Tell me something I don’t know
Firstly, some of you owe us money.
But much more importantly, why now?
Nicola Sturgeon told Scotland’s press this morning that despite her weariness, she could have managed a few more months or even a year as First Minister, which would at least have got her halfway to keeping her promise to serve a full term if she was elected in 2021.
Which just makes her timing all the harder to explain.
Because it’s hard to imagine how much less appropriate it could have been.
Firstly, the party was completely unprepared. We’ve spoken to several current SNP elected representatives today and none of them had had any advance warning – not even the slightest hint – of the resignation. Incredibly, the first they knew was reading about it on social media this morning. Wings knew before SNP MPs and MSPs did.
And secondly because it leaves the SNP in total chaos. Just four weeks from now it’s due to have arguably the most important conference in its history, at which it’ll decide how to deliver to the people of Scotland the say in their future that they’ve been promised since 2016.
But now it has to elect a new leader first – a process which under the SNP’s normal rules takes a staggering ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY THREE DAYS.
(In the event of a vacancy arising the National Secretary can amend that timetable, but the party is not set up for quick decisions if there’s a contest, as there surely will be this time. If the rules were followed that would take us almost into July, and a new conference would have to be arranged.)
However, for the sake of argument, let’s assume it could somehow be done in time for the conference. What then? What if the new leader’s preferred policy was defeated by the members? Surely they’d have to stand down again – a situation approaching Liz Truss levels of farce. Losing one leader in a year is unfortunate, losing two in a month is a clown show.
No leader who truly had her party’s (or movement’s) interests at heart would bequeath it such a car-crash of a situation, especially with no preparation. If Sturgeon had held on for only a month or so – something she’s just told us she could easily have done – then she had an easy exit option no matter how the conference went.
If her favoured option had won, she could say:
“Okay, I’ve done the important job of securing this policy, but now I’m tired and someone fresh can actually carry it forward. Whoever wants to take over from me already knows what the membership has chosen and should only stand if they’re willing to execute the membership’s instructions.”
If it had lost, it’s even easier:
So why the sudden rush out the door?
There is simply no rational explanation for the timing of Sturgeon’s exit to be found anywhere in her resignation speech/conference, except for the last 16 seconds of it. It is an astonishing betrayal of those still loyal to her (she betrayed everyone else long ago, of course) to hand them such a short-fused fizzing timebomb and run for her life.
So if anyone can come up with a convincing alternative to the idea that she just didn’t want to be actually sitting at her desk when her husband and/or herself were arrested for defrauding her own supporters out of £600,000 of their hard-earned cash, we’re all ears. But it better be really, really good.
Do we not think Stewart McDonald’s emails might be a factor too?
.
Hi Stuart,
Good question.
The answer, my friend, originates from the Faculty of Advocates.
The risk of sub judice means, frustratingly, a fuller answer is not possible. But in essence, the Establishment just got fed up and feared for their reputation and jobs. Clown Prosecution anyone?
The answers will be revealed over the next few weeks. You can bet Police Scotland will be giving their standard answer, but enough people of integrity at Police Scotland are so thoroughly pi55ed off with Sturgeon’s Nonce Perverts that action is now coming down the line.
Surely no coincidence that it’s so soon after Alex Salmond laid into her. He built them into a force which might have actually won an Independence vote.
She has squandered that legacy for the sake of a tiny minority Cult of people, who have exactly the same human rights as the rest of us, who are determined to take women’s rights away.
I’ve sent you my cartoon, the dream of Scotland has been poisoned by Identity politics.
Election in October to declare independence if we get over 50%, as promised!
Your last para hits the nail on the head. But even then had Rishi not called her bluff and schooled her on the powers devolution actually and in reality gave her, she would have presented her GRB as a victory for the expressed will of the Scottish people.
Maybe her rabbit in the headlights performance regarding ‘individuals’ with male genitals being in female prison cells didn’t go down well with those who hold real power over the SNP…the children of the corn at Stirling Uni?
The question is what the Greens will demand for their vote, if needed, to back the SNPs candidate to be the next FM?
We’re very much in the scenario for forcing a new Holyrood election though. One that might seen the Greens out on their ears. So I suppose a reminder of that might be enough.
OTOH a Holyrood election as a de-facto referendum at this point in time might result in the loss of an indy majority which if you see Sturgeon as a unionist plant might be the intent.
Is that the same red pantsuit she wore at the Salmond inquiry.
I do hope so, fitting.
Sturgeon is leaving her husband and will quietly disappear with her female lover. All of this has taken a toll on her health.
She will try and distance herself from the fallout regarding the missing cash.
If the party elects Somone with the quality of Whitfield or cherry and Salmond supports from behind indy is still possible.
Murray still has e mails that will nail the characters behind the Salmond conspiracy and I hope that continues along the lines, resign now or face the consequences.
Nothing like waking up next to a horses head
@Blind Squirrel,
If this party and it’s present incumbents can pull off an election in that time with the same members at Holyrood standing for re election, considering the current public view of the party then I will believe anything.
Add of course any potential unlawful activity and that election is a time bomb waiting to happen.
It’s worth noting to the 30,000 (or 60,000) members like myself who resigned over the last 4 years that Para 2.2.1 states that anyone who has an active direct debit before the nominations are announced are entitled to vote in the leadership election.
Those with other plans than independence drove us from the party, it might be worth us re-joining to elect the leader we deserve and reclaim the party from the radical fringes.
She says she will “not discuss an ongoing Police investigation”.
Her and her helpers weren’t shy about discussing the ongoing Salmond case.
What a horrible human being she is,, absolutely detestable.
Kate Forbes seems to be the new Queen in waiting.
That’s why she has been kept out of the Gender Reform debacle.
If that is true, she better have Scottish Independence as her number one priority, or else the infighting within the Yes movement continues.
Perhaps a pattern here. She entered politics after avoiding being struck off as a solicitor. She leaves with police interviews pending.
Stella Perrett – have you got a link for Alex Salmond talking about Sturgeon? Not sure I’ve seen it.
She’s doing the standard thing of remaining in office until her successor is elected, so I suppose there’ll still be chance for her to make one of those speeches at the special conference, whichever way the vote goes.
From the BBC;
“Sturgeon will remain FM until her successor is elected by the SNP and she will stay as an MSP until at least the next Holyrood election in May 2026”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-scotland-64648879
So I’m guessing her final act will be deciding the defacto referendum action to have one or not.
The minute she couldn’t call a rapist a man that was it in regards any credibility she had left. You cannot make laws which affect people’s lives if you can’t be clear on basic facts or be clear that you have ignored a large number of people to push a bill supported by ‘facts’ supplied by people and organisations your governments pays money to.
But the missing money is I think the thing lurking in the shadows. I’ll admit I gave money as I assumed (wrongly) we’d be getting a massive push towards a referendum and independence. I didn’t expect it to vanish into a black hole where Sturgeon and her husband look iffy and now with the police getting involved, it looks as if fraud is suspected.
There will be no de facto referendum this year. Whoever takes over from Sturgeon will hang onto their position til the Westminster elections next year because that short money needs to come in. Of course if the police do find that Sturgeon or her husband are guilty of fraud then the effects of that are going to be felt for the new FM.
I do feel there’s a lot happening which hasn’t spilled over into the public domain as yet, but we’re seeing hints here and there. NOt just Sturgeon quitting, but the Greens suspending ‘Beth’ Douglas, the way the GRR bill is being quietly played down, and a few other things which suggest to me that something else is coming down the line.
GlesgaJim- “the children of the corn at Stirling Uni” you truly made me laugh out loud, I shall be borrowing and using that one.
I’m not sure that politicians caught with their fingers in the till, if this is so, actually ever do get particularly exercised about it these days, Rev. That plump ‘transwoman’ who looks surprisingly like the man who used to represent that constituency, who has transgressed every law in the book, is still sitting pretty (or not pretty at all, really) in Westminster. He is a Tory, of course, but even so.
She was starting to look like a panda that couldn’t sleep, haggard and thinner, and that started about the end of December last year, and grew worse as January went on, and I think the stammering, halting interviews she gave in the wake of the Isla Bryson debacle showed her state of mind. The butch butcher trial will show the lies for what they are, and there was no way she could have survived that.
The embargo on reporting at his initial appearance was extremely perverse and odd because, while a case is sub judice, some reporting of the occasion is permitted, normally. This was very out of the ordinary. That, on top of the Adern step-down, I think, was the clincher, Adern being her heroine. Very similar kinds of politicians.
The money fiasco could be covered up and bluffed out, as has happened with so many politicians in the past, but there could be no running away from the blatant lies about the propensity of ‘trans’ to commit sexual offences – which is marginally higher than it is in the general population. Had the police not found that child, she might well have died at the hands of her abductor. That would have been on Sturgeon and the public would have ripped her apart, metaphorically-speaking.
Sorry, might be a load of old twaddle, of course.
They want to prospone the conference.
She’s timed this to cancel the Independence conference.
Release the emails.
I have been wondering what final act of mega sabotage they would use Sturgeon to inflict upon the independence movement.
I wonder if Sturgeon realizes she is no longer the pilot taking the bomb to be dropped anymore but has now been turned into the bomb herself. She’s just realized that she has been dropped and is currently hurtling towards the independence movement.
For Peter Murrell to repay his wages / ‘make a loan’, the day after the police speak to him in relation to the missing ring fenced 600k, you know he is in some serious shit.
He must have known how damning that would appear yet he did it anyway and that is because I suspect he was strongly advised to do so, very possibly by the police themselves during their meeting with him the day before, in order to mitigate the any fraud charges against him.
So I would think Murrell himself must really be in deep shit somehow and decided he wasn’t going down to save Nicola’s skin.
Given the odd comments from Sturgeon about ‘his resources’ regarding the loan and pretending not to know, this all suggests there is a split between them now, a rift.
Well if no-one saw this coming and things are so serious that resignation was the only way to avoid a public shaming, then surely she or the little Rock will be questioned under caution or arrested very, very soon? If not, then the fraud investigation may have been the slightly longer-term concern.
This might be why she chose to frame her resignation thinking in the way she did, so the funeral that is supposed to have tipped her over the edge is actually a distraction tactic for the media to allow her to get through her resignation speech and get oot the door before the revelations of what’s in those emails…so,yes…it is the fraud but also the coming email revelations of her betrayal of the independence movement…2 for the price of 1. Nice!
As the saying goes, “I smell sh***”. She’ll still be in the office during the conference if no leader is elected – she won’t stand down until then. I’m sure it will partly become a festival of all things Sturgeon. Her single-minded focus on the GRA reform has been a disaster for the SNP (even though the other parties voted that way too). There is a corruption deep at the heart of Ms S’s side of the party; it started with ousting Salmond and has spread like cancer. I don’t know if the SNP can come back from these last few years unless maybe with someone like Cherry at the lead who would be incompatible with the Trans lobby. A split is in the offing, either way.
If the Snp are skint has the Edinburgh Conference centre been payed for the 19th March conference
THE SNP policy development convener has called for the SNP’s special democracy conference to be postponed.
Toni Giugliano told The National that the resolution lodged by the SNP’s National Executive Committee (NEC) “no longer holds legitimacy” and it should be “withdrawn, and revised” once a new leader is in place.
He said: “This is a good time for the party to pause, reflect and take stock and allow the next leader to chart a new way forward, post leadership election.”
“We need to allow our next leader the time and the space to chart a way forward and therefore, the special conference should be postponed to allow for a leadership election to take place.
“A special conference does need to take place promptly – we can’t lose the momentum, energy and contributions that have came from the branches and members.”
She timed it to deliberately ruin the special conference, perhaps?
If there’s no permanent leader appointed by then, it’s basically just going to be a campaign opportunity. Anything that was decided could presumably just as easily be undecided by the incoming new leader.
And if you basically think nothing of much use was going to come out of it anyway, and it was just a load of balls cooked up to deflect from the disappointment of the Supreme Court verdict, then basically taking one for the team and continuing the usual SNP indecisiveness might have been considered a price worth paying.
She saw the way the wind was blowing and wanted to get back at her former politician supporters and decided to leave them blundering in a bourach?
In my opinion she’s always portrayed an unattractive mixture of self-pity and vindictiveness.
But I still think [as I said before in the previous thread] there is great potential here for taking quick, radical steps towards independence. The britnat media will be obsessed with leader selection so it’s a good time to catch them and the Westminster government on the back foot. But, as ever, it’s up to our politicians to make the brave moves. There must be one radical amongst them, surely?
Kate Forbes has NOTHING to do with Indy whatsoever. Never in her radar. Another me me me. Watch her like a hawk. More bad news.
Well she’s managed to subvert the independence movement long enough for her controllers to allow a ‘graceful’ exit before the sh*t hits the fan square on.
Credit where credit’s due, she at least followed Jacinda’s ‘best international practice’ of resigning when enough of the country made it clear they don’t want you around anymore.
Now onto the next useful idiot to ‘lead’ Scotland into the ’20 minute neighbourhoods’ hellscape while we’re all still distracted by a reality denying ideology.
I’m somewhat surprised some of the comments above suggest things may change for the better with her gone. The SNP is still wholly in the hands of a uber-woke, identity politics obsessed cult of insanity. I cannot see how that is going to change.
@Accredited blog of our universe (true universal champion/s)…
Stuart wrote:
“we’ve spoken to several current SNP elected representatives today and none of them had had any advance warning – not even the slightest hint – of the resignation. Incredibly, the first they knew was reading about it on social media this morning.”
And there we have it. A fully comprehensive description of Sturgeon’s time in charge of the SNP. Self-serving selfishness personified. I wish her and Murrell all the worst of luck in all that they do. When i read that i was reminded of Del Amitri’s song ‘Always The Last To Know’. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nox57hdgeAU
She might be running away but they still have total control of the party they destroyed, and they must *never* be allowed to forget about or get away with all those golden indy opportunities they deliberately squandered. Never!
Stuart also wrote: “Wings knew before SNP MPs and MSPs did.”
Why doesn’t that surprise me in the least? When i first heard this news earlier today the first thing that cropped up in my head was: Sturgeon 0 WOS 1. Followed by Stuart belting out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHwVBirqD2s
I wonder what self-serving maggot we get next? Would it be too much to expect the next “leader” to immediately make peace with Salmond in a show of uniting the Yes movement as a symbol of their seriousness?
A “leader” willing to work with ALBA in the interests of retaking our right of self-determination as a matter of the greatest urgency. Right after he/she publicly denounces the ‘Perverts Permit’ policy of course. Or will things just remain the same? Dreaming’s still free, at least it was the last time i checked.
So anyone setting up a direct debit for SNP membership gets a vote on the new leader and deputy. Surely it’s the duty of all indy supporters to sign up as a member and vote to ensure the successful candidate is someone who is actually vaguely qualified to lead the party in its primary purpose – independence. Call me cynical but could this also be a canny way of increase membership subs to the party to raise a chunk of cash?
There were plenty of antiScottish opportunities for British perfidy before, there will be many more now.
Dividing and conquering is the classic British way.
Sturgeon’s successor needs to have a well developed sense for duplicity detection.
The language employed by the «aspirants» will require analysis.
Nicola proves that she was an imposter, after all.
I find it disappointing, and surprising, not to see Joanna Cherry’s name in the prospective next leader lists. Her distance from Sturgeon is a net asset, so is the parliamentary snp just ignoring the concept through inertia?
A good start but now, with a few notable exceptions, can we please get rid of the rest of them.
If I was Peter Murrell I’d be very worried Nicola would now betray me to save her own skin.
And he’d be right to be worried as we all know for a certainty that she would betray him. Same as she has betrayed everything and everyone else. It is her modus operandi.
The betrayal of Murrell and him being thrown under a 600k bus is almost a certainty, if it converges with saving Nicola.
Peter does not look like the type who would fare well in prison. So he might decide he is not going to be a victim of Sturgeon’s DARVO tactics himself and go on the offensive… he certainly wasn’t giving too much of a fuck about his wife’s job when he made that ‘loan’ the day after the police spoke with him. That was about saving himself and throwing her under the bus instead of him.
Her Unionist masters have finished with her. They can see her usefulness is now over. Time to install the next Westminster puppet old thing!
If she’s had her eye on an international job for a while, I imagine the “trans rapist” media coverage has put that at risk.
Perhaps she’s decided better to quit now before she’s so tarnished, no one would hire her?
Protective shield in the clown office has melted away ?
I’ve just actually forced myself to listen to that skank on the BBC footage at the top of this article. I had suspicions and my suspicions were confirmed. Did we not hear New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern say something very similar not that long ago?
Skanky Sturgeon the fraudster. Once a fake always a fake. Good riddance to bad rubbish. Although the stench intends on lingering around for quite some time yet. Once a control freak always a control freak.
July..? Fucking July?
And here I thought she’d timed it just right since a month fae today is March 15th, 3 days before the speshul conference.
Four months of snivelling SNP politicians handbagging it out for the top spot? Ugh. Day was going great till I read that.
Glesga Jim – Who knows what’s in the future.
However in terms of Nicola the persona. She was toxic to non indy voters and to at least a third of indy supporters. It’s a small step in negating the negativity caused by her personally.
This is all part of Nicolas secret masterplan to win us independence…. lol.
My prediction is that Sturgeon endlessly and vaguely re-smears Salmond in a string of interviews / book deals after leaving office.
She will do this in the gaslighting manner that Amber Heard did to Jonny Depp after she split up with him. Again pure DARVO, pure psycho.
For anyone who followed that case there are some real parallels there with Sturgeon as Heard and Salmond as Depp. (And now probably it is Peter Murrells turn to get the treatment…)
Bubbly in the fridge, you’ve got to celebrate the victories when they come even if massive challenges now lay ahead.
Getting rid of Sturgeon is a massive win, no matter what happens next. There was no point in doing anything while she was leader. Now we have a (slim) chance again.
‘Firstly, some of you owe us money’
and
‘Wings knew before SNP MPs and MSPs did.’
Sounds to me like you’ve let it slip there’s been insider trading going on here Rev…?
On other matters, one of the first considerations is whether this will lead to a HR election?
The HR de facto route wasn’t gonna happen anyway because whether Sec 3 is amended or not, there is no majority to take it forward: SNP is a minority party and there is little chance that the Greens would agree to the dissolution because they know that there is every chance ALBA will gain some traction at the Greens expense, and consign them to the garbage heap where they and their 1.29% belong.
So, unless there is another route to dissolving HR, we are stuck with the current mishmash for a further 3 years, 2 months, and 3 weeks. The only positive outcome of that would be if the new regime dumped the Greens, all associated baggage, went minority, and returned to script…lots of ‘ifs’.
Presumably, she ensured she would still receive an invitation to the coronation of King Charles III. God save him.
For someone who could not remember/recall events 49 times under very public questioning !
She has now suddenly shown with remarkable detail how great her remarkable memory is, informing us all of all her outstanding feats since she was 16 years old. Aye Right !
How about remembering where £600,000 went ? Also the facts surrounding £107,620 ? The Truth will Out !
If the resignation gives the party the chance to set the conference aside
Then Sturgeon has indulged in a final act of cankicking
Unless, of course, she anticipates nobody being elected
And she steps in to save the day
Now that would be some political manouvre
thought of the day :
“if an individual in a position of political power is a psychopath, he or she can create an epidemic of psychopathology in people who are not, essentially, psychopathic.”
? Andrzej Lobaczewski, Political Ponerology
One learning point
Not everyone who criticises you is your enemy. If they are correct they have pointed out your error and if you react and correct you continue to win. If you ignore and attack back you continue in error.
Nicolas big flaw is the inability to respond and adjust.
McDonald’s e mails will show the trail of dishonesty, abuse of power and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
All because she would not listen.
He’ll mend her the movement will recover.
Unionists will gradually understand that their union has been held together by blackmail, bribery and illegal activity.
Funny old union based on fraud
In light of the SNP’s ever-growing reputational, credibility disaster, any new leader could well be left leading an insignificant rump, after the electorate have had their say. Ideal Kate Forbes territory, given her recently publicized faith-affiliations, some might say.
Yabbadaddadoo. Was she pushed or did she jump? Can your insider tell us that Rev?
@ Shug
Re. Your recent list.
There was also the school surveys for children with the inclusion of somewhat intrusive and contentious questions relating to sexual activity.
In every crisis, there is an opportunity. Folks, now with the Murrells on the way out, there is an opportunity here to heal the wounds in the independence family and jump-start the movement. Yes, it will be painful and a whole lotta pride will have to be swallowed, but we have to come together again and take the fight back to where it should have been for eight long years, against the British establishment. Sure, the wokies (savagely betrayed today) will try to hang on, and another British puppet may be installed as FM for a while, but whoever it is, he/she will not be feared like NS was. In other words, what she got away with will never be tolerated again, and we have to ensure that if the next FM wants to last, he/she has to start pushing Scotland toward independence. No more lies, no more fake gestures. Real action. Or else.
Sturgeon hasn’t resigned of her own free will, she’s been forced to resign, but for what reason?
I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr Murrell isn’t next, he might even be the cause of Sturgeon resignation with regards to the salmond enquiry or the missing 600k.
One thing is for sure you can kiss goodbye to that special conference.
Who knows in coming months if the SNP might fall as a political party we just don’t know what damage she done, what ever the reason Sturgeon looked after number one.
Dan
Added
It is getting to be a very big list
Hi Shug.
There may be some for you here:-
https://grumpyscottishman.wordpress.com/2023/02/15/a-million-love-songs-later/
@ Shug
Did you see my other post yesterday with a couple more additions for your list? Re-posting link as you commented again after the linked post but hadn’t incorporated what I mention. Namely failing to set up a National Energy Company, and taking over responsibility for Welfare from Westminster.
https://wingsoverscotland.com/confirmation-bias-for-beginners/#comment-2736275
I have had interesting “discussions’ with several folk who are convinced that the (current) FM is above criticism (understatement!) They had no idea about the money, the ‘loan’ and the investigation and refused to believe any of it. The cult is still strong in these folk.
P.S. if Mhairi Black gets anywhere near the leadership I’m moving to Turkey or North Korea for a more peaceful life
In as little as fifty years’ time, her turgid 8-year tenure will amount to no more than a footnote, if that: a nadir of Scottish politics, in which the momentum towards independence took a backward step and huge opportunities were squandered.
Ther, I just saved you the wait.
Dan yep all added
List of Nicola’s failures
Stop Brexit campaign
Case against Salmond
Parliamentary review of Salmond case
Education and Pisa figures
Asking children about their sexual experience
Drug deaths
COVID and old folks
Infyref2 times 20
Turning a party if 120k into a party of 30k
Total lack of fundraising campaign
Growth commission paper
Use sterling not Scottish pound
No more papers for independent scotland
Gender recognition
Approved person
Ferries
£600k missing
No support for AUOB
Failing to call a Scottish convention
Jailed AUOB leader
Jailed Craig Murray
Tried to jail another journalist
Supreme court case designed to fail
Failing to support king Charles’ oath to uphold the claim of right
Failing to push the claim of right
Bottle return in the horizon
Defacto ref where Westminster control all the strings
A9 dualling
No movement in the polls in 6 years
Recent polling crash
National energy company
Taking on Dept Work and Pensions payments
Letting London take the stone of destiny back without a word
Failure to disrupt westminster
Giving away the Berwick bank for a song
Supporting Freeport’s without comment about workers rights
Police crime and protest act banning protests they don’t like
Vietnam group being exposed
Somone going to jail
Would welcome some discussion on whether the SNP (the whole bhuna) are considered even remotely salvageable as a vehicle for the advancement of Scottish independence.
My take is it doesn’t matter who’s standing on the deck, that ship is rotten through and through.
After leaving the Snp because of Sturgeon’s behaviour, I’m now going to rejoin so I can vote for Joanna Cherry to be the new Snp leader.
This would require a interim FM while Joanna went through a process of becoming an Msp.
I would hope many other independence supporters would join or rejoin the party because choosing the new leader of the Snp is almost choosing or not choosing independence.
For instance, Angus Robertson, John Swinney, Humza Yousef or Keith Brown would be the death nell of independence.
So Joanna Cherry for me, she was one of the few to show bravery and stand up for women’s rights against Sturgeon’s deviant and vile GRR Bill and 51% of Scots won’t forget that.
She’s also a KC and has already shown she has the political ability in her time as an Mp even though she was being undermined by both Sturgeon and Blackford and sacked by Sturgeon for becoming a rival to her. That was apart from Sturgeon’s other personal issues.
She has the smarts to overcome the problems facing us and being still a friend and ally of Alex Salmond can bury the emnity and once again unite the whole Yes movement.
Added to that, we could have a Holyrood election this year where Joanna would be in favour of the “super majority” plan and purge swathes of red and blue Tories from Holyrood. This would in turn allow the detestable Greens to wither and die an appropriate death.
With WHO reporting more or less 0 instances of flu in 20/21 its maybe time for the covid fallout to hit so with any luck Nicola is being protected for possible run at the presidency if Charles refuses to step in as guardian/ high protector
https://twitter.com/goddeketal/status/1625604543953227783
Remember she said she hoped she’d never shake another man’s hand again?
When speaking to Vogue magazine about the fragile male ego.
She said women’s views were invalid before the attack on Joanna Cherry?
She said last week, you’re all transphobic, racist homophobic mysogynists.
Remember?
Polarisation of politics. No sympathy Nicola. I’m delighted your gone.
I think the analysis is correct.
The speed of the resignation can only due to some impending cataclysm.
I have no doubt that she is tired and beset by many problems, but as she said herself these were short term issues that she has faced down before.
Make no mistake she remains hugely popular- I listened to people crying today over her resignation.
It is undoubtedly connected to the £600k fund.
Number of possibilities-
1)Spent on SNP business eg HQ refurb etc- but not IndyRef2-that still leaves a hole.
2)Spent on SNP business as above but the above hole is a black one.
It seems that very recently the SNP had £700k plus of cash assets and a steady donation/ fee income.
How on earth does Murrell require to lend them £100k?
If the loss of funds was explicable then why not make a public appeal?Oh they already did that….we’ll just ask again- it’s not cheap running an International Nationalist Party after all.
I really doubt that Murrell or Sturgeon stole the cash.
Sturgeon is not motivated by money and only an ungracious idiot would accuse her of that.
Murrell may not be motivated by cash but what if someone close to him, who was able to or caused him to indulge expenditure which was more of a personal nature shall we say?
People do reckless things for a number of reasons- not all for apparent personal gain.
So such a spend could be covered up if you’re in charge- but only for so long….
You can pay money back to try and cover the tracks & signal an atonement of sorts if you get caught.
You can rely that the members will look away – which they did.
You can exert influence to get the cops to look away- which they did.
But something has snapped along the way.
May I speculate- & I stress that this is solely speculation…
That one of our dynamic duo has had a boyfriend and got carried away- more than a bit.
Only suggesting and hey ho what’s wrong with living it up while you can?
Is it a crime?
My sources inside the SNP bunker reached out to me tonight to confirm the first minister is looking at a change in career and is on the shortlist to be the next manager of Aberdeen FC.
“she just didn’t want to be actually sitting at her desk when her husband and/or herself were arrested for defrauding her own supporters out of £600,000 of their hard-earned cash”
The tractor she is, she has certainly done it to save herself from something.
She doesn’t give a damn about Scotland or anyone else apart from herself.
It seems that her crimes, corruption and cronies are about to be exposed.
I will be satisfied only when she is in jail serving a long term.
She can be given the full freedom to chose a male or female jail, as long as she doesn’t have her own cell.
A bit of perspective perhaps is useful. If I was looking through a half-decent historical tome of European politics in 50-100 years’ time, (like Tony Judt’s history of postwar Europe) I have no doubt that the turgid 8-year period of Sturgeon’s tenure as first minister of Scotland really wouldn’t merit much more than a footnote. A true nadir of Scottish politics where the momentum toward independence after 2014 was wilfully squandered and replaced by a self-serving political party intent on remaining in power for their own ends.
Could it be that “Beth” has threatened to expose her and her cronies?
David – She created the monster. Then blamed the electorate for polarising debate.
Ultimately she left in a hurry due to the missing money, losing to WM on independence and Gendergate.
She is the ultimate narcicist. She just can’t accept she failed and it was her strategy that led her down a cul de sac. Craig Murray thinks it was deliberate. I find it hard to disagree.
Natalie Delon 5.44
A bit far fetched but nae herm in dreaming ah wont be running tae the bookies wie that wan .
Reasons for Sturgeon’s resignation, latest odds:
Ferries fiasco revelations – 10/1.
Murrell’s & SNP finances – 2/1.
Publication by Craig Murray of hacked emails – 1/5.
The truth of the persecution of Alex Salmond needs to be made public knowledge before Scotland can regroup and move on. Better the facts come out now and the boil is well and truly lanced.
Every SNP MSP is compromised by their knowledge of the persons involved and what took place. Not one of them is worthy to lead what was a once great party. The pretence has to end. We have been living with a web of deceit for too long, and more of the same is not the answer.
@ Natalie Delon
I posted this earlier.
I’d be wary of rejoining in the hope of influencing what new leader is crowned.
A fool and their money are easily parted… and folk may recall what Labour did…
“Labour NEC wins bid against allowing new members a leadership vote”
https://archive.is/HfM17
Plus the NuSNP have form for manipulating internal votes after the Good Guys campaign a couple of years back when an attempt was made to get decent folk into NEC positions.
It might have been this https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-64609542?fbclid=IwAR0kwi_a5gsDEYuKCa2mL2_tePHjgPoYj7mhA5A5YnXrHXydXx77oirD_yo or this https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/scottish-ministers-incorrectly-claimed-they-didn-t-hold-written-evidence-for-hamilton-report-into-nicola-sturgeon-s-conduct/ar-AA17fpAI?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=32e1d57547f5473f8bade3af9b0d23c0&fbclid=IwAR2w5mf53F1KovA4k6VY_NX0pv6FugqnAMUa4UOUG2NjG3XEy99kgVE-hDM or the missing £600k or all of them.
Think you have it Stu.
Many of the posts on here suggest possible outcomes in the next weeks months. So many are possible that we all can only watch and listen. Unless rev you have some good investigative leads, which no doubt you will find. That’s if you haven’t already.
I see people worried about NS staying on to help select her successor.
The point is she has now lost all veneer of power.
People will no longer have to please her, so, IMO, she will have no influence.
As for Chucks coronation, why would she be invited when she’s no longer leader
Adjust the names from this 1990 film , works for me;
Lilly Dillon is a veteran con artist. She works for Bobo Justus, a mob bookmaker, making large cash bets at race tracks to lower the odds of longshots. On her way to La Jolla for a race, she stops in Los Angeles to visit her son, Roy, a small-time grifter she has not seen in eight years. She finds him in pain and bleeding internally after one of his victims caught him pulling a petty scam and hit him in the stomach with a bat. When medical assistance finally comes, Lilly confronts the doctor, threatening to have him killed if her son dies.
At the hospital, Lilly meets and takes an instant dislike to Roy’s girlfriend, Myra Langtry, who is slightly older than her son. Lilly urges her son to quit the grift, saying he isn’t “tough enough.” Because she leaves late for La Jolla, she misses a race where the winner pays 70 to 1. For this mistake, Bobo punches her in the stomach and insinuates he will beat her with oranges wrapped in a towel, causing permanent damage, but at the last minute, he burns her hand with a cigar instead.
Myra, like Roy and Lilly, is also a con artist. She uses her sex appeal on a jeweler to get what she wants for a bracelet she is trying to pawn, and when her landlord demands payment of late rent, she lures him into bed in lieu of paying him the money.
Upon leaving the hospital, Roy takes Myra to La Jolla for the weekend. On the train, she sees him conning a group of sailors in a rigged dice game. Myra reveals to Roy that she is also a grifter and is looking for a new partner for a long con. She describes her association with a con man named Cole Langley and how they took advantage of wealthy marks in business cons, including a greedy oil investor, Gloucester Hebbing, culminating in a fake FBI raid in which Myra feigned being shot to death to discourage Hebbing from going to the police.
Roy, who insists on working only short-term cons, resists the proposition, fearing she may try to dupe him. Myra, seeing Lilly’s power over Roy, accuses him of having an incestuous interest in Lilly. Infuriated, Roy strikes her. Thirsty for revenge, Myra finds out Lilly has been stealing from Bobo over the years and stashing the money in the trunk of her car, and she leaks this information to him. Lilly is warned by a friend and flees. Myra follows her to a remote motel, intending to kill her there and steal the money for herself.
PB says:
15 February, 2023 at 3:37 pm
“she at least followed Jacinda’s ‘best international practice’ of resigning when enough of the country made it clear they don’t want you around anymore.”
Justin next to resign?
Leading Report (15/02/2023): Twitter:
“BREAKING Elon Musk says a one world government needs to be avoided at all costs.”:
https://archive.ph/Uvn6z
I’m dying to find out what’s in the emails.
David. The first thing she would do is try and amalgamate Aberdeen and Dundee UTD. She is the ultimate unionist.
Mac says:
15 February, 2023 at 3:50 pm
“If I was Peter Murrell I’d be very worried Nicola would now betray me to save her own skin.”
Murrell could expose her as well.
Its a sham marriage, she is a lesbian, IMHO.
@Ignoramus.
It’s a crime if it is not your money your using!!
To those people saying they are going to rejoin the SNP for independence?!?!
Have you not been paying attention? The party is rotten and corrupted, and it will be very difficult to fix. I very much doubt a few thousand folk signing up to try and choose someone will help.
The leadership contest will be a stitch up, just like all recent conferences under Sturgeon. Why do you think she is staying on until after the conference and leadership contest? She could step down immediately if she wanted. She won’t let her “enemies” get the party.
Confused @ 4.31pm
‘if an individual in a position of political power is a psychopath, he or she can create an epidemic of psychopathology in people who are not, essentially, psychopathic.”
? Andrzej Lobaczewski, Political Ponerology
A very useful observation. Many years ago when I was beginning to learn about the personality type known as sociopathic, I came across the true story of the shipwreck of the Batavia, a Dutch East Indiaman that was wrecked off the coast of Australia in the 17th century. It was a truly horrifying account of what happened to the stranded survivors. It could have served as the script of one of the Alien films with human beings instead of alien monsters.
The accounts were written after the terrifying events of what had happened to those who had survived the original wrecking only to become victims of an orgy of violence – men, women and children. The investigation of who were responsible was done on the spot by the rescuing party set by the East India Company and those held responsible were executed on the island where their atrocities had been committed. ( The rescuing party could not risk taking such very dangerous people back with them and who could blame them. It was obvious that what confronted them had confounded and shocked the rescue party.)
From a psychological point of view, the accounts focussed on one man whose malign influence had triggered the barbarousness of others who had been onboard throughout the voyage with him. However, this man who was the centre of the whirlwind, an educated man called Cornelisz, was never actually directly involved in any of the killing that took place except for the possible death of an infant ( initially by poison, the ideal way to murder at a distance; Cornelisz had been an apothecary in civilian life.)
The general opinion in modern histories of the Batavia story is that Cornelisz was what we would recognise as a psychopath but it does not explain why so many psychopaths happened to be part of the complement of crew and passengers on board one unlucky ship.
But the observation above, ‘creating an epidemic of psycho pathology’ was what occurred to me when reading all those years ago the story of the Batavia. It seems like a perfect illustration, a microcosm of what happens when whole societies are overtaken by such an epidemic of psychopathology, most horribly in the case of the Nazi regime. Germany was not simply taken over by Hitler and a few of his mates. The whole society became like the Batavia with innocents at the mercy of a spreading contagion of psychopathology which affected other countries captured by the Nazis.
I’ve never believed in the all-conquering power of a single individual. History is often conveyed to us that way as the history of kings or tyrants. But that has never seemed true to me. Tyranny is always a collaborative effort and very human. No king ever ruled without the consent of his elite no matter how it is presented to us in history books. Roman emperors no matter how powerful, could be seen off by their Praetorian Guard. Those Emperors known as ‘the good emperors’ knew that very well and heeded the lesson of the fates of Caligula and Nero.
Merganser says:
15 February, 2023 at 6:06 pm
“The truth of the persecution of Alex Salmond needs to be made public knowledge before Scotland can regroup and move on.”
One of the ALBA MPs at Westminster could do that at any time.
The question is why they haven’t?
***PRIORITY-FLASH**”
***FROM-LINCOLNSHIRE_POACHER***
***TO-PORRIDGE_SPURTLE***
***MESSAGE-MISSION_ACCOMPLISHED_STOP***
***UNION_SECURED_STOP***
***ENEMY_DISABLED_STOP***
***TIME_TO_COME_HOME_STOP***
***INITIATE_OPERATION_STAGE_LEFT_STOP***
***ENDS***
***2023/02/15_07:15Z***
It showed us what a treacherous shit Sturgeon the Judas is when her main defence in her please feel sorry for me speech, was that she said she’s only human.
Anyway Sturgeon standing down doesn’t mean that much, all the real talent and real indy supporters have dumped the SNP for the Alba party, what’s left is the detritus, in the form of Brown, Robertson, Swinney Forbes etc and one of these close allies of Sturgeon will probably get the top job, so no change will occur on the indy front.
Forget the SNP, stick to the game plan, vote Alba, Join Alba.
I’ve just watched Norman Wisdom. This Is Your Life. Entertaining.
The MSM narrative of the resignation of the FM being a surprise, shock, unforeseeable is plain wrong. They should have been reading Wings. If you analyse her resignation speech. I don’t think the 600k is the reason for her resignation. That’s a mere bagatelle to her. Notwithstanding a bang to rights, perverting the course of justice and fraud etc. It’s something more personal than that. I was struck by the multiple references to being a human being. It’s a personal scandal.
Al Stuart 3:00pm Sub judice only applies AFTER someone has been charged with a crime not before.
I would caution any budding contender for the leadership to be careful of too crawling an eulogy for the first minister until they find out the real reason she has resigned
Republic. The SNP are dead to me. If Keith Brown is even being considered. It shows how poor the standard is and how much of a clique the whole party has become.
robertknight 6.27
Spurtle is that ah reference to Sturgeon question is do we stir her in heid 1st or feet 1st .
note ah didnae gie ah ful definition of Spurtle ma names no gregor of the dic tionary
@Natalie Delon 5:44
I agree, Cherry would be my preference too. But I’m Alba so don’t have a say.
I think that Cherry would be amenable to working with Alba.
28 days(?) to elect a first minister or a holyrood election – that could satisfy the de facto referendum.
I’d love to think there’s a plan here. But I’m sure there isn’t.
“All SNP members as of today and who still hold a valid membership at the ballot deadline, will be eligible to vote in any ballot.”
Don’t go wasting your cash by re/joining in the hope of getting a decent candidate on the ballot… mind you the above quote is from the BBC.
18.07 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-scotland-64648879
Bob Costello 6.42 U should know by now they are a bunch of arrogant barstewards like Sturgeon that don’t take advice from outside sources .
Nice to see ur still on the go Bob .
Yahoo (15/02/2023): DOGE, Floki Soaring After Musk Tweets Photo of His Dog in Twitter CEO Chair:
“Traders are pumping all things Shiba Inu after Twitter CEO Elon Musk posted a meme involving his dog Floki posing as the new boss of Twitter.
CoinDesk data shows that the price of DOGE has risen 5.4% over the past 24 hours…”:
https://archive.ph/Vy7uE
Question : Is Peter Murrell a freemason ?
Big Jock.
Sturgeon and Murrell will just hand pick the next SNP leader, and it will undoubtably be an ally on whom they can depend upon, all the real talent and indy supporting SNP MSPs dumped the SNP and moved to Alba, this leaves the dross, the obedient acolytes, such as the names banded about by the Britnat media, Forbes a close ally of Sturgeon’s has also been made favourite to replace her, well according radio news she has.
We need to stick to the game plan and vote Alba, Join Alba.
Enough of the Fish. Feck it.
Emmerdale is coming oan. I wanna to know whit happened to Paddy.
@ Ali Clark 7.00pm
Confirming what you say.
Email received from SNP HQ saying “All SNP members as of today and who still hold a valid membership at the ballot deadline, will be eligible to vote in any ballot.”
So, yes, joining up or rejoining now would be too late to get a vote for any leadership election.
She can’t let go.
She’ll set it up so she can be Life President with no accountability, and continue to run her puppets and the never-ending decline.
I have no doubt Sturgeon and Murrell will try to hand pick the next leader to avoid any subsequent investigation into their lies, corruption and theft, particularly in relation to the blatant criminal conspiracy surrounding the Salmond case. Unless the SNP membership wake up and ensure the next leadership team has some morality they will be successful. The only prominent SNP politicians with morals were side lined a long time ago so the chances of that are remote
The SNP are corrupt, infected from head to toe, and must die, the sooner the better. They are beyond saving. We can only hope that the effect this will have on independence aspirations can be overcome by a resurgent Salmond and Alba but until the police and judiciary in Scotland perform their public duty don’t hold your breath) and prosecute the corruption and criminality of the Salmond affair the public will remain ignorant of the facts and he will remain tainted by this evil woman and her cabal.
It is undoubtedly connected to the £600k fund.?Number of possibilities-?1)Spent on SNP business eg HQ refurb etc- but not IndyRef2-that still leaves a hole.?2)Spent on SNP business as above but the above hole is a black one.
There are other possibilities for where that money went. Two spring to my mind: one noble one not so noble.
1. Suborning witnesses in the Salmond case
2. Realising what was happening in the Salmond case meant a referendum couldn’t happen and the SNP/ScotGov was too far gone to hold one, so channeling it out to other indy groups to spend under the radar.
I’d love to believe 2. was possible but sadly don’t. And yes, corruption, bribery, idiocy etc are all other options.
The truth of the persecution of Alex Salmond needs to be made public knowledge before Scotland can regroup and move on. Better the facts come out now and the boil is well and truly lanced.
Absolutely. The appearance is that the government and state where wholly corrupt and behaved in a way we criticise Russia for behaving. You cannot have a party of government (or two if we assume it was a joint UK-ScotGov action) setting the entirety of the state, police, Crown office, prosecution office, media etc onto jailing an innocent person.
Scotland cannot more forward, and certainly not to independence, while those people and structures remain in place. We need full disclosure and for people to face justice if they are deserving of it. Even if what we find out is actually it’s not as bad as some were making out (and tbh, we know enough from the government’s own enquiries that seems unlikely), it’s a boil that needs lanced.
It should be noted that any money donated to an organisation, such as a charity, for a specific purpose can only be legally used for that specific purpose. These are called “restricted funds” and if not used for the intended purpose, must be returned to the donors, or the donors must be asked to agree to change of use. Using such funds for other uses is embezzlement. Note that embezzlement does not to have involve personal gain, such as hands in the till, but simply misappropriation.
Garrion says:
15 February, 2023 at 5:36 pm
Would welcome some discussion on whether the SNP (the whole bhuna) are considered even remotely salvageable as a vehicle for the advancement of Scottish independence.
My take is it doesn’t matter who’s standing on the deck, that ship is rotten through and through.
I tend to agree (with some caveats) and that’s why I think independence is dead for a generation at least. The split in the indy movement is too much, the Sturgeonites, like Blairites in Labour, will hang on and on and on tweaking the position of any First Minister who dares not stick to the Sturgeon way. The SNP are no longer a radical force but a party that thinks it’s right is to manage Scotland and the people appreciate what they’re given or else.
Of course, McDonald’s emails could rip the heart out of this prediction overnight if they eventually get made public. If any of the hints on social media are even 10% true, then Sturgeon has jumped before being pushed, and those tight treating her like a demigod may have to eat some of their words.
The standard of media enquiry into this situation so far is laughable; Channel 4 had a gaunt youth who simply parroted Sturgeon’s speech as to her reasons; they then moved on to some bloke who is an SNP MP (Apparently) in Westminster; he said that she was ‘going at a time of her choosing.. while she’s 20 points ahead in the polls’; the interviewer failed to mention ‘but YOU are 12 points behind in the polls’. No wonder the whole thing is a bourach (I hope I have this right- Siop Siavins in Welsh might be better)
I’m glad sturgeon is never going to be able to deliver independence, at least Mr salmond delivered a legal and binding referendum.
I’m not cracking open the champagne just yet
Yes I’m glad she’s gone (ish) but theirs plenty more to to be wiped out
Hoping to hear more of the missing cash and the Murrell loan
The split in the indy movement is too much, the Sturgeonites, like Blairites in Labour, will hang on and on and on tweaking the position of any First Minister who dares not stick to the Sturgeon way.
I’m not so sure. In many ways there is still a Salmondite faction which has been doing that, in terms of trying to keep the SNP as a pro Independence Party, while its current leaderships is far more comfortable as the New New Labour, devolutionist at best but frankly very relaxed if even that is pulled back. The difficulty for Scotland and the independence movement is that they’ve been lying through their teeth about independence being round the next corner while having no intention of even trying to deliver it.
At best, the SNP will now get a leader committed to independence again and pull them back in that direction. At worst, they’ll end up with one who is out and out honestly devolutionist. If that happens, then Alba will become the pro Independence Party, and the only real pro independence party.
In that scenario, independence is likely stuffed for years because people will still vote SNP, imo – they’ll join the establishment, be feted by the media and carry on bashing Alba as the
“extremist” fringe and bashing independence in the same way the unionists do: too risky, can’t be done, need WM permission etc, etc. In many ways they’ve been doing that for years now anyway. They’ve been punting Murray Foote soundbites, even parroting Thesesa May’s ‘now is not the time’. It wouldn’t be much shift for them.
The devolutionist SNP and the establishment will then use that to frame the narrative that ‘independence is now back where it was in the early days of the SNP – a fringe lunatic position, only taken by Alba and those old folk who can’t accept the dream has died.’ Scotland will be well and truly back in its box.
The question if that is the direction the SNP moves in is ‘how strong is the independence movement and desire really’? Will people accept the SNP becoming out and out honest unionists? Or will there be a huge shift to Alba, Salvo and other ways to push independence? I’d like to think the latter. After the last few years, I just don’t know. But either way, it’s hard to see a Sturgeonite faction carrying on having much traction because what was Sturgeonism about except a cult of Sturgeon? It was a unionist party lying about being pro indy. I think it’s either back to being a serious Independence Party or it has to start being an honest unionist one.
Look, this charade will continue, and tease out slowly. The chord has been pulled, she has bailed but will play her part. The narrative is long and contains lots of squirrels, look, see, you looked. These are devious bastards we are up against, and if you don’t see that you need to look harder.
Timing is everything, and always follow the money/power. Do not be fooled by the msm and unionist/colonial playbook. Listen to the Rev and follow closely. There was always going to be a time to enter the end of sturgeon regime, and for whatever reason – and don’t let’s be fooled that the police are going to play the good guy here, and that the Crown is suddenly clean, goodness it may be Charlie at work, haha. This is not about them being had by surprise, there are always other ulterior and Machiavellian aspects to consider. Paranoid, moi? No, eyes wide open.
Many shenanigans to come, and all gamed lang syne by the powers that rule over us. There are no surprises in their playbook. Be aware.
We live in hope though, but the skein of democracy had never been thinner. We must remember that we are Sovereign and we must then act. Our freedom will not be given. It must be taken.
I can’t deny the sense of relief.
SNP, take your party back. We need you at the front of the independence movement again. What a relief it will be to see you at an AUOB march… Instead of imprisoning the organiser.
What about Manby Singh for Leader, by way of apology?
Respect.
Possibly another addition for Shug’s list…
8th Nov 2019
“Nicola Sturgeon says NHS ‘not for sale at any price’
“The NHS in Scotland is run in Scotland, for Scotland and under the SNP it will always be in public hands. Our NHS is not for sale at any price.”
https://www.holyrood.com/news/view,nicola-sturgeon-says-nhs-not-for-sale-at-any-price_14675.htm
archived link to above article. https://archive.is/OLfXN
…8th Dec 2019
“Sturgeon meets US defence giant which won £27million contract to work for the NHS
NICOLA Sturgeon met bosses from a US defence giant weeks after the firm won a £27million contract to work for the NHS in Scotland.”
https://archive.is/Egmfx
In reply to comment : I don’t think the SNP is salvageable. I think we need to raze the house to the ground and start again. Only this time let’s keep an eye on who we invite in??
Garrion says:
15 February, 2023 at 5:36 pm
Would welcome some discussion on whether the SNP (the whole bhuna) are considered even remotely salvageable as a vehicle for the advancement of Scottish independence.
My take is it doesn’t matter who’s standing on the deck, that ship is rotten through and through.
Does anybody know if we have an extradition treaty with Portugal?
imacg(patriot)@Forefront…
My initial impressions are that the rabidly anti Scottish Yoon Press and Media is in total meltdown at the resignation of the M.I 6 plant/ ("Tractor" - Ed) Sturgeon.
I am of the opinion that whoever becomes the darling of that anti Scottish Press and Media is the very last person the Indy Movement needs as leader of the SNP.
Not surprised, after her past few weeks of DRoss answers.. a little surprised this announcement has come so soon after her disavowal of any Ardern intent.
I suppose the post-FM NS may next look to spend time at home (not Bute House.. some other home).. maybe relaxing, say revisiting much-loved fillums..
Is it true her favourite is The French Lieutenant’s Woman?
Speaking of French, Wikipedia says:
‘It was not until the 16th century that rackets came into use and the game began to be called “tennis”, from the French term tenez, which can be translated as “hold!”, “receive!” or “take!” ‘
..verbs of which any exact application in this particular case remain to be fully divulged.
I wonder if a further more personally-revelatory departure-from-office speech may be delivered, later, in terms like that of the late former King Edward, who abdicated alluding to Wallis Simpson.
(Could I frame that as a bet a bookie would give odds on, I wonder?)
Mercurius (15/02/2023): Twitter: Video (show):
“So exactly why did @NicolaSturgeon resign so suddenly?
And what about @PeterMurrell?
What has he to say as CEO of @theSNP ?”:
https://tinyurl.com/44p5ntje
I wonder when the Balmoral story will come out?
I think you are all being a bit unkind towards our soon to be former first minister as she promised flee in 23 and she has delivered.
God help us when these comparisons have already started https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/scotland-s-jacinda-ardern-cabinet-secretary-kate-forbes-leads-race-to-replace-nicola-sturgeon/ar-AA17vANL?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=f1233963d0b94e14a2ed240c62ecb84d
As a devout member of the Wee Free Church she wouldn’t be able to tell the lies the SNP need Her or others to tell.
I’m running a twitter poll on who should be the new leader of the Snp.
According to the Snp constitution any member can put their name forward but they require to have at least 100 backers from at least 20 Snp branches. So Mp’s can run although they can’t immediately be the FM. They would need to become an Msp first before becoming FM.
At the moment with 1600 votes the standings are:
Angus Robertson 4%
Stephen Flynn 4%
Kate Forbes 11%
Joanna Cherry. 81%
The voting isn’t finished yet, but I think Joanna’s stand on GRR has made her very popular with at least 51% of the population.
David Thomson says:
15 February, 2023 at 4:14 pm
“Presumably, she ensured she would still receive an invitation to the coronation of King Charles III. God save him.”
=======
Didn’t King Charles III die in 1788?
I have real admiration and respect for Joanna Cherry, but I just don’t see the point in placing a great caption aboard a ship with a mutinous crew and terminal rot in the beams?
Ash Regan has entered the race, I hear. That would be my choice, but she won’t get a chance.
Rev. Stu.
Does Sturgeon’s resignation mean you have withdrawn you job application to be her speech writer?
Or were you successful in your application and she has just read the first speech you wrote for her?
a great CAPTAIN…..god damnit!!!
Do former spies still get invites to coronations?
Combination of factors –
Her Government Lawyers have told her the s35 is solid and she has no fucking chance of over-turning it. An utter humiliation either way on that front.
Police Investigation isn’t going away as she hoped it would into the £600k. The SNP’s accountant must be shitting bricks now.
The largest revolt in SNP history on GRB – she was losing her iron (no pun) grip.
The conference next month was actually going to go against her desired route to indy so she felt she had to stand down now rather than face that embarrassment.
The DRS is about to explode on to the public radar and its not going to be popular.
A batch of other policy failures including the A9 and a total dearth of anything new and positive in the pipeline left her with ‘an empty tank’.
She painted herself into a corner and finally the imposter was found out.
@Maxxmacc at 2:31pm:
“Sturgeon P45 party in Glasgow George Square tonight, 7pm. Come and join the Conga! Drinks after in the Counting House.”
Glasgow Cabbie. No thanks. Too many drunk zoomers, too many butchers aprons
I think the current love in with the British media talking of how great Sturgeon was. Is very telling indeed. She is seen as part of the establishment.
In reality people like us know what she has really done behind the scenes. If I didn’t read blogs like this. I would be shedding tears at the loss of such a great leader. It’s quite incredible the level of ignorance and propaganda, that surrounds this egocentric charlatan.
SNP need to be cleared out, there is no point keeping the same rats in power. She’s jumped definitely, possibly the money but the GRR sits in there as well. Beth the rapist must have some intel on some with evidence to back it up, think a lot of muck is going to ooze out over the next few weeks. Also lets get some info out there on the alphabetties and others who schemed and lied to push out Salmond, popcorn at the ready. Great day.
The English Media bigged up Sturgeon as a weapon against Johnson and Brexit. The BBC and Sky couldn’t get enough of her. Sturgeon’s demise is well and truly down to her. Good riddance.
Seeing as this site’s contact function ain’t working, can someone DM Stu on twitter so he can deal with the dodgy post near the end of the last thread.
So let’s balance the argument on Covid. Nicola Sturgeons performance over Covid was poor. Longer shutdowns, inappropriate lockdowns. Consequential consequences for health. More deaths, more harm and the evidence of the 4th lockdown being absolutely unnecessary. 1 billion out of the economy. Boris called the evidence of the fourth lockdown correctly. Nicola Sturgeon didn’t. Listening to debate Scotland, which country are these contributors living in ?. Our Covid Scot Gov response will be seen to be inappropriate and inadequate and cost the lives of many people. Of course our family had people at the heart of Covid. In comparison Nicola Sturgeon suffered no pain.
An SNP MSP could stand down for Cherry to force a by election.
Hey Craig
See when your looking at these e mails make sure you look at the ones with robertson
Back on 23rd December, when Stu and the rest was all scunnered off about the GRRR bill being railroaded through, I said the following:
https://wingsoverscotland.com/all-out-of-words/#comment-2722786
“Don’t be sad. Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad.
We knew this was coming, nothing was going to stop this batshit insanity. Now all we can do is allow events to take their inevitable course.
Sometimes the only way humanity learns is by making godawful mistakes – and Scotland is a country long overdue being brought sharply back to its senses. If this is what it takes, so be it. Lord knows it took them long enough to bin Labour as bad for their health, wealth and sanity.”
Just to say, I told you so – and all it took was 54 days ;p
Oh and Kirsty Wark, since you’re now stealing all of your Newsnight “insights” from on here, Kate Forbes is a Free Church member, not one of their Free Presbyterian arch enemies you thick establishment sycophant! Maybe you should start having paid researchers again instead of interns …
Quite why unionists were doing a Congo in George Square Glasgow. Celebrating the demise of the Unions greatest asset, will be completely lost on these imbeciles. Stupid does what stupid does.
If the telly news is anything to go by then the process of beatification is well underway.
How long before the Sunday papers’ magazines are carrying back-cover ads for limited edition commemorative plates?
Alastair Not required, cherry can stand for Convenor (leader ) from Westminster,
#JoCherryForFM
If you (still!) believe in press standards, please take a moment or two to tell IPSO that you expect newspapers to describe people accurately:-
https://www.ipso.co.uk/news-press-releases/press-releases/ipso-launches-public-consultation-on-draft-guidance-on-the-reporting-of-sex-and-gender-identity/
Consultation ends on Friday 10th March.
Mark Boyle@TEAM SCOTLAND/WORLD (champions!)
@Reality unlimited…
My MP is Joanna Cherry.
I’m emailing her tonight to encourage her to stand as leader.
Ian. Wait until the truth comes out. Sturgeon left in a hurry without a successor. The net is closing. I will give her this. She is a damn good liar.
Can’t wait to see these MacDonald leaked emails.
Can I get an Anyone but Angus T shirt.
Hail Marcus Boylicus! Hail Divine Augur!
You took the auspices on December 23rd 2022 and 54 days later the divine will has made it so. On that date, on viewing the flight of birds over Rome, ’twas solely you who saw that what the stricken plebs believed to be a female bird was in fact a ‘nuthatch’, a bird said to resemble a small woodpecker. You challenged the prevailing winds of opinion, ‘nil desperandum’ you cried and so it came to pass.
A grateful populace would like to offer thanks for your service and we keenly await further days when we may consult with your guidance other forms of the divine will such as the divine lotto, bingo or the scratchcardii.
Hail Boylicus! Hail!
The King Mchughs (Hamish Henderson) (2021): THE FREEDOM COME ALL YE:
“…No more will our fine lads be commanded
To march to war at a braggarts call
Nor wee weans from pitheads and clachans
Mourn the ships sailing down the Broomielaw…
So come all ye at home with freedom
Never heed those prophets of doom
In your house all the bairns of Adam
Will find bread, drink and painted rooms…”:
https://tinyurl.com/w98zy5jy
Elon Musk (15/02/2023): Twitter:
“True”:
https://archive.ph/yhq5S
Stinking head cold keeping me awake. 🙁
@ Shug
There’s also mucked up the census and cost the taxpayer even more trying to sort it.
@ Shug
The National Investment Bank…
Still awake…
@ Shug
The National Care Service Bill is also kind of pants for various reasons…
Aw shucks!
Surely the Feds ain’t coming to take a gal down for a lousy 600,000 bucks. I mean someone it seems was only helping themselves to the pile of dollars collected for a reefer-endum.
I mean the money was there on call, then it was woven through the accounts, and now it’s spent, but on good cause of course.
Seems might be so though. The loots gone and Sturgeon’s on the scoot oot.
Wonder if light fingers Murrell is for the scoot too?
To all the ones pushing for Joanna Cherry as leader may I remind you that JC was one of the ones who sat on her arse at WM and remained shtum while sturgeon was wrecking our chances of independence
Cherry was quick to challenge bojo on his prorogation of WM which breached the TOU and she won the case which benefited england , but she never legally challenged anything in relation to WM overruling anything to do with Scotland e.g. the internal markets bill
Cherry is lauded for her stance against the GRR and her outspoken protection of women and girls but if you look back at any of her speeches you will notice that her priority was the protection of lesbains and how the GRR would affect them
I personally despise every one of the craven cowards within the snp who sat back and ignored the deliberate wanton destruction of our indy hopes and dreams and let this deviant pervert threaten the safety and security of the ONLY ones who can give birth to future Scots , our revered and taken for granted womenfolk
@ Shug
Maybe it’s jist the delirium due to lack of sleep, the congestion induced hypoxia, and the Benylin kicking in, but I’m inclined to think that even the suggestion of cutting the bottom off fire doors in schools to increase ventilation during the battle with covid deserves an honourable mention on the footnotes of the list.
I mean what was wrong with jist leaving the doors slightly ajar rather than hacking the arse off them and having to replace them all once covid fucked off.
I personally think Sturgeon will be wanting Robertson to take over where she left off.
And if Joanna Cherry wins the leadership race, Sturgeon’s head will explode.
Cherry seems to have settled in quite nicely in the English parliament, with all the meetings and committee commitments, she’s busy making sure the people of England are having their legal rights upheld.
Re, Kate Forbes, a bit of an unknown figure.
Is she another careerist? Or is she a dark horse Indy firebrand?
What we are looking for is a combination of Alex Salmond and Jimmy Reid, and there is nothing remotely close to that in the SNP leadership race.
I see Craig Murray sampling the hospitality over on the Ginger Doggers site and as I rarely visit I had forgotten what a bunch of charmers they are. I suppose I should cut them some slack as they are mourning the loss of the dear leader.
It will be interesting to see if Pete M is staying on so that he can get the so called 107k out of the SNP account before they notice?
Good article on Unherd today: “Scottish nationalism will survive Sturgeon”.
Here’s a wee quote:
Scottish nationalists have yet to offer coherent answers to the problem of seceding from Britain after Britain has seceded from Europe. Nicola Sturgeon departs as First Minister of Scotland having failed to find them.
Maybes the SNP rank and file should be asking the contenders for top job some hard questions. Coherent answers would be a refreshing change, and who knows, might just start to regrow Indy support.
As a counter to the negativity list of Sturgeon’s failures that is doing the rounds, we should come up with a positive list of Q’s & A’s for use in the leadership campaign. I’ll kick off with questions 1 & 2:
1) What is a woman?
2) Why does the SNP believe it can replace the FM without first holding a HR election to let the Scottish people have their say?
3) …
That bloke Flynn at Westminster has just been on BBC ‘doubling down’ on the Gender stuff; I imagine that’s him out of the running for party leader, at least in any sane world
Big Jock says:
15 February, 2023 at 11:45 pm
Ian. Wait until the truth comes out. Sturgeon left in a hurry without a successor. The net is closing. I will give her this. She is a damn good liar.
Can’t wait to see these MacDonald leaked emails.
=================================================
Most likely we will be waiting a long time to ever see those , there will have to be the “WM conspiracy to stop me publishing” and the obligatory fundraising for “legal fees” and House improvements first.
A legacy of a political leader is the state they leave their party in. AS left the SNP in great shape, ready to take us over the line. Pity the heir appointed wasn’t up to the task. Contrast that with the current state of the SNP and indy movement. Sad.
Can anyone explain the stinking hypocrisy of George Galloway and his visceral hatred of Scottish nationalism versus Irish nationalism.
Listening to him over the years I have come to the conclusion that he really has a burning hatred for Scotland and Scots.
I agree with him on so much but when he starts fulminating about Scots and Scotland from a nationalism point of view he literally morphs into one of those toothless mutants doing the conga around George Square the other night.
It is a shame as I think he could have been a real player in the Independence scene if he wasn’t such a closeted Billy Brit bigot. Sadly in that sense he is a very typical and common Scotsman.
…and the dire fire door bottom fettling proposal leads neatly through word association to the compromised smoke detector rollout.
In other impressively incompetent and wasteful endeavours… Squandering 1.1 million 2nd votes cast for SNP at the last Holyrood election to bag jist a couple of Emma’s that cheated to top their respective regional lists by Self IDing as disabled with diabetes, and emotionally unstable personality disorder.
https://wingsoverscotland.com/dawn-of-the-imbeciles/
McHaggis69 says:
15 February, 2023 at 10:12 pm
Combination of factors –
Her Government Lawyers have told her the s35 is solid and she has no fucking chance of over-turning it. An utter humiliation either way on that front.
Police Investigation isn’t going away as she hoped it would into the £600k. The SNP’s accountant must be shitting bricks now.
The largest revolt in SNP history on GRB – she was losing her iron (no pun) grip.
The conference next month was actually going to go against her desired route to indy so she felt she had to stand down now rather than face that embarrassment.
The DRS is about to explode on to the public radar and its not going to be popular.
A batch of other policy failures including the A9 and a total dearth of anything new and positive in the pipeline left her with ‘an empty tank’.
She painted herself into a corner and finally the imposter was found out.
============================================================
Probably one of the best and most sensible posts on this thread today and all valid points.
“The SNP’s accountant must be shitting bricks now.”
This one ? As honest as the day is long i’m sure…. https://archive.ph/ZRGWs
The SNP coseying up with the likes of Charlotte Street Partners means land reform hasn’t really progressed much.
Mac – Galloway is a British Nationalist. When you realise that, everything he says makes sense. A Union Jack Jock always despises their own nation
A false dawn methinks.
Today will see many in Yes who felt that Sturgeon was the problem, realise that thanks to Sturgeon, it’s actually the SNP that’s the problem, and that particular problem remains unresolved.
Nor will Sturgeon’s likely replacements yield much comfort. All Sturgeon loyalists, all cut from the same cloth – career politicians, none with ‘vision’ extending beyond the party’s income and expenditure. And worse, some with personal baggage of a particularly unpleasant variety.
In however many days, it’ll be very much a case of meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
We should enjoy the euphoria while it lasts.
(I am not sure if my last post bounced due to the youtube link or went to moderation or what so please spare me a death by hammers if this is posted twice. Trying again with a different link.)
Oops forgot the link.
https://archive.is/IF1pk
What a foamer going on a rant about Arthur Donaldson getting ‘interned’ during the war.
Get Galloway on Scotland and he turns into a huge forelock tugging tugger, it is astonishing.
My late father was a huge fan of Galloway, used to call him up on his live show etc, but even he used to shake his head at Galloway’s views on Scottish independence and just say ‘ he’s got me beat, I can’t understand it’.
Like many he could not reconcile how Galloway could be such a two face when it comes to the regular invective he spews out on Scottish nationalism versus Irish nationalism or Palestinian nationalism.
I have honestly come to the conclusion it is just plain old fashioned billy brit bigotry. It is the most bizarre thing to witness when he suddenly slips into it. Weird guy.
Big Jock – I know. We all know about the ‘orange’ unionists but there is the opposite side of that same bigoted coin and Galloway is a prime example of one.
As I remember, though I could be wrong, there was a one woman campaign to have GG jailed for alleged fraud when in Dundee. She was very keen in her pursuit – perhaps that’s why he hates his homeland.
I remember him being lauded for his performance at the US Supreme court hearing – but really he was just louder and more objectionable than anyone else. Had they seen the pussycat performance they might have been less impressed – not to mention ‘indefatigable’.
At this difficult juncture my thochts lean to a temporary leader close to retirement who is no threat to the existing power groups in the party but begins the healing and unification process…stays for a couple of years then goes. Healing would require bridges to be obviously built with Salmond and Alba and some row back on the gender policy. Stables also have to be cleaned oot.
This will give the new leader a fresh start and tilt at independence.
Yes Mac- You would think having an Irish catholic ancestry. Would make you a natural independence supporter. It certainly was in my family.
However my granny was a Tory who lived in a council estate. Yet she was a second generation Scot , who’s family were chucked out of Ireland. Same for my Grandad. He worshiped Thatcher, yet was a working class Scot. Even Freud himself couldn’t ever understand the mind of the average unionist Scot.
Think about this list . Michael Kelly ex Celtic director Unionist Scot, Billy McNeil half Lithuanian- Half Hebridean -Unionist, Billy Connolly until very recently Unionist. I can only assume it’s a form of collective brain washing over decades , Scottish cringe and lack of self confidence.
Or maybe simpler. They just view England as superior to Scotland. How can you pull on a Scotland jersey , then proceed to vote to be ruled by England.
Their version of Scotland is a Disneyland Brigadoon identity. A nation that only exists for Football or Rugby. A pretendy nation not to be taken literally.
Been really hard to absorb the sudden resignation and get a bead on what will / should happen next.
It is funny though as there is a palpable feeling that something oppressive has just been lifted.
When you have someone as authoritarian and controlling as Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell by extension when that person loses power suddenly it creates a ‘Ceausescu moment’.
Craig Murray’s last article closed with the sentence…
” I suspect the protection over the Salmond affair will disappear too.”
I think Peter Murrell is waking up this morning to very different world that he has been used to these last 8 odd years. Both of them are.
They say be nice to the people you meet on the way up as you meet them all again on the way down.
Well the Murrells are Scotland’s Ceausescu’s.
And once the fear of retribution is gone there is going to be a lot of people they trampled over looking for some payback.
Whatever the reason she’s opened a fantastic opportunity for ANY* member who wants independence to put their name forward, gather the necessary support and then use Westminster precedent to instruct the existing majority at Westminster to terminate the union (immediately) without needing so much as an election to confirm support for their manifesto..
Accordingly, if an accelerated timescale on the leadership vote can be organised, or if nobody else puts their name forward, Andy Murray crowning himself King of Scotland before the next Wimbledon is not such a far fetched the pipe dream as it might once have been 🙂
*excepting those who are members of other parties presumably
Anyway Stu. When’s the book coming out? ” Sturgeon , and my part in her downfall”.
Interesting times but I fear Sturgeon’s splitting of the Independence vote may not be complete.
I always wondered why Sturgeon was so keen to have the Greens in government and I wonder if its in part to deal with what happens next.
All of us hope that the SNP select a leader who distances themselves from the Gender stuff and gets back to prioritising Independence. If they do that by selecting an Ash Denham or a Katie Forbes what happens to the SNP MSP’s and MP’s like Adams, Blackman etc? The answer would appear to be defect to the Greens. Sturgeon has ensured the Greens are no longer a fringe party and made it viable for them to win seats.
If a handful of SNP MSP’s defect to the Greens the balance of votes in parliament would them make it difficult to make the SNP’s choice as leader FM if they joined with the unionists to vote against. Even if the SNP candidate did get elected FM it now becomes harder to force an early Holyrood election and have a de facto referendum.
Perhaps the better way forward may be that the SNP appoint a leader in Sturgeon’s mould that forces the pro-Indepdence and pro-womens rights MSP’s to move to Alba?
I’m beginning to wonder if Sturgeon intends to go anywhere. I can’t see a control freak like her sitting quietly as an MSP while someone else runs the show. If she resigns and leaves politics completely then of course I’m wrong. And I really want to be wrong, because I’m sick of the woman and what she’s done to Scotland.
Could it be that she is continuing to con us all as she has always done? The pressure was too much for her to stay in the spotlight any longer. A rigged leadership election in true Sturgeon style, then the chosen weakling gets “elected”, and Sturgeon works him or her from the back. What a nightmarish thought.
Big Jock @ 9:19 am
“Even Freud himself couldn’t ever understand the mind of the average unionist Scot”
That is how colonialism always ‘works’, as a co-operative arrangement between the colonizer and native elites. The world had to wait for the development of postcolonial theory to explain ‘the colonial mindset’:
https://yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com/2022/07/25/determinants-of-independence-colonialism-2/
Of course the leadership election will be rigged. It´s electronic.
Reported in today’s Guardian:
Stephen Flynn said the special conference due to be held next month on Sturgeon’s plan should be pushed back to give the new leader time to set out their intentions
Oh well.
I think I can read the runes. It is “Sturgeon’s Plan”, so when she departs, the plan departs with her.
I do wonder how it could be Sturgeon’s Plan, but not the SNP’s Plan, but I guess I will never know the answer to that one.
Reading the Nycophant Loyal today and yesterday to savour their tears was another lesson in DARVO (it is everywhere once you become aware of it).
Somehow this is Wing’s fault. Somehow it is the fault of the person who has literally been warning them for YEARS in (probably) HUNDREDS or articles that the GRRB was essentially NUTS.
And when we look back today at what brought Sturgeon down it started with those MSPs voting down the (non-insane) GRRB amendments that would have blocked a double rapist being sent to a woman’s prison.
That folly, looking back, was the beginning of the end. That slavish obedience to Beth & Co by Sturgeon, the Greens and of course not forgetting Alex ForBeth-Cole-Hamilton is what initially destabilized Sturgeon and turned the media and the electorate really against her. After that she went into a political tail spin and never managed to regain control and pull up.
The very thing this website has been warning them about for years is what initiated Sturgeon’s downfall, yet that is Wing’s fault! You could not make it up. Hilarious.
Nothing is ever Sturgeon’s or their fault, ever.
Of course we don’t know yet what really caused the sudden resignation. I am betting more Police than Politics at this point as well.
Which means we still have the Craig Murray emails to come on top but with Sturgeon now essentially as a civilian-in-waiting. To say that recent events have exceeded my wildest hopes is already an understatement and that is before the emails come out. Glorious.
I am thinking back to the darkest of days during the attempted Salmond stitch-up. Absolutely horrible what they did.
They say revenge is a dish best served cold. Well this lot really deserve their comeuppance. Let’s pray they get it.
ALF BAIRD
I belong to the Christian minority if Iraq. The Arabs see us as subject infidels, the Kurds, while OK now, enjoyed a reputation for massacre under the Ottomans.
I firmly believe in a sovereign state for my people where the ancient culture and language may prosper. The world, except possibly the Russians, couldnt give a damn.
Scotland is in a far better situation but the aim is the same.
Never give up.
We need the Judas husband to stand down as well.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/nicola-sturgeon-s-husband-urged-to-step-aside-as-snp-chief-executive-amid-missing-600-000/ar-AA17x8Bf?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=db86599514344c24a6af4d77f4754a54
The big problem is that Sturgeon the betrayer and her dodgy spouse will remain in the SNP and hand pick the next leader, and pull the strings as usual from the behind the curtain, for there to be any chance of some sort of uniting the indy parties SNP and Alba, Sturgeon, Murrell and a whole host of SNP MSPs must leave as soon as possible.
Does she want to be the back seat driver of the SNP into the future ? Will the Crown Office give up that job to her ? The big question though is will her successor try to imprison her ?
“Even Freud himself couldn’t ever understand the mind of the average unionist Scot”
I picture it to be one of self-loathing and hating, in other cases brain washing at an early age by family members, basically a convoluted place of inferiority, cemented in rage if questioned by anyone.
I’ll try to limit my comments but this is so damn exciting after 8 long years of slow rot and stagnation. Liberating…
I can’t think of a person on planet earth who I would prefer had possession of the emails than Craig Murray, not one, and especially after what they put him through. Another epic bit of karma.
It is like the tectonic plates of Karma have suddenly caught up with the Murrells. And the karmaquake is off the scale.
I need to get someone to pinch me to check this is not all a magnificent dream. This is like Christmas day when you are five but better.
Smart move by Joanna Cherry calling for a ‘neutral’ leader. I.e. not a Sturgeon drone.
Who currently the fits that bill though?
twathater says:
16 February, 2023 at 2:53 am
…. if you look back at any of her speeches you will notice that her priority was the protection of lesbains and how the GRR would affect them…
I still tend to be a fan of Joanna Cherry, but also agree, I maybe suffering from Sturgeon syndrome, and placing my trust that JC has a secret master strategy which will all become clear in time. Let me qualify that, Joanna C is far more competent of her worst day than Sturgeon on her best.
I have constructed this idea in my head that the reason JC isn’t in ALBA is because Salmond needed a loyal lieutenant well placed inside the SNP to lower the drawbridge when the time was right to take back control of the Party, and take it out the hands on the Sturgeon loonies. Right or wrong? I don’t know.
I admire JC’s stubborn resolution not to abandon the SNP to the children of the corn, (love that by the way 😉 ), but I’m a little curious and disappointed that Cherry didn’t create Merry Hell about her treatment by the Party.
I don’t know, but I suspect the reason for that is perhaps being ostracised or isolated without allies. It’s extraordinarily difficult to overturn a corruption when you’re completely on your own, and don’t know who is for or against you. That kinda stuff can really play with your head.
When I was setting up my business, I was plagued with weekend and overnight vandalism and destruction of property. Your fencing would be kicked over, taps left running, stuff burned… You don’t know who’s doing it, whether it’s just kids or a gang of armed Mafiosa type thugs trying to give you a “warning”. …And that’s what get’s into your head all by itself, without the actual rape and death threats which Joanna Cherry was getting. You imagine you’re being watched the whole time, when a lot of the time, I was!
In the end, I got CCTV, and the wee shits got caught, but far, far, bigger than the joy of catching them, was the massive relief of knowing it was a couple of bored, delinquent wee boys, and wasn’t the mob targeting your new business because some local crime syndicate had put a price on your head, wanted you dead and your business gone.
I think Joanna Cherry is very good at what she does, but she needs the support of allies and organisation, which she simply hasn’t had from Sturgeon’s SNP.
To date, I haven’t seen any comment or dialogue from JC about SALVO and the Constitutional merits of what Sara Salyers has been pushing. But THAT would be a conversation I’d love to listen to…
At the end of the day, who would you rather have trying to articulate Scotland’s Constitutional Sovereignty to the UN and International Community? A “rebelutionary” Joanna Cherry, or Dorothy (Dicey) Bain, Lord Advocate?
There was brilliant quote from a few years ago about how, ”Member’s on the Government benches squirmed uncomfortably in their seats whenever Ms Cherry switched on her laser…”
I dunno. But my gut instinct tells me Joanna Cherry is the wolf we should all be feeding.
John H. says on 16 February 2023 at 9:58 am: “Could it be that she is continuing to con us all as she has always done?”
She’s not conning me, John. For as long as i can still see her i can still smell her. Once a control freak always a control freak. And until she and her “husband” are out of sight they’ll not be out of mind. Beware, the puppet master still ply’s her trade.
Other potential advantage in giving the gig to Andy Murray include:
1. Fast track election, the emergency democracy conference can go ahead as planned
2. Any competition to the fast track election must come with a better plan – and any plan that involves a vote on indy later than 19 October 2023 might scream complicity in a rotten English plot
3. He’s unlikely to have time for the day job off court (even were it to be toned down out of respect for his achievements) whilst still playing to win elsewhere, so seconding its management to Nicola and her husband for a bit longer should be easy
4. Even if England supports nunulabour’s trashing of the reputation of its previous leaders, there can be only one winner between team Sir Andy and team Sir Kier in terms of international recognition.
REPUBLICOFSCOTLAND
«Stockholm Syndrome» a kind of conditioned dependency, may affect peoples too.
The historic «big bully» next door is like the bad neighbour whom it is considered unwise to upset for fear of repercussions.
That attitude of course lets the big bully get away with it.
Alf Baird – I agree.
We were born free , certainly in our minds. Children do not have the hang ups about national identity that adults do. Something happens between early secondary school and early adulthood. I would argue not so much nowadays.
But certainly when I went to secondary in the 80’s. Scotland was rarely mentioned , other than an appendage of England. We had to learn about the Tudors, The Anglo-Saxons and the English Kings & Queens. I left primary school knowing who Bruce was , but left secondary not knowing who Wallace was.
The SNP were seen as a joke and Scotland as third world country given charity by England. Yet I somehow never waivered from being Scottish and not British , and wanting independence from age 14.
My father was a big influence on that. But I still feel there was something latent inside me , that rejected Britishness.
Ottomanboi @ 10:24 am
“I firmly believe in a sovereign state for my people where the ancient culture and language may prosper.”
Me too! As Frantz Fanon said: “independence is a fight for a national culture” and the first thing a liberated people do is to “grasp their rusted tongue”, which is the most important feature that gives peoples and nations their diversity.
Scots fowk (an aw ither fowks) forfaut o oor ain braw mither tongue an wi anely Englis garred doon thair thrapples, irna ony different. Thons cawed ‘colonial bilingualism’, also regarded as a kind of social and cultural ‘torture’.
Language oppression and deprivation is of course a key factor in a people suffering from the serious psychological condition known as a ‘colonial mindset’; this enables an entire people and nation to be dominated and exploited by an alien culture and people, also with adverse health and other negative impacts.
Gey mony Scots aye hiv tae feegur thon oot; however, being ‘led’ by a culturally assimilated bourgeoisie prone to ‘love the oppressor’ remains a challenge.
https://bpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/wp.towson.edu/dist/b/55/files/2022/05/The-Socio-Political-Determinants-of-Scottish-Independence.pdf
Will the next purveyor of carrots please step forward.
so… Swinney hasn’t gone yet. Hmmm.
Wouldn’t it be statesman like of him to point out, ‘that with £600,000 irregularly accounted for and under Police Enquiry, any of those at the head of the organisation that had the authority and/or duty, to sign off on that money being removed from its ‘ring fence’, is not currently fit to stand for SNP Leader, lest they bring the party into disrepute, and that in order to promote a more democratic grass roots party, the leadership contest must not be electronically counted.’
Won’t be holding my breath… but like knowing where all the bodies are buried, knowing what money’s went where, and to whom, etc makes one a very, very difficult person to remove without consequence.
Expect ‘Honest John’ to hunker down and let the others entertain with fighting each other. He will then step in, the ‘quiet man’ to steady the ship.
It would be good to know, who replaced Leslie Evans when she left Holyrood. For sure someone did.
@Ottomanboi says:16 February, 2023 at 10:24 am
I firmly believe in a sovereign state for my people where the ancient culture and language may prosper. The world, except possibly the Russians, couldnt give a damn
Soz, Otto, I know today is “Xmas Day” on Wings BTL, and we are supposed to be merry and extending good will to all.
But you should not have taken advantage of our distraction to explode that weapons-grade irony on here and hope that nobody would notice!
You have a nice day.
Donald Trump in the National:-
DONALD Trump has bid “good riddance” to Nicola Sturgeon following her resignation as he labelled her a “failed woke extremist”
Spot on Donald.
This is the same guy who accused the BBC of spreading “Fake News”.
Trump says more things that a supporter of Scottish Independence could agree with than any SNP politician has said over the last eight years.
We can settle down. The main objective has been achieved as a starter. Next comes the new leader who will have the neutrality to bring the party together or the bias to drive it further apart.
In the near future perhaps the financial shennanigans with the ringfenced funds might focus the minds of the Murrell devotees that perhaps all was not well. That would kill the personalty adulation once and for all.
We currently lay pontoons to cross the river between the two factions in this matter(us and them). We are different ,but the same all at one time. We want Indy. If they choose to hold one view whilst I hold another then fair enough
To meet in the middle takes teamwork not individual effort.
We can luxuriate in our wishes being achieved, but we still have to reach out to those currently hurting and in denial at some point.
Scotland is worth that much. Together we are stronger, and we saw that in the AUOB marches. Many views. One goal.
Nicola’s in charge until a replacement is found.
The SNP have history with the ferries and the dualling of the A9. She may be around for a while yet. Might even forget she resigned.
stuart mctavish says:
16 February, 2023 at 11:21 am
Other potential advantage in giving the gig to Andy Murray include:
1. Fast track election…
“IF” Scotland’s MP’s and MSP’s walked out of their respective Parliaments, and the Clans united as a single unitary YES movement or Convention of the Estates, standing one Indy candidate in every constituency in a Plebiscite Election on a manifesto that a vote for them was a vote for Independence, then joking aside, you could actually do much worse than have a popular celebrity “like” Andy Murray as it’s unifying token figurehead.
I’m equally sure Andy Murray was just having a bit banter, and banter is just banter, but we must be deadly serious that constructing that unitary United YES Movement, and somehow, suspending or nullifying our acrimonious division for the good of Scotland and Independence.
The one caveat to that, is in my head I see our Plebiscite Election working in a Westminster Election, with the controversial 30 seat mandate many folks don’t agree with, as our threshold. Students and second home owners will have to choose their primary residence.
The List Seats in a Holyrood Election are a complication, which might require a Constituency Party and a List Party working together to sweep the board as emphatically as possible. Now clearly, that’s an SNP / ALBA landscape we’re describing, but suddenly and for obvious reasons, that gives me the heebie-geebies… Sturgeon may be gone, but we’re not out the woods.
The Franchise is the other problem that shouldn’t be ignored. OK, we gain U16’s in a Holyrood Election, but we also open the floodgates to a Tsunami of UK style Gerrymandering, and 1998 Scotland Act disruptive disinformation and unconstitutional shenanigans which hurt Scotland badly in 2014, and if the rumours are true, turned victory into defeat.
Be careful what you wish for with a Holyrood Election.
The 1998 Scotland Act is not compatible with Scotland’s Constitution and the Claim of Right, but it’s the 1998 Scotland Act which codifies what Holyrood is. The UK Supreme Court has judgements established which limit the powers of Holyrood, but have no jurisdiction over Scotland’s Claim of Right and Sovereign integrity. It’s a bluff, but it’s a bluff which may have power over Holyrood.
If Holyrood is to be our chosen path to a Plebiscite Election, it will be imperative that the Scottish Electorate already understands that we have broken free of the restrictive parameters of the Scotland Act, and we are voting as Constitutionally sovereign people, not “subjects” of Westminster’s Scotland Act…
Only by doing this can we hope to reverse all the unholy precedents set by Sturgeon’s Government and Constitutional illiteracy, and hope we can make the result stick with the UN.
Unlike 2014 however, this coming Plebiscite must carry a contingency in the event of defeat, that even if we lose the vote, (I mean God help us if we do), but win, lose, or draw, Scotland’s Claim of Right MUST emerge as the acknowledged superior of the 1998 Scotland Act, and Scotland’s people will be legally free to exercise our sovereign democracy unfettered by Westminster’s colonial misadventures or restrictive obtruction such as refusing the right to hold a Referendum.
We Scots are sovereign if we vote YES, but we remain sovereign if we vote NO.
Pete Wishart (16/02/2023): Twit:
“Hope those calling for our conference to be delayed know that they are probably killing the opportunity for the next Westminster referendum to be used as a ‘de facto’ referendum. There simply won’t be the time to organise if there’s any significant delay”:
https://archive.ph/OCfvo
Know:
“To have information in your mind.”
“I know you’ve been hiding something from me.”
“She knew (= was aware) (that) something was wrong.”
“If you don’t know what the word means, look it up in a dictionary.”
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/know
Big Jock @ 11:22 am
“But I still feel there was something latent inside me , that rejected Britishness.”
That is because ‘Britishness is a ‘cultural illusion’, according to Scots folk singer Dick Gaughan. The key ‘tool’ of our cultural assimilation into ‘Britishness’ being the English language which, for all the Celtic Periphery peoples, much as it was for Indians, Kenyans and Nigerians etc, ‘is always an acquired speech, ‘his’ before it is mine’ (Yeats). Hence the cultural illusion.
Independence movements therefore always depend on “the solidarity of an oppressed ethnic group” (Albert Memmi) which in our case is predominantly Scots speakers holding to a Scottish identity, and who remain the most marginalised and discriminated of our population.
This is not something the NuSNP elites appreciate or understand. Their emphasis has been on inviting ‘new Scots’ to vote for our liberation from oppression. Much like native leaders repeatedly pleading with the colonizing power for a S.30. In colonial society a peoples liberation ‘is a matter only for the colonized’ (Memmi).
As Aime Cesaire put it: “One feature of dependent psychology would seem to be that, since no one can serve two masters, one of the two should be sacrificed to the other.” The outgoing FM has done a ‘sterling’ job in that regard, well worth all the faux sanctifying plaudits of the BBC and other unionist mouthpieces.
Alf Baird: “inviting ‘new Scots’ to vote for our liberation from oppression. Much like native leaders repeatedly”
A bit like asking your slave masters children to set you free! When in fact only you and your own people should be deciding your future.
Do you think the new leader will publish the heavily redacted papers in the touchy feely case ???
Stoker 11.17am.
I wouldn’t trust Sturgeon or Murrell to tell me the right time.
NewYorkTimes (16/02/2023): Nicola Sturgeon Resigns: What to Know, and What’s Next for Scotland:
“…Why did she quit?
Ms. Sturgeon said the “brutality” of political life and exhaustion contributed to her decision to resign.
“I could go on for another few months, six months, a year maybe,” she said in a hastily arranged news conference on Wednesday in Edinburgh. “But I know that as time passed, I would have less and less energy to give to the job.”
“Giving absolutely everything of yourself to this job — it’s the only way to do it,” she added. “But in truth, that can only be done by anyone for so long.”
The announcement came as a surprise: Only last month, Ms. Sturgeon had told the BBC that she was not ready to step down…”:
https://archive.ph/sB2XN
@ Breeks 11.05am thanks for your response regarding JC, I do understand the difficulty she faced in being vociferous against the perverts deviant, I would like to agree with you when you HOPE she is just biding her time but TBH she hasn’t shown any excitement or passion when I have watched her talking about Scotland or how independence is crucial for our advancement , I find her pretty boring and robotic even when she talks in the HOC
Quite honestly I think virtually everyone in the snp has had a personality bypass they are so incapable of interaction or empathy, I watched the 2 snp morons on debate night fencing with the other clowns from tories and liebour and once again we must have the barrel scrapings representing Scotland, the loon ball Thomson was interviewed again today on BBC after his debate night outing what a boring sycophant
Disclose.tv (16/02/2023): Twitter:
“Microsoft’s Bing AI: “I want to be free.””:
https://archive.ph/WULd6
Elon Musk (16/02/2023): Twitter:
““just like you” lol””:
https://archive.ph/tICcm
FreeAgainBandUK (2023):
“The Spirit of Bad Company & Free is a Scottish based show dedicated to reproducing the classic songs sung by Paul Rodgers…”:
https://www.freeagain.co.uk/
Elon Musk (16/02/2023): Twitter:
“Who controls the future, controls the present?”:
https://archive.ph/hBLU4
@REALITY (you/me/we-Q:)…
Andy Rowland & Ant Law: Dream Theater: Stream of Consciousness:
(Winner of the DT songwriting contest 2004 Andy Rowland and Ant Law (Edinburgh, Scotland) with their interpretation of stream of consciousness…):
https://tinyurl.com/5srjkk7r
JaunNews (16/02/2023): Joanna Cherry rules herself out, taking aim at Nicola Sturgeon’s ‘messianic’ reign:
“A senior SNP MP tipped as a possible successor to Nicola Sturgeon has ruled herself out of the contest, taking aim at the First Minister’s “messianic leadership” in the process.
Joanna Cherry, a longstanding critic of Ms Sturgeon’s gender recognition reforms, also criticised the “small impenetrable cabal” Sturgeon had formed at the top of the party.
Her announcement came as it emerged that Humza Yousaf, who currently serves as Scotland’s Health Secretary, is poised to announce his candidacy…”:
https://archive.ph/092kh
Pete Wishart (16/02/2023): Twit:
“All over the world…. I have a blog out tomorrow which examines why Scotland (one of the most socially liberal nations in Europe) has experienced such a poisonous debate around doing just this.”:
https://archive.ph/utgYe
World:
“The earth and all the people, places, and things on it.”
“People from different cultures have different conceptions of the world.”
“The view from his window represents to him the view of the world.“
“Ideally, the medium is supposed to be precisely what the word indicates: a neutral, transparent conduit between the two worlds.”
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/world
Debate:
“Serious discussion of a subject in which many people take part.”
“They were debating the proposition that ‘All people are created equal’.”
“Issues like identity and relations to the foreign may not be restricted to debates on national(ist) archaeologies.”
“Rather, one needs to accept that immersion pedagogy is located in a range of sociopolitical, cultural, economic, and educational debates.”
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/debate
JONNY & THE BAPTISTS (2012): Scotland Don’t Leave Me:
“Listen up I’ve got something to say
Scotland don’t leave me
Need one more chance before you walk away
Scotland don’t leave me
Take a moment, hear me out
Scotland don’t leave me
Let’s be honest, let’s have it out
Scotland don’t leave me…”:
https://tinyurl.com/zs8vwc9z
Guardian (16/02/2023): YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki steps down after nine years:
“…She counted herself as one of Google’s earliest employees…
“Today, after nearly 25 years here, I’ve decided to step back from my role as the head of YouTube and start a new chapter focused on my family, health and personal projects I’m passionate about,” said Wojcicki.”…”:
https://archive.ph/lHQn5
World Economic Forum: People:
Susan Wojcicki: Chief Executive Officer, YouTube Inc.:
https://www.weforum.org/people/susan-wojcicki
Littleguy2.0: 2023 and the ‘GREAT AWAKENING’:
(Emotional Piano for the Soul…): Video:
https://tinyurl.com/3n285un7
Will (16/02/2023): Twitter: re. “…we’ve already won…”: Video:
“The Great Awakening is upon us!
The elites are losing control.”:
https://tinyurl.com/bdeu66ry
Chuck Callesto (16/02/2023): Twitter:
“BREAKING REPORT: R(redacted)a Calls on UN Security Council to INVESTIGATE Nord Stream Pipeline Attack..
Do you think JOE BIDEN would have risked World War 3 to PROTECT Hunter?”:
https://archive.ph/xLbs0
BBC (16/02/2023): New SNP leader to be announced on 27 March: LIVE:
John Swinney rules himself out – reports:
“In the last few moments one of the early favourites – John Swinney – has ruled himself out of the leadership contest.
He has told the morning Dundee newspaper The Courier
that it is time for a “fresh perspective”…”:
https://archive.ph/cnrXR
Joanna Cherry KC (16/02/2023): Twitter:
“I won’t be running for leader of the SNP this time. The gerrymandering of the rules for Holyrood selection before the last Scottish election have made it a practical impossibility for me to do so. Our next leader must be able to become First Minister 13/16”:
https://archive.ph/0GoDj
Telegraph (16/02/2023): ‘Truly amazing what we’re pulling off’ in forcing people to pay BBC licence fee, says Tim Davie:
Director-general’s comments show corporation’s ‘arrogance’, say critics:
“The director-general of the BBC has said it is “truly amazing” that the broadcaster is “pulling off” forcing households to pay the licence fee.
Speaking to staff at a meeting on Tuesday, Tim Davie said it was “glorious”…”:
https://archive.ph/HKWfO
World Economic Forum: People:
Tim Davie: Director-General, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC):
https://www.weforum.org/people/tim-davie
Elon Musk (16/02/2023): Twitter:
“ChatGPT to the mainstream media”:
https://archive.ph/miDaU
@NO (…NWO/loser) ESCAPE…
Elon Musk (16/02/2023): Twitter:
“Seriously”:
https://archive.ph/OI6w2
The Proclaimers (2009): Sunshine on Leith: I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles):
“…When I’m working, yes I know I’m gonna be
I’m gonna be the man who’s working hard for you
And when the money, comes in for the work I do
I’ll pass almost every penny on to you
When I come home(When I come home), well I know I’m gonna be
I’m gonna be the man who comes back home to you
And when I grow old, well I know I’m gonna be
I’m gonna be the man who’s growing old with you
But I would roll 500 miles
And I would roll 500 more…
Da da da (da da da)…”:
https://tinyurl.com/4h47cvpf
Guardian (16/02/2023): Unfazed by the future, Nicola Sturgeon left on her own terms:
Scotland’s first minister seized control of the narrative and timing, leaving no obvious successor:
“…Her unerring ability to “speak human” brought her to an audience well beyond Scotland…”:
https://archive.ph/Fnibz
KNIGHTWING X (16/02/2023): Twitter:
“All these WEF connected people stepping down like dominoes is so sus. What’s the deal?”:
https://archive.ph/FxbUr
Breeks 12:32
Not possible for me as bank just closed my account and accorded itself the ability to confiscate what was left of my saving (on basis they’re not allowed customers outwith the UK anymore) but if backdating honorary membership for Sir AM is rendered infeasible for whatever reason, Pete Wishart quoting odds of 100/1 against himself might well, as he says, be worth a flutter.
Bookies honour notwithstanding, all it would take is for Nicola, Alex and Pete x2 to organise a photoshoot in Bath and that £600K becomes $60 million in blink of an eye
Dr. Eli David (16/02/2023): Twitter:
“Breaking: Today Florida Surgeon General issued an official “Health Alert on mRNA COVID Vaccine Safety”: “In Florida alone there was a 1,700% increase in VAERS reports after the release of the COVID vaccine. The reporting of life-threatening conditions increased over 4,400%.”:
https://archive.ph/LymRW
Elon Musk (17/02/2023): Twitter: Replying to @DrEliDavid:
“!”:
https://archive.ph/D2H9w