3.35pm: If you have been paying attention, you will know that Nicola Sturgeon’s lies are anything but “white”. She has deliberately lied in an attempt to deflect the parliamentary investigation from the fact that she knew about the allegations against Alex Salmond before she claimed she did, which leads to the conclusion that she was at the centre of the conspiracy to concoct these false allegations. This is hardly an insignificant matter. It’s utterly corrupt and criminal.
Besides, why should we have any sympathy for a leader who has proved herself worse than useless to the independence movement? Her time is up.
It is possible that the Yoons have a lorry park of dumpers full of shit about the Murrells and the inquiry PLUS bad press about Covid PLUS lots of financial questions PLUS lots of other crap of which we know nought and Boris will agree on a plebiscite in May and then starting April 1st they’ll begin to shovel the shit all over every newspaper and the problem for the SNP will be that lots of it won’t be lies. SO I reckon our boys had better pre-empt that possibility in some way or another . Because if that happened we would be lost for years.
Clwyd Griffiths – I suspect you to be a troll having a laugh. If not, you are nothing but a damned fool. Seriously. And there are plenty like you. A ‘white lie’ is not getting two women and giving their supposed complaints to the police against their will to make up a case to attack your mentor with.
Then, when that case fails, costing the taxpayer north of a half a million quid, getting 14(!) women together to try and pull the same fucking sick, demented, twisted, illegal, disgusting stunt…and having your shit plan fall apart AGAIN, because you are so inept and parochial.
Then allowing the alphabet curs who hide behind anonymity in the fake case to keep verbally attacking your target in the press and, indeed, doing so yourself. White lie? That vermin wouldn’t even know how to spell it. And you better hope no evil woman tells a ‘white lie’aboot you, ot you could be the next person being investigated and castigated and incarcerated.
Sadly, I think the Common Weal have just flung out the baby and kept the bath water.
It comes down to this: Is independence and integrity more important than any one individual?
And of course, the answer has to be yes. Even Nicola ought to agree with that.
When Mr Carmichael lied.
Nicola Sturgeon:
“As well as the original dirty trick, which was bad enough, Mr Carmichael then tried to cover it up – and is only admitting it now because he got caught. He needs to seriously reflect on that – and reflect on whether his actions and attempt to cover them up are consistent with his position as an honourable member of the House of Commons.”
Stuart Hosie:
“This is potentially career-ending precisely because he went into an election suggesting one thing and then we find out – lo and behold, just after the election – it wasn’t true. “Given the scale of this – a dirty tricks campaign that involved the French ambassador and the Scottish First Minister – all of which is completely false, bogus, made up, really he ought to consider very seriously whether he can be even be trusted by his constituents to remain an MP.”
Pete Wishart:
“Mr Carmichael no longer has any credibility as an MP – the best course of action would be for him to stand down.”
Breeks on point as usual. The “white lie” is important because it’s her alibi.
This whole thing is a total fluster f**k. The yes movement and SNP should be flying hugh in the polls , we should have the stall set out for a plebiscite in May and looking forward to an independent Scotland. We now have a sorry sordid affair to contend with an election that is nothing as nothing has been promised a first minister who has been caught telling porkies and and Big Eck escaping the jail for crimes he did not commit. I think no one except unionists are gonna gain anything here. I’m disgusted and disillusioned. Think I will take too my bed.
My support of Common Weal is hereby terminated.
robertknight:
Well it worked a treat for Baroness Ruth of Mooth when she promoted herself ahead of her party in her electoral propaganda. Shyster Sturgeon has already demonstrated her contempt aided and abetted by a compliant subsidised media nothing should surprise us.
@Morgatron,
Take to your keyboard instead. Cathartic.!!
“It seems the latest possible date the Committee have given Alex to appear is Feb. 2nd”
And this is just another proof this inquiry is just another Sturgeon’s whitewash. They “cannot” have Mr Salmond to appear after Sturgeon because he may well rip to pieces her statement and responses. In addition, that will give her another chance to continue smearing Mr Salmond without an opportunity for him to rebute her claims. That is why they have to have her the last, otherwise her credibility will crumble.
It is becoming more clear by the day that this inquiry is a complete farce and designed to be that way. It is not Mr Salmond who is being investigated for breach of the Ministerial Code and abuse of power. It is Sturgeon. Yet, all the inconveniences here appear to be directed against Mr Salmond, rather than against her.
@Mia,
You couldnt be more correct. Give her the last word.
@Colin Alexander
Thank you so much for bringing up the issue of negligence in NHS Scotland. The level of incompetence in some sectors should lead to prosecution. This is from a short while ago, link to archive.is, and it took a lot of protests to overcome the foot-dragging and obfuscation involved.
Liz – I think you hit the nail on the head.
Sturgeon is obsessed with PR and public opinion, rather than being obsessed with what the SNP supporters elected her for. She should be concerned with doing the right thing, rather than her perception of future opinion.
A strong leader always follows a clear path to their goal. Flak and mud slinging come with the territory. Salmond had an answer to it: ” The press , we live with them”.
In other words he always followed his beliefs and could not care less about a few angry journalists in the media.
@ Graham
Not exactly at all. You take my agreement with one part but ignore my criticism of the rest of your post – which does have a very strong bearing on why people might feel differently to us and prefer not to vote for such a glaring hypocrite as Sturgeon. You’re as much a chancer as Sturgeon is.
The fact of the matter is, the only one really putting independence in jeopardy is Nicola Sturgeon. Under any other circumstances she’d have been calling for other leaders to resign and putting herself and her own behaviour above them – hypocrite. And if any of her party was in similar circumstances she would traduce them to the media and cut them off without a thought – hypocrite to add to all her other faults. If people don’t want or can’t stomach voting for her party then I can understand why and any blame for that is not theirs but Sturgeons.
I agree we should still vote for them this one last, critical, time – it doesn’t mean I bloody well like it.
Wow! O/T Have you seen the U.K. Covid Stats for today?
39,000 New cases and a record breaking 1,820 Covid registered
deaths in just 24 Hours!
Even the nations with populations in the billions are not suffering to this degree!
Not a thing Scotland can do about it with all monies taken by Westminster?
Well there is one thing we can do!
@Clwyd Griffith’s
“Move on and look at the big picture please.”
Sure…
Might that “big picture” include such trivial matters as…
Perjury?
Witness tampering?
Attempting to defeat the ends of justice?
Attempting to pervert the course of justice?
Misconduct in public office?
Breaching the ministerial code?
Just asking for a friend.
@Willie, 1.55
Wasn’t the Justice Secretary a participant in the US State Department’s International Visitor Leadership programme? Participants are selected by the Foreign Service Officers at the US Embassy based in the participant’s country.
Clwyd Griffiths
“My point is if you are suggesting that every MP who has never quite told the truth or indeed told a brazen lie – including ministers, including Cabinet ministers, including prime ministers – we would clear out the House of Commons very fast, I would suggest.”
Every politician on the planet tells lies, so does it matter if she told a white lie? The public don’t care. Move on and look at the big picture please.
Your analysis of ‘white lies’ is interesting
It is the ‘purpose’ of a lie which makes it ‘white’.
White lies are generally told to protect people.
Who is Sturgeon protecting and much more importantly , why is that protection needed?
AND
If that ‘protection’ were to be removed, what would it reveal about Ms Sturgeon’s part in taking Mr Salmond to court and threatening his freedom and ruining his reputation?
You’re either a very shallow thinker or a rather nasty scoundrel Mr Griffith
There’s a wee bit of me that wants Alex to stand in Nicola’s constituency for Holyrood 2021. It may well split the pro-Indy vote and elect a Unionist, but it would solve the problem of her leadership because I seriously doubt she’d want to be first on the Glasgow list as an insurance policy. It would look really bad.
If you’re reading Alex, I hope this is a possibility.
Still not a peep on Twitter from Keith Brown on the latest amazing poll showing that Scots want May’s elections to be a plebiscite, y’know Brown the people that put you in a job and hopefully will remove you in May you shit.
Meanwhile Wishart, is actually doing down the poll on his Twitter feed, think about that for second we elected him to bring independence to Scotland, and now the people of Scotland want May’s election to do that very thing, and here’s Wishart putting down the people of Scotland’s wishes, what an utter c*nt of a man.
@holymacmoses – all that I have witnessed these past two weeks leads me to believe that the SNP leadership and their intolerable grip on the civil-service and legal professions in this country is a house of cards.
All it takes is a few whistleblowers and the house of cards comes down.
Whistleblowers are out there but they know that they will get no protection from our legal profession. Why do you think that is? I wonder what the Lord Advocate’s position is on whistleblowers?
I suspect Wokoharams Bearded Ladies will be trying to get a place on the board of Common Weal now @MaggieC says at 1:05 pm
“…reflecting the DIVERSITY and experience within the organisation, and drawing on the talents of our now extensive network of local groups, volunteers and supporters. Publicly, Common Weal will be represented by A RANGE OF SPOKESPEOPLE”
Robin should have stuck to his guns but by believing “nothing must be allowed to distract from the important work of the organisation. Our policy platform and campaigns have become central to the case for a progressive independent Scotland” he has shown more integrity and leadership then NS has in her pinkie finger!
Hopefully Common Weal won’t end up like the SNP etc. infiltrated by Atlanticist Neo-Cons and those more interested in personal projection and gain than Scottish Independence.
Meanwhile not a peep, not a f*cking word on the superb poll, from Stewart McDonald or Alyn Smith on twitter, just f*cking tumbleweed.
As they focus on the US inauguration of Biden.
Everyone should check SNP MP’s and MSP’s twitter feeds to see if they even acknowledge the will of the people or Scotland or not, and comment in here about it.
Catching people in a lie is not that easy and relatively rare. Which is why if you get caught doing it just once on the witness stand in court you are charged with a crime and all your testimony is discredited and not just the lie you were caught in.
Similarly if a FM or Minister is caught in a lie it is treated with the same graveness.
If they are capable of one lie that we caught them in we have to assume there are many more lies that they we were not able to catch.
Like the witness in court, the trust is gone, they are discredited. They need to resign.
You can bet with Joe Biden in power Sturgeon is going to want to continue on to build her woke, gender distorting utopia in Scotland and be held up as a true “progressive” example.
Get her out at all costs now! If that means having to bring the SNP down too then so be it, it’s their own bloody fault for facilitating this absolute nonsense. I don’t reward abject failure out of principle as know I’m only condoning more of the same. Very few in the party are competent, even fewer if any have the cajones for the inevitable fight ahead.
There is no way I’ll vote SNP if she is still leader in May. The only way I will is if JC takes control, kicks out all the pretenders and goes for the jugular with one priority only – to end the Union at all costs.
Robin McAlpine has been critical of the SNPG before:
link to sourcenews.scot
link to sourcenews.scot
link to sourcenews.scot
So it’s not like he’s suddenly bringing Common Weal into disrepute. I guess that timing is everything and this was one post too many. However, incompetence knows no bounds and the timing could not have been worse.
Common Weal appear to want to agitate for change but now appear quite happy to tolerate the type of corruption that block said change.
@Breeks: Exactly. Nobody remembers the bathwater and Robin McAlpine’s future now looks assured.
Stuart Campbell: “ There’s no actual news – there’s still a pandemic, we still need to socially distance and wash our hands, and we’ll all get a vaccine as soon as possible – and everyone knows that all they’re doing is dicking around trying to score shitey wee points off each other.”
Really? What issue of all issues do you think NS will want to dominate the election campaign? That decision has already been taken. Join the dots. The vaccine works very well. News from Israel couldn’t be more upbeat & compelling. Those daily briefings are important. You’d pay good money for a platform like that going into an election. NS wouldn’t want to rush the vaccine rollout and risk losing that platform and the trust of the people, risk her whole campaign, risk the shield she hides behind when people attack, risk everything. A victim of her own success? RD sees all this. It’s dark but she can see where it’s going, where NS is going. Now you can too.
“Really? What issue of all issues do you think NS will want to dominate the election campaign?”
Right. So why are the opposition going along with it?
Not a wimper from Ian Blackford or John Nicolson on Twitter about the exceptional new poll that shows Scots want May’s elections as a plebiscite.
These two shits focus on the US and Biden.
I’m beginning to think that the majority of SNP MP’s and MSP’s don’t actually want independence.
They def seem far too close to the US democrats.
As for Wishart dissing the latest poll.
Thought he loved polls.
Unless there is a change of leadership, I will not vote SNP at all in May.
I care about independence but enough is enough.
@ Jockanese Wind Talker
‘Robin should have stuck to his guns but by believing “nothing must be allowed to distract from the important work of the organisation. Our policy platform and campaigns have become central to the case for a progressive independent Scotland” he has shown more integrity and leadership then NS has in her pinkie finger!’
Very well said. You are entirely correct about this.
Who is this “Sweeney” you ask @Michael Laing says at 2:59 pm
The Sweeney are the folks who in the not too distant future will be booting in the Murrells door in the wee small hours and will huckle them away to the cells.
And they almost certainly won’t have had their tea!
;
Aye, the good old days. When there was an ardently pro-indy and conscientious First Minister.
Captain Yossarian
Whistleblowers are out there but they know that they will get no protection from our legal profession. Why do you think that is? I wonder what the Lord Advocate’s position is on whistleblowers?
The Scottish Legal System has aye been a murky place, ever since James 6th and 1st decided that the Church of Scotland and the Edinburgh Courts must be all-powerful in this country. When one considers that the fictional heart of 19thC Scotland was kept alive by the name of Walter Scott (Law Ed) and the writings of RL Stevenson (Law Ed) (ably assisted by John Galt (Law Lincoln’s Inn) ) one has to question the relationship between Legal Truth and Fact in Scottish History:-)
After all, the definition of a ‘whistleblower’ rests with party in power and it’s difficult to know where the power curently sits in Scotland.
However, Ghandi (another Lawyer) proved that people are the real power in a country and that is something that Scots can only be, by becoming an independent nation.
Maybe you should ask Joanne Cherry the question:-)
Again not even a mention from STV news 6pm flagship programme, in what is supposed to be a Scottish news channel, on the fantastic poll showing that Scots want May’s elections to be a plebiscite for indy.
Its as if it never happened.
@ Republic of Scotland at 5.05: “Check MP/MSP twitter” – Joanna Cherry has, of course, spotted this good news poll.
I am sure her support will bring our 61 MSPs and 46 other MPs onto the band wagon….
@Jockanese Wind Talker, 5.00pm
Spot on, sounds like a statement released by a US business when the CEO’s been caught on camera snorting coke in the boardroom.
“In addition, there will be an audit of our internal systems and a rigorous approach to ensuring they are fit for purpose, employing the use of external professionals and trade unions to facilitate this process.“
How similar to Scotgov’s rigorous approach to their ‘complaints procedures’.
Caithness General comes under NHS Highlands remit @Stuart MacKay says at 4:23 pm
A Lib Dem Councillor resigned from Highland Council rather than work with the SNP.
The same (now former Lib Dem Councillor) shortly thereafter got the top job at NHS Highland.
That (former Lib Dem Councillor) now head of NHS Highland presided over the degradation of services and the much publicised bullying scandal.
His Party The FibDems then made the NHS a big manifesto issue and got Jamie Stone elected.
Caithness laskies and boygies as with the rest of the population of the Highlands were (and are) seen as acceptable collateral by the BritNats.
All I’m saying is if there’s a case for Nicola to answer for then she should, but it’s hardly a shock that a politician sometimes twists the truth. They all do at times.
@Jockanese Wind Talker typical libdem gutter politics. Jaime Stone, is there a more pointless and ineffectual politician than him anywhere in the world, apart from Ian Murray perhaps?
“it’s hardly a shock that a politician sometimes twists the truth”
Breaking the ministerial code is hardly “twisting the truth”.
Clwyd Griffiths says:
20 January, 2021 at 7:33 pm
All I’m saying is if there’s a case for Nicola to answer for then she should, but it’s hardly a shock that a politician sometimes twists the truth. They all do at times.
What you’re doing is ignoring the fact that a politician abused her political power in such a way as to get someone wrongly accused and put in fear of losing his freedom , possibly until the end of his life. If you think that behaviour constitutes a white lie about a mere bagatelle then your standards are very different to mine – and I hope many other people.
@ Clwyd Griffiths
You never responded when I asked if you have previously posted btl on Wings as C Griffiths, as in the following post.
link to wingsoverscotland.com
Allegedly this site to my knowledge was a big supporter of independence so why has it changed to something like the herald or the express would print. So going by all the guff on here in the comments and the storytelling everyday. Who!! if Nicola went could even come close to getting indy across the line. Please tell me, this is going to be a barrel of laughs. There is nobody the only two than can do it was Alex or Nicola. And we know how they got Alex.For me I would want Alex back to finish off what he nearly achieved along with Nicola them down in London would feel the force of shock waves from Scotland and would shit bricks. Both are absolutely hated and detested by the tory/brexiteer right wing english government and MSM as they are both far to clever. If Nicola was to go Scotland becomes north England this will become know doubt a FACT!! They got rid of Alex now it’s Nicola’s turn. I fear for my kids and their lives as they will become puppets in a region of England called New England. Is this really what everybody on here is driving at?
This is what it looks to me. CRAZY!!
@Ts
Utter tosh from another hard of thinking Sturgeonista ultra.
Nicola is a liability to all except the slavish loyalists who have imbibed the gradualist kool aid. Joanna Cherry can – and I suspect will – eat her for breakfast at some point. Intellectually, politically and emotionally she’s streets ahead of any other party figure at present: it’s why all the zoomers hate her.
Myopic fools like you are the ones kicking indy into the long grass.
Sturgeon’s their (unions) pal,
the Tweedledum/tweedledee game is being played well, it’s all going swell.
They don’t want her to go.,
Conversely, they’re clutching on to her.
Andy Ellis
You are deluded if you think joanna cherry can bring independence. She does not have the memory! To remember facts and points without looking at her notes. Take away the notes or paper work she would be like Boris a blethering useless idiot. Nicola remembers most facts and she can explain in great detail without notes or paper in front of her. That’s what you need if they ask a question that you don’t expect.
Ts says: at 11:04 pm
“Nicola remembers most facts and she can explain in great detail without notes or paper in front of her.”
Accept for “the facts” and “the great details” about certain meetings…
Except for… Bloody auto correct whilst typing on yer phone while you wait hours on fookin Windaes completing an update on your lappy…
In other news…
The Spear returns and is back on the twitts.
#BoomerangGirl
@dan yes that’s me if it’s important.
@Ts Agree.
As the sovereign will of the Scottish people moves ineluctably toward independence, the British state has never looked so weak fragile.
All that’s standing in the way of an Independent Scotland is the few hundred MPs MSPS and there associated SPADS.
The SNP’s High command.
Only they can declare the May elections plebiscitary, only they can hold the Union together.
@clwyd
Every politician on the planet tells lies, so does it matter if she told a white lie?
Yes.
If your (now fatally tarnished) brand is of a decent sensible, grown up politician, you have now fucked yourself*.
The public don’t care.
As a member of that category, I do.
Move on and look at the big picture please.
The current FM does not do big pictures, cell phone selfies at best.
*and a lot of innocents during the act.
@clwyd
Every politician on the planet tells lies, so does it matter if she told a white lie?
If you are in the business of colour coding criminality in office, where does attempting to put a 65 year old asthmatic political mentor in prison sit on your rainbow?
“and everyone knows that all they’re doing is dicking around trying to score shitey wee points off each other”
That’d be an interesting thing to poll – performances of the opposition parties in Scotland in relation to COVID.