The Dimwit Of Doom
When even someone as catastrophically vacant as Alex Cole-Hamilton thinks he’s got your number, it’s probably time to accept that the game’s up.
But that’s the unenviable position the First Minister finds herself in today.
Because even with all the finely-honed bodyswerving skills showcased on Sky News at the weekend, it’s going to be terribly hard to dodge this:
The opposition appears to have rather belatedly woken up to the fact that the separate inquiry over whether Nicola Sturgeon broke the Ministerial Code in relation to the Alex Salmond affair had – at the direction of John Swinney – NOT actually been asked to determine whether she lied to Parliament about it.
Given that the fundamental heart of the Code is ministers being truthful to Parliament, and given how long the standards panel has already taken, it will be extremely difficult to justify refusing to extend its brief to include Cole-Hamilton’s request. (When you’ve been dicking around for 20 months already, another couple of days makes no odds.)
And if it does, then the First Minister is toast.
Because as we already know beyond any shadow of doubt, by her own official and public admission, the First Minister definitely lied to Parliament about – at a minimum – when she knew of allegations of sexual misconduct about Alex Salmond. It is now a matter of undisputed cut-and-dried record that she knew before she told Parliament she did (and that for good measure there was also another breach of the Ministerial Code at the same time, when she used Parliamentary premises to discuss it as what she claimed was a party matter, which isn’t allowed).
“Oops, I forgot” isn’t going to cut it. Not even Neil Mackay, the self-styled hammer of vile cybernat conspiracists, strident despiser of sites like this one and arch-defender of Sturgeon’s woke, moderate, non-nationalist nationalism, is buying that donkey.
It’s a withering column, and it only appears to let up in a bizarrely mealy-mouthed conclusion whereby Mackay suggests that the solution to Sturgeon’s destruction of public trust over the Salmond affair is “more scrutiny in parliament of what the SNP government, and in particular the First Minister, does, when it comes to Coronavirus”.
But if scrutiny of the First Minister over COVID-19 is appropriate, then it goes unsaid that so must scrutiny of other subjects be, which puts Mackay firmly, if sneakily, lined up on the side of Alex Cole-Hamilton and the rest of the inquiry committee.
And when even her stoutest media champions are beginning to inch away, you know that time is running out.
Time she stood down to spend more time with her bunions – sorry books.
Bad news: WGD is in hospital, having suffered a stroke.
https://twitter.com/JesusH_Chrysler/status/1315959132487389185?s=20
Why have political opponents when Wings does their job for them.
Oh. So it’ll be ‘my below standard handling of Scotland’s Covid-19 situation has caused me to consider my position’? Very cute.
Black Joan says:
13 October, 2020 at 11:38 am
Bad news: WGD is in hospital, having suffered a stroke.
https://twitter.com/JesusH_Chrysler/status/1315959132487389185?s=20
I’m truly wishing Paul Kavanagh a speedy recovery.
Just saw that Black Joan. Awful news. A stroke is a terrible thing. It’s a hopeful sign that he’s able to use the phone. I wish him a speedy recovery.
Stu, my heart misses a beat every time I hear about Sturgeon could be toast.
Like all true Indy supporters, we will grasp at any news that moves us a little closer to Independence.
But this story seems to go on and on forever.
Is there any timeline that we can run with that will finally nail this evil little bastard?
Best wishes to WGD and I genuinely hope he makes a full and speedy recovery.
@joe morrison
This is what I’m feeling like. The longer this drags, the closer we get to it being too late. We need SNP accounts, we need the SNP conference to be about indy and we need to be getting the right leader in place.
and also share the sentiments about WGD. We’ve seen a disagreement recently over the best approach to getting indy but I don’t doubt his passion for indy. Wishing him a full and speedy recovery.
If brains were dynamite people like Cole-Hamilton,
Annie Wells and Murdo Fraser couldn’t dislodge
Their ear wax with an explosion.
Numb nuts like this in Holyrood are one of its major problems.
The voters made it clear they don’t want them but Westminster’s
Voting system demands we get lumbered with them.
Might be a daft thought but do you think Sturgeon is more upset that the Salmond allegations being exposed as being completely false will damage Indpedence, her career or the feminist cause?
If the truth is exposed about Evans and Sturgeon’s cover up of her actions how does the Scottish Government take people to task in the future for allegations of abuse? Surely every defendent will reference the witch hunt on Salmond and plead they are subject to the same?
@Andrew Scott 11:41
I don’t know abut you, Andrew, but I expected a lot better behavior from the SNP leadership than I expect from the Unionist parties. I thought we were of a higher class and thought our supporters felt the same way, I guess I was wrong.
More and more evidence is coming out that there is something quite rotten at the heart of the leadership of the SNP. Whether that is internally driven, or via some external influence is not absolutely clear, but one this is, and that is that Independence has taken a back seat to identity politics. This in turn appears to have been the catalyst for the rule change, EXPLICITLY designed to try and capture Alex Salmond. The why of that may never be known, but the fact of it is surely no longer in question.
You might think this is fine and nothing should be made of it because … Independence. But honesty and integrity ARE important to me AS WELL AS Independence. I want and expect both. Right now my disillusion with Nicola Sturgeon is at an all time high. Something I would never have imagined 6 years ago.
Politics may be a dirty business, but where are our standards of public life?
Sorry if I’m being dim here but it’s all getting a bit much, the timelines, denials, half-truths etc…
Do we know how Sky news got the original ‘airport’ story? Who tipped them off?
There a many of us who disagree with Paul Kavanah regarding some of his opinions. But there are none I suspect who would not wish him well and all the very very best.
Maybe his partner will keep folk posted on his progress which hopefully will be both rapid and without any long term deficit.
Events like this bring things into perspective!
Per above link to John Swinney:
Ministerial Code Referral: Remit for Independent Adviser
3. Interview any relevant person outwith the Scottish Government, including the former First Minister, Alex Salmond, who may have information relating to the facts and content of the meetings and discussions.
Who might be considered – beyond Alex Salmond? The extract below provides 3 further potential candidates.
Extract – Craig Murray: Geoff Aberdein, Alex Salmond’s former Chief of Staff testified under oath in the Salmond trial that he was contacted in mid-March by phone by Nicola Sturgeon’s office to discuss historic allegations against Alex Salmond, and was asked to a meeting with the First Minister on 29 March. Aberdein testified he was so concerned that he arranged a conference call with Kevin Pringle and Duncan Hamilton QC to discuss this.
One hopes no stone is left unturned.
When she goes will she take Devi Sridhar with her ?
I’m genuinely sorry to hear Paul is in hospital but hopefully can come back from this fighting fit as soon as possible.
‘Ian Brotherhood says:
13 October, 2020 at 12:01 pm
Sorry if I’m being dim here but it’s all getting a bit much, the timelines, denials, half-truths etc…
Do we know how Sky news got the original ‘airport’ story? Who tipped them off?’
Round about that time (late 2017) a former Media adviser to the SNP went to work for Edinburgh Airport.
After the story didn’t break – same person returned to work for SNP.
In addition the original complaint was reported at the time to Angus Robertson as- inappropriate conduct – the word sexual does not appear. No account of how AR dealt with the matter.
And finally – The secret service were involved in the enquiry at the airport – Peter Murrell appears to have a direct link to the Met, which would automatically then go to the secret service.
Hope that helps.
———- Like others, hoping WGD is not too badly affected and makes a full recovery.
I am a bit unsure around Paul Kavanagh’s unquestoning support for the FM, but, few of us have put as much into the Independence fight as he has.
As such, I wish him well in his recovery from his stroke.
Sorry to hear about Paul Kavanagh – I wish him well and hope he recovers fully. And kindest thoughts also to his husband in this horrible and unexpected crisis.
In reply to Ian Brotherhood at 1201pm
I’ve posted my thoughts on this before.
1/Could be Angus Robertson, we know he has briefed other
papers about previous elected members who were pushed out into the cold.
2/Erik Geddes who left an SNP Comms job for one at Edinburgh Airport, 10/2015 – 05/17 – he then returned to his present job as SNP’s Head of Broadcast Media, if nothing else will have known stuff – there was a rather mean leak against Michelle Thomson from Edinburgh Airport in 2016.
3/Anyone else who wanted Alex Salmond out of the way. After all who in the inner leadership circle wouldn’t have been made aware of the ‘concerns’ expressed to Angus Roberston in 2008/9 at the time.
@Daisy W –
Thanks.
Get well soon Paul. We can disagree on many things, but we all want independence.
So the clock is ticking for Sturgeon. I reckon the pressure will come from within.
I sense a mutiny!
Of course the ‘trust’ that Ms Sturgeon has emanated and the subsequent doubt in that ‘trust’ is a not a single track route.
IF she trusted Alex Salmond implicitly until she was told about his misdemeanours – it begs the question of just how alert (and trustworthy) she actually is NOT to have noticed his appalling behaviour over the 25 years , or so, that she had worked with him.
If she trusted Alex Salmond for 25 years and has now turned on him so strongly as to be part of a design to put him in jail for the rest of his life – then her subsequent actions is quite unforgivable . In the old phrase
‘Who needs enemies when you have friends like these’
Wings you are doing the Unionists job for them. I agree that there is something not right in the Scottish Government but as I’ve said before, lets get past the May elections before doing your best to destroy the best leader we’ve had. There are plenty of stories and scandals in Westminster which you used to cover with great relish but your sole focus is on the ONLY party which will lead to Independence.So give it a by and get back to what you do best- attack Westminster and the Scottish Unionists and lets have the dirt on them.
Jack says:
13 October, 2020 at 12:09 pm
When she goes will she take Devi Sridhar with her ?
Why on earth would you wish that Jack?
What does Devi S have to do with the shenanigans against Alex Salmond?
Also best wishes to Paul K for a good recovery.
@Sandy 12.21 The trouble with that is the MSM will use the story to suit their needs. Why are they taking their time to run with it now? They’d rather wait until before the election and use it to destroy NS and the rest of the SNP along with her. I’d rather we got it dealt with now and get a new leader in place.
O/T
Re next year’s Hollyrood election.
There is talk of voting over two days and/or increasing the Postal Vote.
In my early years in journalism, before I concentrated on sports-writing, I had to take my turn at covering the local coonsil.
It was 100% Labour, but the cliques and in-fighting was incredible. The coonsil committee meetings and full coonsil meetings were open to the press and public and were generally all sweetness and light. However, the Coonsil Leader did tell me, the Labour Group meetings – where the real work was done, were stair-heid rammies with blood and snotters everywhere.
It seems, a lot of the late arrivals in the SNP from the old People’s Party, have brought old habits across with them and infected the SNP.
Grey Gull @ 12.26pm
Well said that man, good sense there.
Extract – Craig Murray: Geoff Aberdein, Alex Salmond’s former Chief of Staff testified under oath in the Salmond trial that he was contacted in mid-March by phone by Nicola Sturgeon’s office to discuss historic allegations against Alex Salmond, and was asked to a meeting with the First Minister on 29 March. Aberdein testified he was so concerned that he arranged a conference call with Kevin Pringle and Duncan Hamilton QC to discuss this.
What was Aberdein concerned about though? And is his choice of who to speak to significant?
Pringle was spin doctor and Hamilton must have know Sturgeon since their youth – he came from Irvine and there is around three years between them. he was of course Salmond’s adviser in 2007 and I think that the airport business was in 2008.
In this world that we live in where folk just dont resign when they clearly should.. could there be a loophole for NS in the fact the rules stated above only expect a Minister to hand their resignation to the First Minister..now in this world of any excuse will do.. what if theres no explicit rule for the First Minister themselves?
@Any SNP members reading: do you know the procedure to replace the leader of the SNP?
I’m hoping for a speedy recovery too for WGD Paul Kavanagh. We might not see things in the same light, but there’s no doubt that YES is a man down this morning.
I would also reach out to the WGD clan, and remind everybody that we are all on the YES side, and we have more to gain by talking with each other than hurling recriminations and snide remarks back and forth. There’s no need for a truce when there’s no war, but a little kindness and compassion while Paul gets back on his feet seems like no bad thing.
I felt that Ruth Davidson got her information fro revs articles asthe source of her questions about the FM’s behaviour in relation to the Salmond trial.
No doubt ACH has cottoned on that oposition parties will get far better researched material on Wings than they could ever hope to get from their own spads.
@Sandy Merry says:
13 October, 2020 at 12:21 pm
“Wings you are doing the Unionists job for them. I agree that there is something not right in the Scottish Government but as I’ve said before, lets get past the May elections before doing your best to destroy the best leader we’ve had.”
Kicking problems into the long grass will simply amplify them.
First things first – I sincerely hope Paul Kavanagh fully recovers and wish him and his husband my best. It is very difficult for all when someone in your family is seriously ill, especially someone relatively young.
Secondly all those proposing wheesht for indy until after may 2021. All that will happen is NS will continue her policy of NOT preparing for indy for another five years. She will ,of course ,continue with the genderwoowoo and hate crime pish making the SNP unelectable. And NS will continue to allow shagger johnston to strangle Scottish democracy.
THERE HAVE BEEN NO MEETINGS OF THE NEC DISCUSSING INDY SINCE 2014. THIS IS A DAMNING INDICTMENT OF peter murrell AND angus macleod.
The SNP has one purpose and one purpose only – independence.
The trail of pre-election sweeties have had their day.
Sandy Merry,
I understand that it will take some people longer than others for the penny to drop.
I’m convinced that those that are slow to acknowledge the reality of differing situations are those that cling desperately to the comfort blanket of wishful thinking and are unable to assess situations using logic, reason or an abundance of evidence but rest assured, the penny will drop eventually.
That photo of Sturgeon in the Holyrood chamber somehow captures her personality. Intelligent and feisty to be sure, but also mean, arrogant and scheming.
Breeks and Astonished.
Agree with you both.
In reply to Sarah at 1236pm. I’m not a member but
there was a challenge against John Swinney in 2003.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3152355.stm
After that the system was changed, going from a delegate vote to a one member one vote (sound familiar?) good links in this wikipedia page.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Scottish_National_Party_leadership_election#cite_note-Result-1
Genuinely not trying to be snarky but how does
“5. Provide the Deputy First Minister with a report setting out the findings and conclusions with regard to:
i. whether the Ministerial Code is engaged regarding the meetings and discussions;
ii. whether there has been any breach of the Code and the nature of any such breach; and
iii. if a breach has occurred, advice on the appropriate remedy or sanction”
show John Swinney hasn’t directed the panel to tell him if she’s breached the code? It’s there in black and white.
@ Sandy Merry,
Firstly let me wish Paul Kavanagh a full recovery. He is for Independence first and foremost.
Sandy, if you have ever had dealings with organisations in the way the SNP are travelling would know the answer to your own qudstion.
Every organisation I have ever known works as the leadership sets the tone. When you have corruption at the top of any venture it inevitably transmits throughout the organisation.
If the leaders do it why can’t I? ,becomes the norm. Decay becomes inevitable. I remember the days of old Labour and contracts to friends which became endemic. I’m sure you all do.
Nicola led by example at one time and was rightfully praised for it. However something has changed for the worse and consequently others have followed.
She has to go with her husband and allow the party to renew.
All the best to Paul Kavanagh. Many of us here take a different view of the current SNP leadership, but we all take delight at his brilliant satire on the follies of the union.
Hi Sandy Merry at 12:21 pm.
You opined,
“Wings you are doing the Unionists job for them.”
and
“but your sole focus is on the ONLY party which will lead to Independence.”
Take this page as an example of what Rev Stu is good at.
The article at the top links to info that is already in the public domain.
Rev Stu is reporting on, and analysing, that info. He’s ahead of the field but the supposed opposition are beginning to catch on.
At some point, there’s gonna be an explosion…
Ross
Is Boss Murrell in the office today?
Sarah says: 12:36 pm
“@Any SNP members reading: do you know the procedure to replace the leader of the SNP?”
You’ll get the standard reply Susan from the “slow in the uptake” SNP members of, WHY?
They don’t see any need for change because Nikla has promised them an Independence referendum if they give her ANOTHER Mandate to do do.
Completely forgetting about the other Mandates she has been handed.
Ah with well that’s the constituency seats all stuffed now with many of the candidates being inserted under the most dubious and or malign of circumstances.
And of the ones done down through the application of malign vetting rejection and process disfiguration.? What of these folks. How will they react. How will their supporters react.
In nearly forty years I have never seen anything like what has been going on these last months. The party membership could take back control and be stronger for it. So here’s a thought. Every member, or at least every non woke democratic member could make it their business to ensure that a constituency does not select a woke – corrupt leadership candidate.
Every member could keep an open mind about their second vote. D’Hondte was introduced for a specific reason. It can be undone, and a mass vote for a second party not standing in any constituency seats can and will deliver a super majority.
As for any Woke or malign leadership candidates who get through the selection process and onto being the ‘ official ‘ constituency election candidate, it may be that an alternative challenger could come along – and a challenger bigger and better at that. There a plenty of well known, highly able and highly skilled who could soon take out a weak woke.
The coterie of control may have rigged candidate selection but they have certainly not won the parliamentary elections. That is for the people to decide, and decide they will from ALL of the candidates on the parliamentary ballot paper.
Their malfeasance will I more than suspect be the root of the absolute undoing.
Sandy Merry says:
13 October, 2020 at 12:21 pm
Wings you are doing the Unionists job for them.
……..
I do not understand this sort of attitude. For the doubters of independence, it is much better to see that rot will not be tolerated in an Independent Scotland. It will make more people trust their own people – not fewer.
Is Sturgeon trying to cover that wall above her Bute House fireplace with indyRef2 Mandates?
She can’t be far away from her target.
Like stamp collecting, Mandate collecting can be very addictive.
Black Joan @ 11.38am
Terrible news about Paul Kavanagh’s stroke. Best wishes for his recovery.
“Might be a daft thought but do you think Sturgeon is more upset that the Salmond allegations being exposed as being completely false will damage Indpedence, her career or the feminist cause?”
In order: 2, 3, then a whole bunch of other stuff then 1.
Tony Little: this has always been a sticking point for me, and you have pinpointed it. Just what was it that demanded that Alex Salmond be removed? What was it that necessitated the ignoring of the advice from Whitehall to not introduce a retrospective procedure? Because it is here that the die was cast.
I have asked the question over and over again, and no one has provided a serious answer. None of the posited answers provides clarity. It had to be something that directly threatened someone or something at the heart of the SNP parliamentary party higher echelons. It had to be a big enough threat that heaven and earth was moved to ensure his removal, if that is what happened. Was he planning a comeback that would have turned the party, and, perhaps, the leadership, upside down? Something happened that prompted the actions taken.
In the end, we have to ask: was it a pathetic and stupid series of actions, wholly fomented within the higher echelons of the party in order to appear whiter-than-white, and people are just not talking, or was it wholly fomented by the civil service, and backed, for personal and/or political reasons by the higher echelons of the party, or, finally, was it either of those scenarios, and exploited, behind the scenes, by unseen, outside interests wishing to bing down two FMs of the SNP persuasion?
Imagine had Alex Salmond been convicted, and then appealed, what this mess would look like at this stage? It’s bad enough, but it would almost certainly have been a whole lot worse and I doubt that Nicola Sturgeon would still be FM today. Blood would have been shed, as blood is almost certainly going to be shed, anyway. Bloodletting just before a crucial Scottish election might mean the end of all our hopes. At last, the hopes of those of us who want to see an independent Scotland very soon.
Watching her leading those Covid updates, she doesn’t half waffle on.
She is obsessed with the sound of her own voice.
If only she had a Health Secretary to take these daily briefings.
Oh wait a minute…
NOTE:
I have deleted a couple of comments from people attempting to make cheap snark out of the fact that people here are wishing Paul Kavanagh well despite having been critical of his recent blogging. I have also banned the people in question, because seriously, get to fuck.
My own dad had a stroke a few years ago, an affliction that runs in the family. In the grand scheme of such things it was a really minor one, detected quickly, but he’s never properly recovered. However much I might disagree with someone’s opinions, I would never wish such a thing on them. It is a grotesquely destructive event even in the best of circumstances.
I am going to take it as read that the vast bulk of Wings readers, like myself, wish Paul nothing but a full and rapid recovery (if you disagree, please leave Wings forever), and from this point onwards will be deleting any comments making reference to the situation, because there is nothing useful or constructive to add to that position.
Geordie says:
13 October, 2020 at 12:17 pm
“The opposition appear to have rather belatedly woken up…” . But they’re there now, thanks to the relentless work from Wings Over Scotland. Phew, eh?’
Better now than 2 months before Holyrood vote I would suggest, since it gives us time to clear the decks and put the wheels back on, plus many other cliches.
The msm are not daft. They may no longer have the staff numbers of yore, but, you can bet your boots, they are onto the lies and manipulation of the Murrells re Alex Salmond.
I suspect they are keeping their powder dry for the 2021 Holyrood campaign, whereupon they will throw every ounce of shite they have, including her behaviour over the Salmond stitch-up, at Shifty Blinkblink.
Damage limitation means, the sooner she is got rid of, the sooner the SNP and the wider Independence movement can recalibrate their campaign and ensure the Unionists, when they come to shut Holyrood down – and that move is coming – will be facing the majority of the Scottish people being pro-Independence.
Going into the 2021 campaign, led by a proven liar, and with a msm who will – unlike with BoJo – concentrate on her lies, will be a recipe for disaster for the SNP and will seriously harm the Independence cause.
Lorna Campbell @1:10 pm
“Bloodletting just before a crucial Scottish election might mean the end of all our hopes.”
Oh I don’t know Lorna. The public always enjoys anything vaguely reminiscent of the Roman arena. And when the pro-indy faction of the SNP wins out, the pro-Yes majority of Scotland’s voters will like what they hear from the winners.
I first heard rumours last year that Nicola Sturgeon’s role in the Salmond allegations was somewhat dodgy to say the least. At first I was quite dismissive of them, whilst I’ve long thought she was a bit too cautious and disagreed with her on a few things here and there I had never once doubted her honesty and personal integrity. I ran every possible scenario through my head wondering if she’d simply made a mistake somewhere and people were making into something it wasn’t.
As time has gone on and more facts have started to trickle out it has become undeniable that she’s got to go. This issue isn’t going to go away and it will all come out sooner or later. This is the first chance the opposition have had to land a significant blow on the SNP, they’re not going to give that up.
The choice facing the SNP is now whether or not they want to take control of the situation or just sit back and let the press or opposition use it to their advantage. It’s going to be painful either way but every day Sturgeon is in post is a day nearer the election and increases the chances of squandering a pro-indy majority to protect the Murrells. It’s painful, you might not want to day it but like ripping a sticking plaster off in one go, it needs to be done. Putting it off and trying to make it hurt less just makes it worse.
I have a degree of empathy for people who can’t face up to her role in this, if all the facts were public it would probably be easier to grasp but just look at her own behaviour and that of her government. For people with nothing to hide they sure as hell are acting guilty. Nicola Sturgeon was someone I have long admired and respected and I have run every conceivable scenario through my mind but there is no getting away from the fact she has not been honest and needs to go.
I had planned to vote SNP on the 1st vote and another pro-indy party on the list but unless both Murrells have gone by the election next year then I’ll be spoiling my 1st vote ballot paper.
It’s good to see the many people wishing Paul Kavanagh / Wee Ginger Dug well and I also wish him well. I Hope he will be alright soon.
————————————————–
The writing is on the wall for the Murrells.
It is clear how much stress Ms Sturgeon is now under and its only going to get worse. Dragging things out like this can’t be good for her or her husband’s health.
Their reputations are already in tatters in the eyes of many of the indy movement.
I think Ms Sturgeon and Mr Murrell should step down and leave politics ASAP.
holymacmoses
13 October, 2020 at 12:20 pm
“IF she trusted Alex Salmond implicitly until she was told about his misdemeanours – it begs the question of just how alert (and trustworthy) she actually is NOT to have noticed his appalling behaviour over the 25 years , or so, that she had worked with him.”
This hits the nail on the head. Either she knew nothing about his alleged “appalling behaviour” and is therefore wilfully blind or completely incurious or unobservant, or she was well aware of it, but did nothing – until she had achieved her ambition – for whatever purpose it was her ambition.
Assuming, of course, that there was any “appalling behaviour” to observe. Two courts of law said no.
Of course, to woke ubber-feminists the possession of a willy is crime enough (unless attached to one of their PQRS or – whatever are the current mad initials – dressed in a skirt and blouse and using ladies toilets).
Real feminists know otherwise.
Whatever the source of her apparent amnesia, this whole sorry tale suggests something deeply disturbing about NS and her psyche. For whatever reason – and we may never know why – she really must HATE Alex Salmond with a vengeance – and vengeance is the operative word here.
The SNP leadership appear to have forgotten something else too:
The ONLY reason for the existence of the SNP is the struggle for Scotland’s independence.
There is no other reason. There should be no other policies. There Must be only a single-minded focus on that end and purpose.
On that single measure of political success Alex Salmond has been the greatest SNP leader in history.
What a sordid legacy his unworthy successor will leave.
@Sandy Merry
I think you will find that the Rev is actually doing the job that the SNP itself should be doing – holding its leadership to account.
Sadly, the mechanisms to do that effectively have been eroded over the Salmond/Swinney/Salmond leadership periods and accelerated under Sturgeon’s leadership.
Centralisation leads to cliques, cliques lead to secrecy, secrecy leads to corruption, and corruption leads to exactly where we are now.
It is basic organisational behaviour – as described by the Iron Law of Oligarchy – and the only way to fight it is to continually expand and promote internal democracy – precisely the opposite of what has happened in the SNP over 20 years.
And BTW, One Member One Vote – certainly the way it has been implemented for SNP internal elections – is the very antithesis of internal democracy, designed, as it is, to favour those already favoured by the leadership who hold all the cost-effective means of communicating with the membership at large.
@ Lorna Campbell re ‘just what was it that demanded that Alex Salmond be removed? What was it that necessitated the ignoring of the advice from Whitehall to not introduce a retrospective procedure? Because it is here that the die was cast.’
My take on it is, AS had to be removed because NS no longer had any intention of delivering Indy Ref2/and or plebiscite election.
If he came back, he had (and has) enough supporters to change SNP policy from the only way is the ‘gold std S30) to if you don’t agree to a S30, we go for Plebiscite election. He may also have been able to evidence if / when /why NS changed her tune.
Since NS took over, a great deal of effort has been put into promoting her, and her alone – similar to the Tony Blair model.
Since NS took over all the eggs were put into the S30 order plan, with absolutely no leverage of the plebiscite election back up plan – and it was NS who scuppered that and introduced phrases such as illegal/wildcat referendums.
The only way to blacken AS’s name, was from willing players – still within the Scot Gov employment – and that automatically meant that any legislation used, would have to be ‘retrospectively applied’. In other words, he never broke any guidelines during his time in office, they had to rewrite the book retrospectively to try and catch him out.
They knew that if this got out and NS’s fingerprints were on it, it would lead to large chunks of the Yes movement no longer believing her – which if it is immediately before the election will not bother them ( that suits the Brit Nats just fine) but that is their back up plan, much much better for them to have NS keeping the yes movement subdued with carrots and jam tomorrow promises, while blocking the means by which Indy can be voted for – with endless Yet Another Mandate manifestos.
The D Day date for the Brit Nats is 31/12/20 – once were are out of Europe – Holyrood will be shut and there will be very little we can do about it.
Socrates @1:26 pm
Agree with all you said. And I reckon the only reason we’re seeing a few press pieces here and there about Sturgeon’s shenanigans is because they can’t make it too obvious that they’re going easy on the subject until the election.
Lorna Campbell. My reading of the situation is that AS was talking of standing again for Holyrood. The misconduct history was to be used internally to stop his selection as he was seen as a serious threat to the Murrells and their agenda. Somewhere down the line someone decided to up this to having him denounced publicly as a sex pest, fuelled by the Metoo move in America. They over-played their hand and reaped the whirlwind.
Grey Gull says:
13 October, 2020 at 12:26 pm
@Sandy 12.21 The trouble with that is the MSM will use the story to suit their needs. Why are they taking their time to run with it now? They’d rather wait until before the election and use it to destroy NS and the rest of the SNP along with her. I’d rather we got it dealt with now and get a new leader in place…
And for the benefit of people working like hell to convince those very challenging, deep-denial, Twitter folk who’re wondering why we’re washing the dirty linen NOW, yet not seeing stories in the strangely meek Press, I’ll repeat this line:
They’d rather wait until before the election and use it to destroy NS and the rest of the SNP along with her. I’d rather we got it dealt with now and get a new leader in place.
Let’s get this crap in the open now, while we can.
Firstly and most importantly today I would wish a full & speedy recovery to WGD.
Secondly a number of people are criticising Stu here for doing what we expect him to do. Report accurately and honestly.
The sooner this mess is out in the open the sooner it can be sorted. If the FM did what looks like the only honourable course and step down sharpish a new leader could be installed in time to properly fight the May elections, with candidates we have confidence in.
Nicola would retain some credibility, the party would recover and the cause for which we are all fighting would remain on track.
Keep the heid folks, we are all just cogs in the wheel, not matter how fancy the Edinburgh address.
@ Rev. Stuart Campbell @ 1.14pm
Well said.
Sorry, caught out by the speed of things on here, I was typing my comment in response to what is now a deleted comment & also missed the Rev’s justified rebuttal of small-minded people.
Well said Rev. It goes without saying you can sympathise with a person with serious health issues even if you disagree politically.
Can NS survive? To create minimum damage, she needs to go now.
To the person who said, she doesn’t half waffle, my feelings exactly.
Listen to Joanna Cherry, short sharp, to the point, takes no prisoners.
NS has perfected the 45 min speech which says precisely nothing
Sorry rev – didn’t see your post.Apologies
I obviously agree with what you posted.
@Sandy 12.21 The trouble with that is the MSM will use the story to suit their needs. Why are they taking their time to run with it now? They’d rather wait until before the election and use it to destroy NS and the rest of the SNP along with her. I’d rather we got it dealt with now and get a new leader in place…
……………………………………………
It could be that the MSM are all running scared of law suits. ALL the MSM deserve to be hung drawn and quartered for their attacks on Mr Salmond BEFORE the trial and I suspect that they are well advised to keep their heads below the parapet during this debacle. Sturgeon is in a vulnerable position HOWEVER lots of people associate Mr Salmond with Independence and I think his ordeal may well work out in his (and our) best interests in the end. Then something will be made from the suffering which Mr Salmond and his family have had to endure over the past 3years
@Graeme Hampton – agree with you that if she stood down and a new leader was in place before December then the situation is entirely redeemable.
I was until a couple of weeks ago very much in the camp of ignore NS’s behaviour and focus on a SNP majority to have the best chance of Independence. I started to change partially as more facts were exposed by @Rev Stu and the contributors within the comments section. In my opinion this site works best when it shows facts and the contributors in the comments provide information to back up theories.
The other thing that changed my mind was the realisation that we have a chance to change course right now before Brexit hits in January. It is better to sieze that chance than postpone in the hope that the electorate won’t notice what NS has been up to or in the hope that NS’s strategy of a S30 order will pay off.
We have a small window before Brexit kicks in to elect a leader who will take more direct action. After Brexit happens the route to Indepedence is harder and we may well see Holyrood being stripped and become the new Toom Tabard.
@Lorna Campbell (1.10) –
A very unpleasant but simple answer to your question could be that highly placed people inside the SNP/SG/Civil Service were following orders – it wasn’t for them to reason ‘why’, they just had to get on with it.
You really have to look at one important aspect of this.
When Alex Salmond was cleared by the court of these charges he could blamelesslyy have walked away, head held high. Some claimed his corruption allegations were just part of his defence strategy.
Alex is a politician of many many years experience having served in the “Bear pit”of Westminster. He knows about and has experienced enough to let him know when everything didn’t fit.
He still maintains this was corruption. He knows this like the back of his hand.
He will pursue this to the end because of that belief.
I trust his judgement on this. The evidence is beginning to stack up by the day that he was right.
Nation with a compliant figurehead, an unprincipled establishment, a malevolent justice system and a deceitful media will soon have a vacancy for a Leader.
Ability to achieve independence and immortality essential. Duplicity, maliciousness, indolence, self-importance, narcissism, arrogance, complacency, passivity and servility will disqualify.
‘Corrupt politicians make the other ten percent look bad’. Henry Kissinger
Garavelli Princip says:
Either she knew nothing about his alleged “appalling behaviour” and is therefore wilfully blind or completely incurious or unobservant, or she was well aware of it, but did nothing – until she had achieved her ambition – for whatever purpose it was her ambition.
……………………………….
Great post Garavelli. I think Ms Sturgeon might just be a ‘rotten apple’
You’re doing a grand job Mr Wings and I shall be eternally grateful for all the hard work you put in as well as your ability to make the reading of your research more than palatable.
BUT I do miss you on Twitter with your terse and often very witty comebacks which eedjts often took so much exception, to instead of using the button
BDTT @ 12.57pm
Agree with that, Brian. Why, when someone realises the building is alight & shouts, “Fire!” to alert everyone else, should the crowd then turn on him as if he were the arsonist?
While the actual arsonists remain safely in the shadows & their friends do nothing to extinguish the fire?
Tories asking more q’s over who reminded Sturgeon about
the ‘forgotten’ 29/03/18 meeting
“The Scottish public needs to know who apparently reminded the First Minister of the meeting that she lied about and tried to cover up, and exactly when she was reminded of it.
“If it was a Scottish Government official, for instance her principal private secretary John Somers, then it makes a mockery of her claim that this sordid affair was all SNP business and nothing to do with the government.
“She should also come clean about who else attended this meeting”
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18790591.alex-salmond-inquiry-nicola-sturgeon-facing-new-questions-forgotten-meeting/
Laukat,
I think we all at some point had more faith in Nicola to deliver independence.
Hi David Gray at 1:36 pm.
You typed,
“The misconduct history was to be used internally to stop his selection as he was seen as a serious threat to the Murrells and their agenda. Somewhere down the line someone decided to up this to having him denounced publicly as a sex pest, fuelled by the Metoo move in America.”
A quote from the link below to “Yes Minister Fan Fiction”:
“Perm Sec. You see Minister, all you have to do is destroy your predecessor’s reputation. In the modern “Me Too” atmosphere, you accuse someone of sexual offences and politically they are finished. In fact you can do what you like to him.”
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2020/01/yes-minister-fan-fiction/
Maybe worth a re-read…
@ Rev Stu at 1.14
That was very well said.
“strident despiser of sites like this one and arch-defender of Sturgeon’s woke, moderate, non-nationalist nationalism”
I appear to have been busting my nads to no good purpose. WOKE theory and practice supports the social empowerment of natal women, ethnic minorities, and those otherwise politically marginalised through poverty.
SO THE FM’S POSITION IS HOSTILE TOWARDS WOKE THEORY AND PRACTICE, AS WELL AS OPEN DEMOCRACY AND SCOTLAND’S SELF-DETERMINATION.
My legal position and practice is WOKE, so I’m able to support inclusive open democracy.
https://www.jahr-bioethics-journal.com/index.php/JAHR/article/view/233
Would someone please bring this to the attention of out law makers, who appear determined to separate Scots further from international human rights law, in order to run Scotland as a fiefdom of English Torydum.
European Journal of Bioethics, Issue Vol. 1 No. 1 (2010)
Biomedicine and Human Rights: The Oviedo Convention and its Additional Protocols. Council of Europe Publishing, Strasbourg, 2009.
https://www.jahr-bioethics-journal.com/index.php/JAHR/article/view/246
@Abalha at 12.48: Thanks for the Wikipedia link on SNP Leadership elections – worth a good hard look!
holymacmoses @ 12.20pm
“IF she trusted Alex Salmond implicitly until she was told about his misdemeanours – it begs the question of just how alert (and trustworthy) she actually is NOT to have noticed his appalling behaviour over the 25 years , or so, that she had worked with him.”
Did she suffer from his “apalling behaviour”? Is that what lies behind the whole saga?
“how does
“5. Provide the Deputy First Minister with a report setting out the findings and conclusions with regard to:
i. whether the Ministerial Code is engaged regarding the meetings and discussions;
ii. whether there has been any breach of the Code and the nature of any such breach; and
iii. if a breach has occurred, advice on the appropriate remedy or sanction”
show John Swinney hasn’t directed the panel to tell him if she’s breached the code?”
Because I didn’t say “tell him if she’s breached the code”.
I said “asked to determine whether she lied to Parliament about it”.
There are many ways to breach the Code that don’t involve lying to Parliament. Most of which don’t require resignation. Lying to Parliament does.
Ian Brotherhood says:
13 October, 2020 at 2:00 pm
@Lorna Campbell (1.10) –
A very unpleasant but simple answer to your question could be that highly placed people inside the SNP/SG/Civil Service were following orders – it wasn’t for them to reason ‘why’, they just had to get on with it.
That is precisely what happens with almost all the SNP parliamentarians, the councillors, and the paid office staff.
Orders come down from above and they are obeyed.
For examples, see any instance of the pile on as soon as the leadership throws anybody under a bus.
Clydebuilt says:
13 October, 2020 at 3:29 pm
holymacmoses @ 12.20pm
“IF she trusted Alex Salmond implicitly until she was told about his misdemeanours – it begs the question of just how alert (and trustworthy) she actually is NOT to have noticed his appalling behaviour over the 25 years , or so, that she had worked with him.”
Did she suffer from his “apalling behaviour”? Is that what lies behind the whole saga?
…………………………………….
I should have put ‘appalling behaviour’ in inversion.
I don’t think for a moment that his behaviour was in any way appalling as far as a sexual nature was concerned: he may have lost his rag from time to time – and who’s to blame him with all the ‘cloth-heads’ around him.
I distinctly remember Nicol Sturgeon saying in an interview in
early 2015 that
‘Alex would never do anything to hurt me’
Also, in 2015:
SNP leader takes time out from her visit to the United States to insist the MP for Gordon “has not got a sexist bone in his body”.
So I suspect that the answer to your question is a resounding NO.
OT
I’d forgotten about Liz Lloyd’s involvement in the Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikhs’ problems. 17thh Dec 2016
Leaked email reveals First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s top aide’s discussion over SNP MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh’s tax battle
NICOLA Sturgeon’s top aide became involved in a story about MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh being chased by the taxman, according to a leaked email.
Liz Lloyd, the Chief of Staff to the First Minister, used her government account to email the SNP press office at Westminster within hours of the story breaking in two tabloid newspapers.
It emerged on Wednesday that HMRC had launched a sequestration action against Ms Ahmed-Sheikh, the SNP MP for Ochil & South Perthshire, over debts owed by a law firm.
COVID has been her finest mask.
We simply cannot wait until May next year for the SNP to sort themselves out. Everything comes into focus at the end of the year and we need a dedicated leader in place to fight Scotland’s corner because this is the best chance we will ever have of peacefully regaining our sovereignty.
Article VI of the Treaty of Union states: “That all parts of the United Kingdom for ever from and after the Union shall have the same Allowances Encouragements and Drawbacks and be under the same Prohibitions Restrictions and Regulations of Trade and lyable to the same Customs and Duties on Import and Export And that the Allowances Encouragements and Drawbacks Prohibitions Restrictions and Regulations of Trade and the Customs and Duties on Import and Export settled in England when the Union commences shall from and after the Union take place throughout the whole United Kingdom.”
As the above makes quite clear, Brexit breaks the Treaty of Union and the treaty is therefore no longer binding upon Scotland. Westminster simply does not have a leg to stand on in an international court of law. What Westminster is doing is akin to breaking a cease-fire and then demanding that the nation under attack continues to observe it! Boris Johnson, in his haste to leave the EU, has triggered our release from the United Kingdom and ultimately its dissolution. All we need to do is exert our rights as a people and a sovereign nation. Of course we have been saddled with a feckless leader, but she has (inadvertently) served her purpose by stalling independence and proving beyond doubt with mandate after mandate that independence reflects the (settled) democratic will of the Scottish people. The case for independence is irrefutable. We just need someone (from within the SNP presumably) to step forward who is willing to stand up for Scotland and point out the simple truth of the matter.
Sturgeon does not want independence and neither do the unionists (media, Labour, Tories, etc,,,,), in fact Sturgeon is dead against it.
So it will be interesting to see how they “attack” her while still actually wanting her and her crew to do everything to prevent independence by keeping an ironclad control over the SNP, “the only party that can deliver independence” as everyone keeps saying.
In a normal world, I’d say she’s gone by the end of the weekend if the establishment media has turned. But in these circumstances, where the Family controls the Party and they are onside with the anti-independence goal, I’m betting they’ll tough it out and smash the whole place before going anywhere – and the true believers of course will be there to support them all the way down.
Here’s the full list of the SNP candidates standing in the 32 competitive constituency seats.
Couple of queries, if anyone knows, is Jahingir Hanif, standing in Ayr and Airdrie and Shotts the ‘kalashnikov’ person? And is Qasim Hanif a relation?
Has anyone seen details of Doug Thomson’s, standing in Edinburgh Southern, financial career? He’s placing it at the centre of his campaign but I have singularly failed to find anything, which is odd as you’d expect a Linkedin page.
Of course he’s stood at least 3 times before; 2015/2017/2019
https://archive.is/cBRKS
Abalha @5:03 pm
See that Rhiannon Spear has now got 4 rivals in Argyll & Bute.
In reply to kapelmeister at 513pm yes I saw that.
The fourth candidate is a local Councillor from Oban, Julie McKenzie, my hunch is she will win.
I also would not be surprised if she was encouraged by local members to stand.
Best wishes to Paul WGD for a full recovery
———————————————-
People keep asking what is the reason behind NS actions against AS
HOW’S ABOUT the run up to the 2017 elections where NS STATED the election was NOT about independence but about better government in Scotland, all in order to (as it turned out) retain her leadership and position and reassure NO voters that the SNP were not just about independence
We all know how that turned out, with a DRASTIC fall in SNP votes with people NOT turning out and voting, and many SNP seats were LOST with Alex Salmond’s being one of them, so maybe Alex was sickened by the whole “not indy mantra” and his seat loss, pointed this out to her maj and threatened a challenge to her leadership, NS feels as narcissists do that her way is the RIGHT AND ONLY WAY to do business, so feeling threatened that her queendom may be lost to her predecessor decides to SCUPPER his threat by fill in the blanks
Power MUST be retained at ANY cost
Kapelmeister: will they win out? In the FM’s shoes, I’d try to stick it out till after the 2021 election if I could, and then stand down on a high, assuming we win, and if the evidence promises to implicate her completely. She might not be able to, of course, if more apparently damning evidence follows very soon.
Daisy Walker: Alex Salmond also held out for a S30 Order, but I agree that, this time round, he could well have decided on an election win instead. It was always rather obvious that a second S30 Order would never be granted in the circumstances or that Brexit could ever be overturned, so was the FM playing for time to increase the YES vote? The possibility that NS might have decided to stand again has to be considered in the light of what followed the drawing up of the procedure.
So, was it wholly an ‘inside job’? A stupid and clumsy attempt to discredit AS in case he stood again in front-line politics? Was the FM part of it from day one? Did she view AS’s admitted behaviour as letting the party and the party’s women down? How does that square with the proposed GRA reform which was really letting women down? Was it personal? I think we need more evidence to come firmly to any particular conclusion. What I have never been able to get my head round is the fact that the FM, however you slice and dice it, and given AS’s popularity with the membership and with some MSPs and MPs, there was never any way that she would avoid the fall-out. Had he been convicted, and appealed, it would have been very much worse for her than it is even now, although she, too, has her supporters, both inside and outwith the SNP. Who, ultimately, benefits from having two SNP leaders fall, with no one else in sight, and the likely contenders not even elected? In other words, a rudderless SNP? Remember the Carmichael affair? It was a civil servant who leaked about the meeting with the French ambassador and which was intended to seriously damage the FM and even bring her down.
David Gray: I’m not sure it was meant to go beyond the initial stage of the in-house procedure, which, had it been successful, would have ended NS’s career in politics forever. The civil and criminal cases sent the whole thing spinning into orbit and out of the control of the Scottish government, and beyond the reach of the civil servants who were, by this time, quasi government, as NS had recused herself from the process. So, who insisted that the retrospective nature of the procedure be applied against advice by Whitehall? Who resurrected the initial complaints that had been dealt with by the line manager(s) and for which the women had received apologies, laying the matter to rest – or so it appeared at the time they were laid against NS? Who involved woman A in the final draft of the procedure, tainting her evidence immediately? Where was the legal oversight all along the way?
@Rev Stu
surely one covers the other?
If you’re asking them to tell you if she has breached the ministerial code then lying to parliament is a breach?
As you note, there are a multitude of ways a breach can happen. Without listing every eventuality, it covers all.
I’m very happy for the SNP and Scottish Govt to be scrutinised to every last detail but I’m not sure your complaint about the remit has merit.