Scotland’s two main political parties have published their 2024 accounts. The SNP’s can be found here, and Scottish Labour’s here. Neither tells a massively inspiring tale.
(Click pics to enlarge.)
The SNP lost £445,000 despite being boosted by donations totalling almost £940,000 from just FOUR individuals. Scottish Labour made a profit of £350,000 but only because it was bailed out to the tune of £777,000 by the UK party, otherwise it would have made a very similar loss to the SNP’s (specifically £428,000).
Neither of those things are surprising, since 2024 was a UK general election year and those are when parties spend big. But the devil, as always, is in the details.
Before becoming a politician Nicola Sturgeon had a brief and somewhat unsuccessful career in the world of law. Which means she has no excuse whatsoever for this:
Because in law, yes it does. That’s EXACTLY what it means.
The media coverage of the gender-ideology revelations in Nicola Sturgeon’s memoir has been based on a couple of short sentences from it, but since the main section of the book devotes 14 pages to the subject it’s worth checking out in depth, at least until something more interesting happens.
And the thing it revealed is what Sturgeon’s book is really about. Because as more and more extracts have found their way into the public domain this week, the overarching theme of “Frankly” has become impossible to miss.
As more and more of Nicola Sturgeon’s memoirs ooze out into the public sphere like pus leaking from a burns-victim’s blisters, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of rank, festering untruth spreading out in all directions.
For good measure she then accused the MSPs investigating her conspiracy against him of being mere puppets controlled and directed by Salmond, an obvious nonsense immediately refuted by them directly, in case the idea of Murdo Fraser taking orders from Alex Salmond wasn’t already too idiotic to contemplate.
But this extract from an interview to be aired on ITV tonight is actually interesting.
In it, Sturgeon doggedly continues to refuse to use male pronouns for multiple rapist Adam “Isla Bryson” Graham, despite admitting that he IS male, instead calling him “they”. But it was the bit before that that raised our eyebrows.
We’ve written a couple of articles about the media coverage of this already, but as the slow summer season continues it’s worth taking a little time to have a proper look at the source material, because it’s your cash that’s being spent on it, and used to shape public policy in Scotland.
And it’s very hard to overstate both what a waste of money, and what a colossal insult to every woman in Scotland, it represents.
A little over two years ago, three SNP MSPs contested the leadership of the party in the wake of the sudden resignation of Nicola Sturgeon. All were full of grand plans and dreams for the future of the party, the nation and the independence movement.
None of the three is leader now, and in nine months’ time none of them will be SNP MSPs. Indeed, it’s overwhelmingly likely that none will be an MSP at all.
And that, readers, is not a sign of a party – or indeed a Parliament – in good health.
It can be very hard to follow the arguments of people trying to convince you to vote for the SNP on the regional list at next year’s election. Here’s one just a month ago:
So that’s clear – indy supporters MUST IGNORE the “siren voices” telling them to vote for smaller indy parties, because they can’t win any seats and therefore to vote for them is to “throw away” your list vote.
And this was them just two weeks ago, strenuously insisting that the small parties were a busted flush and there was no chance of a “non-SNP route to independence”:
So it was a bit confusing to read this yesterday:
Because all of a sudden, it seems that you CAN vote for the smaller indy parties, regardless of whether they win seats or not, because the list vote will actually be a de-facto referendum and the votes will still count. And indeed, apparently you SHOULD do so, because an SNP-only route – the thing which was the only hope a fortnight ago – is now “totally unachievable” and ONLY working in concert with the smaller indy parties can succeed.
Heavens, what huge transformative event did we miss?
Bilbo on The Valley Of The Dolls: “It does seem that no matter what court rulings are made, for whatever reasons it is not implemented properly by…” Dec 10, 08:54
Hatey McHateface on The Valley Of The Dolls: ““The entire point of the activists’ behaviour and the governments of the UK’s behaviour” is to institutionally weaken women’s rights…” Dec 10, 07:59
Hatey McHateface on The Valley Of The Dolls: “I’m dreaming of a white Xmas. You should too, Karen. That way, there’s a small chance you’ll get what you’re…” Dec 10, 07:50
Karen on The Valley Of The Dolls: “Eminent lawyer friends have come to the conclusion a) ETs need to follow woke-speak to ensure continued funding from Scotgov,…” Dec 10, 07:16
Geoff Anderson on The Valley Of The Dolls: “I’m sure you actually believe that it was balanced, fair and an agreed finding. Do you work for the BBC?” Dec 10, 06:11
robertkknight on The Valley Of The Dolls: “On the basis of the above, I recon they’re handing out Scottish Law Degrees in shopping centres, tucked in between…” Dec 10, 04:59
Marie on The Valley Of The Dolls: “Scottish judges – what are they like eh? Third rate – that’s what they’re like.” Dec 10, 00:37
sog on The Valley Of The Dolls: “I got as far as the ‘Assigned male at birth’ bollocks, and gave up. Anyone quoting that should be fired,…” Dec 9, 23:24
Lorncal on The Valley Of The Dolls: “If you do, those spaces become mixed sex spaces, not single sex spaces. Would you allow women who have had…” Dec 9, 23:08
Lorncal on The Valley Of The Dolls: “Because, Kate, we let them get away with the “stunning and brave” bulls**t instead of calling them out as that…” Dec 9, 23:00
sarah on Off-topic: “NHS dentist, Tinto? No chance, I’m afraid. Though it sounds as if we have been let off lightly compared with…” Dec 9, 22:16
Lorncal on The Valley Of The Dolls: ““… The argument was essentially of a man using the façade of gender reassignment for improper purposes, including for sexual…” Dec 9, 21:55
McDuff on The Valley Of The Dolls: “Congratulations rev on another powerful article.” Dec 9, 21:27
Jay on The Valley Of The Dolls: “Sarah: Agreed that Rev Stu has conducted a masterly exercise of demolishing the position taken by the Tribunal, a wonderful…” Dec 9, 21:16
Tracey on The Valley Of The Dolls: “Thanks for this. Excellently written and explained. I am glad I am already subscribed. You are worth it!” Dec 9, 21:06
sarah on The Valley Of The Dolls: “You missed your calling, Rev. You could have been a senior judge in Scotland or England. There was a wonderful…” Dec 9, 19:29
Hatey McHateface on The Valley Of The Dolls: “As always, a masterful analysis from Scotland’s greatest living journalist. Just one tiny quibble: “It’s not often you see a…” Dec 9, 19:24
Hatey McHateface on The Valley Of The Dolls: “They’re aiming for the institutionalized watering down of women’s rights. It’s a war. The trannies are the leading shock troops…” Dec 9, 19:21
Kate L on The Valley Of The Dolls: “Thank you for this breakdown, even though it may lead to a breakdown of my own. This is legitimately bonkers.…” Dec 9, 19:20
agentx on The Valley Of The Dolls: “There will be an appeal from both sides and the decision will go to the higher courts. But please note…” Dec 9, 19:18
diabloandco on The Valley Of The Dolls: “Excellent idea! The whole thing is stratospherically ridiculous.” Dec 9, 19:17
Tinto Chiel on Off-topic: “Forgot to mention that thoughts of Gruinard Bay and its seals always make me think of the incomparable Julie and…” Dec 9, 19:10
diabloandco on The Long Walk To Freedom: “I think I must have met that man in Edinburgh one lovely sunny afternoon in the gardens when a great…” Dec 9, 19:07
Tinto Chiel on Off-topic: “I don’t give up, Sarah, I adapt 🙂 . Despite the best efforts of the security services, the Edinburgh Proclamation…” Dec 9, 18:59
Hatey McHateface on The Long Walk To Freedom: “Ah, the fragrant James has dragged himself once again, out from under his stone. You can choose to believe that…” Dec 9, 18:51
Craig on The Valley Of The Dolls: “Any chance for a copy of THAT dogs breakfast to be sent to the Supreme Court judges so they may…” Dec 9, 18:46
