This isn’t quite yet a smoking gun, more of a starter’s pistol. But it’s already more than we’d expected from the Holyrood inquiry – an unambiguous statement that the First Minister misled it (and therefore Parliament) under oath.
What’s still missing at this stage is the word “knowingly”, which would turn it from a serious but non-fatal misdemeanour into a resignation offence. But nor, yet, is there any sight of the word “inadvertently”.
When Nicola Sturgeon is finally held to account for the charred, twisted and shattered ruins that she’s made of Scottish political and civic society in her desperate attempts to save her own neck, the complete discrediting of ostensible support organisations for victims of rape will be near the very top of the charge sheet.
But before we talk about that you really need to read this.
Because if you live in Scotland you can only rationally be one of two things at this moment in history: (a) terrified, or (b) an idiot.
We’ve received information this afternoon with regard to Nicola Sturgeon’s statements at today’s FMQs, which appear to have been wholly and disturbingly dishonest.
The quote below is from an email sent today by SNP communications chief Murray Foote, briefing ministers and MSPs on the official Scottish Government line, which is what the First Minister told the chamber in response to a question from Ruth Davidson.
We enjoyed doing this site a lot more when it was the dishonesty of Unionists and the Unionist media, not the SNP, that represented the main threat to independence. So let’s make like it’s the old days, just this once.
The Dunlop Review into the Scottish Government’s conduct of an investigation of false harassment allegations against Alex Salmond was published today. It is an extremely damning report, which basically boils down to “You got absolutely everything possible wrong, never do anything that way again, you incompetent idiots”.
You can check out the whole 78-page document here, but we’ve included its 10 key recommendations as to how such investigations should be carried out in future, along with a note of whether these recommendations were followed in the Salmond case.
Which in itself raises some extremely serious questions about the judgement of the First Minister who extended Evans’ contract by two years in January 2020, long after she’d known about the series of disastrous and costly blunders Evans had made in the Salmond investigation.
Cynicus on How Far To Go, How Far: “Mark Beggan says: 13 December, 2025 at 6:26 pm “I reckon 3-1 to St Mirren tomorrow.” ======== Is that a…” Dec 14, 00:21
Lorncal on How Far To Go, How Far: “No, Hatey, I get it completely because I’m a woman, and my survival as a woman depends on my getting…” Dec 13, 23:37
william G Walker on How Far To Go, How Far: “Saffron Robe is right in his forensic analysis as led by Stuart. He is also right in “objective reality” and…” Dec 13, 22:30
McDuff on How Far To Go, How Far: “Rev you are worth your weight in gold!” Dec 13, 21:34
Saffron Robe on How Far To Go, How Far: “Forensic analysis of the highest order, Stuart, of immense benefit to all those interested in the pursuit of justice which…” Dec 13, 21:00
Hatey McHateface on How Far To Go, How Far: “Far more importantly, if the pattern on the carpet has left an indelible mark, what tartan is it? That’s the…” Dec 13, 20:26
Hatey McHateface on How Far To Go, How Far: “@Alf Baird When you write that the need for decolonisation is “absolute and urgent” I wonder how it is that…” Dec 13, 20:22
Hatey McHateface on How Far To Go, How Far: “You missed one, Northy, phallusy.” Dec 13, 20:06
Hatey McHateface on The ginger stepchild: “Multiple accounts, Bilbo? How you must wish that was true. My “stalking” of you was me pointing out the quite…” Dec 13, 19:58
Northcode on How Far To Go, How Far: “I meant to do this earlier, but forgot. Here it is now, better late than never. Correction: “through-away” in paragraph…” Dec 13, 19:05
Mark Beggan on How Far To Go, How Far: “I reckon 3-1 to St Mirren tomorrow.” Dec 13, 18:26
Andy Wiltshire on How Far To Go, How Far: “Mistakes tending to both sides of a controversial question roughly equally may well be just mistakes. If they all point…” Dec 13, 16:49
James Barr Gardner on How Far To Go, How Far: “The real problem is ye jist cannae git the staff these days !” Dec 13, 15:40
Sven on How Far To Go, How Far: “You’d know, I’m sure, I wish you well “James Cheyne”; were every independence minded Scot as single minded, determined and…” Dec 13, 14:56
Northcode on How Far To Go, How Far: “Nae bother, James. The longer you stay around here the better as far as I’m concerned. And thanks for the…” Dec 13, 14:55
Northcode on How Far To Go, How Far: ““But that flame still burns.” I’ll tell you what ‘burns’… YOUR SHITTY RHETORIC! BOOM!!! Northcode drops the “Ad Hominem”, arm…” Dec 13, 14:46
James Cheyne on How Far To Go, How Far: “robertkknight, Better together, as the prime ministers statement once said. Why not have the upper ruling class grouped with the…” Dec 13, 14:36
James Cheyne on How Far To Go, How Far: “North code. Thank for those kind words, It would appear that I could be here for as long as the…” Dec 13, 14:23
robertkknight on How Far To Go, How Far: “I don’t think that there are any depths left to which the NuSNP Govt. won’t stoop. For years they’ve been…” Dec 13, 13:55
Stu on How Far To Go, How Far: “Lomcal, I don’t think there is. Like I said, if a judge was hypothetically going to go for a specific…” Dec 13, 13:17
Rob on How Far To Go, How Far: “I normally don’t normally give much credence to conspiracy theories, basic incompetence usually explains most of the screw up. However…” Dec 13, 13:16
Jill on How Far To Go, How Far: “The most generous reading of this debacle is that the judge is incompetent. I’m inclined to be less generous. Trans…” Dec 13, 13:09
Northcode on How Far To Go, How Far: “I for one will be sorry to see you leave this place, James. Your stoical perseverance in acquiring and presenting…” Dec 13, 12:58
Mark Beggan on How Far To Go, How Far: “Is that carpet burns on Swinney’s face?” Dec 13, 12:50
James Cheyne on How Far To Go, How Far: “Thoughts for today, I will retire and make way for others after the two year long wait from DWP and…” Dec 13, 12:36
Northcode on How Far To Go, How Far: ““…I write, as always, to educate the readers on the world’s most-read Indy website.” We uneducated plebians here on “the…” Dec 13, 12:22
James Cheyne on How Far To Go, How Far: “The gender issue of how to use women and children spaces as a trademark fetish is dangerous. I suppose if…” Dec 13, 12:06
