Just two days ago the Electoral Commission gave us a fourth supposed date for the publication of the SNP’s 2019 accounts: having first been due out in early August, they then told us to expect them in early September, and then last week, and then in “the next three weeks”, ie the middle of October.
But someone gave us a tipoff that we might be able to request them via Freedom Of Information, since ostensibly the only holdup was that the EC wanted to wait until ALL of the main parties’ accounts were ready and publish them all at once for tidiness.
So we sent one in, and we just got a very quick reply.
During a debate on the UK government’s recent decision to abandon the notion of gender self-ID, SNP MP Anne McLaughlin told the Commons chamber that it was still the Scottish Government’s “strong commitment” to go ahead with highly controversial reform of the law BEFORE next year’s Holyrood election.
But that isn’t what Scottish voters were told earlier this year.
The SNP have historically been swift to suspend any party members when there’s any hint of inappropriate conduct, never mind even a whiff of illegality. It’s been that way since 2015, with the axe falling on elected members as well as candidates in target seats and critical elections, and ordinary activists.
Not even a by-your-leave, let alone an explanation, is afforded – just suspension with immediate effect. And that’s all well and good, some might say. No hint of impropriety should attach to the party and making a virtue of acting swiftly can be both necessary and appropriate.
So why then no action against the Chief Executive?
The Electoral Commission appears to have missed yet another deadline for publishing the SNP’s 2019 accounts (we’re waiting on them to return our phone call), so we’ve got a moment to talk about something else relating to the party’s finances.
[EDIT 12.56pm: the Commission now “hopes” to have the accounts published “in the next three weeks” along with those of the other main Westminster parties.]
The Scottish press covered itself in as much disgrace over the publication of the will of lottery winner Colin Weir after his tragic death last year as it had done during his life. Pretty much every paper in the country ran lurid headlines about how he’d “blown” or “burned” (translation: spent) half of his £80m share of the 2011 jackpot in nine years.
Weirdly, the Scottish Sun and the Daily Mail stood out for (mainly) respectful coverage focused on the fact that Colin Weir had in fact used most of the money on good causes and generous support for friends, family and strangers.
(Also, both of the Weirs were fairly old and already in quite poor health when they won the money, so why wouldn’t they spend it? You famously can’t take it with you.)
But the Mail was almost unique in the fact that its headline mentioned something that seemed to stand out as the most obviously newsworthy aspect of the will.
Senator Claire Chandler is a Liberal Party member of the Australian Parliament. Some recent experiences she’s had send a very serious warning about the likely outcomes of the Scottish Government’s wildly unpopular new Hate Crime Bill. She’s graciously allowed us to publish this column she wrote on the subject.
Early this month I received a letter from Tasmania’s Anti-Discrimination Commissioner directing me to attend a compulsory “conciliation” conference with somebody offended by my comments about the need to protect women’s sport and women’s toilets and changerooms. You can watch them here:
Ironically, the complaint against me was about an opinion article I wrote about free speech. You can read it here and make up your own mind whether bureaucrats at the Anti-Discrimination Commission should be able to censor any Australian citizens for this kind of public policy discussion.
Following up this morning’s article, we’ve been trawling through the Publications/FOI section of the Scottish Government website to see which other articles might be being hidden from its search function. We found quite a few, and you’re never going to guess what the common factor in all of them is.
We’ve given you a wee clue with that picture, though.
As a right-of-centre English conservative, there are Scottish National Party concepts I haven’t so far been able to comprehend. Perhaps it’s because I don’t follow Nicola Sturgeon and Ian Blackford. Should I keep an eye on what The Scotsman is saying?
SNP leaders talk in the same sentence of a “free” and “independent” Scotland having a future as a member of the EU. My grasp of those words is not theirs. Distinguished lawyers – be they Remainers, Leavers or Don’t-Care-Just-Pay-My-Billsers – all agree that a series of European Court of Justice decisions have established the unqualified supremacy of European Union laws – disguised as “Regulations and Directives” – over the national laws of EU states.
Last night on social media a few people raised a semi-interested eyebrow at Scotland On Sunday’s front page, and wondered if the suspiciously unattributed lead story might be something balanced and worthwhile, or if it’d be by Dani Garavelli again.
Whichever side you’re on, it’s simply observably true that the Scottish Government is doing everything in its power to obstruct, delay and derail the Parliamentary inquiry into its ruinously botched investigation of false allegations against Alex Salmond.
Any investigative journalist attempting to get to the bottom of the subject and find out what really happened is met with a wall of secrecy and misinformation while trying to navigate their way through the publicly-available information, and just to give you some idea of what it’s like, we’d like to offer you one tiny but typical example.
Readers may recall that this site is engaged in an ongoing attempt to clarify why the Scottish justice system is choosing to selectively only pursue those supportive of Alex Salmond for contempt of court with regard to his trial, while conspicuously turning a blind eye to those in the media who have committed exactly the same crime but are hostile to Mr Salmond and therefore apparently immune from prosecution.
During that investigation we received a reply from Police Scotland last month stating that contempt of court is in fact not a criminal offence in Scots law (although you can be tried and imprisoned for it), and so is nothing to do with them, and that they only act in relation to contempt when instructed by the courts or the Crown Office.
So naturally we asked them if they had been so instructed.
Chas on The People You Most Suspected: “Throughout history smaller disciplined groups of people all too easily defeated the disorderly masses. The elite (not necessarily politicians) knew…” Nov 12, 19:14
Willie on The People You Most Suspected: “Forgive me but are Boaby extenders legit. Cock stretchers for those he think Boaby is a girl. Or what about…” Nov 12, 19:10
Martin on The People You Most Suspected: “This will only continue with sturgeon controlling everything. The fact that she has submitted an application for Holyrood 2026 means…” Nov 12, 18:20
twathater on The People You Most Suspected: “And that is the rub of the matter Liz ,these clowns ,and I mean ALL of them throw our money…” Nov 12, 18:08
twathater on The People You Most Suspected: “WHIT? a good man , a fucking corrupt ,spineless, deviant and pervert supporting piece of faeces, nae wonder Scotland is…” Nov 12, 17:58
Hatey McHateface on The People You Most Suspected: “before someone in authority finally says “no more” Hang on – it’s the ones in authority who are saying “more…” Nov 12, 17:46
Hatey McHateface on The Show Goes On: “I suppose it’s harmless enough, if it’s working for you – it is 2024 after all, even in Scotland. Nothing…” Nov 12, 17:33
Hatey McHateface on The Show Goes On: “Good gravy! Another poster with pricks on his mind. Take a cold shower, in case you start slavering about Zelly…” Nov 12, 17:28
twathater on The Show Goes On: “Thir aw getting panicy that their place on the gravy train might be at risk, the comments on the daily…” Nov 12, 17:00
Mark Beggan on The People You Most Suspected: “Visiting some friends over the Halloween period I seen their kids dressed up to go to a party. The average…” Nov 12, 16:52
James on The People You Most Suspected: “Because the unionist parties are all signed up to this stuff. In fact it was ‘Labour’ that started the ball…” Nov 12, 16:41
Campbell Clansman on The People You Most Suspected: “Leftist governments throughout the western world take hard-earned money from the taxpayers to fund this nonsense.” Nov 12, 16:25
James on The Show Goes On: “Aye they’ll be splitting their time between there and here. Couple of candidates just a few posts above yours….the usual…” Nov 12, 16:24
John C on The People You Most Suspected: “Trump picked up loads of votes on this issue and yet, the Democrats refuse to engage with the issue which…” Nov 12, 15:39
John C on The People You Most Suspected: “A friends daughter (transman even though she’s 5 foot and clearly female) used binders before she had surgery. She has…” Nov 12, 15:33
Shug on The People You Most Suspected: “What gets me is the unionists in the parliament are not kicking this ball straight into the face of Swinney.…” Nov 12, 15:12
Jason Smoothpiece on The People You Most Suspected: “Outrageous behaviour by a school children safety should come first in schools. the problem may be that the head teachers…” Nov 12, 15:03
Geoff Anderson on The People You Most Suspected: “Labour, LibDems, Greens and the SNP all worship and support this Ideology…….with our MONEY” Nov 12, 15:02
Den on The People You Most Suspected: “If I go into a shop an buy cigarettes or alcohol for anyone under 18 I’d be charged by the…” Nov 12, 15:01
Betty Boop on The Groomers’ Union: “Where are parents in all of this rotten mess? Why aren’t parents knocking on the school doors? Surely parents know…” Nov 12, 15:01