The Envious Heart
There was one revealing moment in what was an otherwise nauseatingly sycophantic interview with Nicola Sturgeon by Adam Fleming on BBC2 last night.
And the thing it revealed is what Sturgeon’s book is really about. Because as more and more extracts have found their way into the public domain this week, the overarching theme of “Frankly” has become impossible to miss.
Sturgeon claims to be her own worst critic, so must by now be aware that the historical record will assess her as a resounding failure. Inheriting a golden legacy from Alex Salmond – an SNP in unchallenged command of the political landscape in Scotland, enjoying unparallelled unity, discipline and purpose, soaring party membership and finances, and an incredibly fortuitous set of circumstances, with the Unionist parties in total disarray and Brexit about to detonate at Westminster – she squandered it all and achieved nothing.
Her much-vaunted electoral victories could have been achieved by a bucket of mouldy ham with a yellow rosette on it (given the political weather and the shambolic state of the opposition), but she did nothing with them anyway – she still contrived to lose Salmond’s majority at Holyrood and never regained it, caused no trouble whatsoever in the Commons with 56 out of 59 Scottish MPs, couldn’t extract a single concession for Scotland over Brexit even though Northern Ireland won very favourable exemptions on a much lower Remain vote and the SNP held a critical balance of power during Theresa May’s minority administration, failed to move independence a single step closer or increase support for it despite almost a decade of farcical chaos for the UK, ripped the SNP in half over her mad obsession with gender, oversaw a catastrophic collapse in the competence of domestic governance, tried unsuccessfully to cover up an alleged massive embezzlement of party funds by her husband, misplaced over £600,000 in funding raised for a second referendum (which may or may not be wholly or partly related to the preceding item in this list) and finally left it in the lurch by suddenly resigning without warning, and with no clear successor in place, immediately after assuring everyone she would do no such thing.
Set against that damning catalogue, there’s only the baby box (a nice but ultimately tokenistic gesture benefiting only a tiny proportion of the population, and even them only fleetingly) and the Child Welfare Payment, an admirable policy but one which was actually devised by Alex Neil in 2016 and which Sturgeon had rejected out of hand, so that her actual contribution was delaying its implementation by half a decade.
Sturgeon knows by now that her legacy is already garbage. And with very little hope of resurrecting it now she’s out of power, there’s only one way left to try to save face – trash that of her predecessor, who’s now dead and unable to fight back, and hope she looks better by comparison.
Now, obviously that’s a path she’s been travelling down for some years already, since she made the fateful decision to try to take Alex Salmond out of public life back in 2017 or so, culminating in the disastrous conspiracy that saw the Scottish Government repeatedly humiliated in court and by a whole string of public inquiries and police investigations, no matter how many millions of pounds in public money Sturgeon threw at an ever-growing army of spin doctors.
But the book represents her last desperate roll of the dice, and she’s fired off every weapon she could lay her hands on.
She tried to smear Salmond as a bigot:
Only for the historical record, and those who took the bill into law, to smash the lie.
She also tried, absurdly, to accuse him of leaking the story of his own arrest and charging on false accusations of sexual assault to the press, only for the lie to be instantly crushed even by people who despised Salmond, including the reporter it was leaked to and who’d used it to spew out a series of horrifically lurid front pages, which Sturgeon laughably attempted to portray as Salmond “controlling the narrative”.
She tried to imply he’d actually confessed to some of the crimes he was acquitted of.
(Assisted by a disgraceful piece of weasel-worded smearing from the Herald’s Jody Harrison, who asserts that Salmond had been “acquitted on 12 of the charges, while another was found not proven”. Not Proven is an acquittal verdict in Scots law, identical to Not Guilty. Salmond was acquitted on EVERY charge brought to court.)
But that semantic ploy was deftly eviscerated by Robin McAlpine earlier this week.
She even resorted to petty smears about him being out-debated by Donald Dewar, and running away from Holyrood to Westminster as a result.
And indignantly complaining about his not having read the White Paper, as if he didn’t already know everything in it backwards and inside-out.
(This was in any event no revelation, as he’d said it in full public view on stage almost a year ago, when we were talking at the 10-year-anniversary event at the IMAX in Glasgow. It either meant he trusted her to do the job he’d given her in producing the document, or he knew that while it needed to exist, almost nobody would actually bother reading its 700 incredibly dull pages and he certainly didn’t need to.)
But then we read this.
Now, it was from Kenny “Kezia Dugdale will be the next First Minister” Farquharson, a man who took seriously the idea that Alex Salmond had never read a book in his life (before having to embarrassingly withdraw the column he wrote about that claim and grudgingly apologise) and whose hatred of Salmond is uncontainable to the point where he’ll repeat almost any smear about him as though it were fact, so we weren’t about to take his word for it.
But we checked up and the book does indeed make that claim.
And readers, we can tell you with absolute confidence that that’s complete and utter horseshit of the very smelliest order.
Several years ago, Alex told me personally and in considerable detail about the plan he’d hatched to make sure there WASN’T a devo-max option. It involved feeding the idea, “in confidence”, that he DID want such an option to a soft-right-wing Unionist businessman with whom he was friendly – “He was a Tory, but he was a decent lad”, said Alex – but through whom he knew the idea would nevertheless swiftly pass (via George Osborne, to whom the person was close) to David Cameron.
(Wings knows the identity of the person in question, and indeed the specific route via which the information would travel, but we’re withholding it for now.)
The plan unfolded exactly as Salmond had intended, and Cameron duly insisted on a two-option vote. Which raises a number of interesting possibilities.
One, of course, is simply that Sturgeon is flat-out lying. Given the number of lies in “Frankly” that have already been exposed (see above for a selection), that’s distinctly credible as an explanation. She doesn’t offer any sort of quote or evidence for her suggestion that Salmond “viewed it as a real option”, and it’s remarkable hubris for her to imagine that he was unaware of all the practical problems with the idea that she lists in the next paragraph.
(Or indeed that having fought tirelessly his whole life for independence, and having miraculously achieved a vote on it, he’d willingly throw that chance away to include a lesser option that would be overwhelmingly likely to win.)
A more intriguing one, though, was that Salmond had concealed that plan even from Sturgeon. Was he just playing his cards close to his chest, as he was naturally wont to do, or on some level did he not trust her with it? Perhaps he just didn’t want to burden her “personal journey” with any more baggage.
To talk about someone else for almost half of what’s supposed to be your own autobiography is very revealing. And what it specifically reveals in this case is that the real aim of “Frankly” is to try to methodically rubbish every possible aspect of Alex Salmond’s memory so that Sturgeon isn’t so hopelessly outshone by it. She can never repair her reputation, so she’s trying to drag his down to her level by calling him a liar, a coward, a bigot and a sex criminal.
It’s plain that she’s both embarrassed and bitter about the failure of the conspiracy to disgrace and imprison him, which is why the book sets out to finish the job in the secure knowledge that he can no longer answer back.
Readers can rest assured, though, that Alex Salmond’s shadow still looms large over Nicola Sturgeon in more ways than one, and that his voice survives him. Sturgeon’s book is officially out today, but the story it tries to dictate is very far from over, and her “personal journey” may have a less pleasant final destination than she imagines.
The owner of the last laugh is yet to be determined.
I think it’s quite simple. The book was ghost-written, using Google, and NS was too lazy to check it.
I couldn’t agree with you more
I’m praying that Alex Salmond’s legal team can smash every single lie and liar. Not only by Sturgeon but the entire MSM which failed to report the defence evidence and every other fact about the bunch of incompetents [and worse] in government and throughout Holyrood, in the legal establishment, and everywhere else that the truth is routinely abused.
Please God, let us get some decent, principled, honest people into Holyrood next May. Spread the word about Liberate Scotland’s team.
The word “sturgeon” in future will not only be indicative of a deep sea fish, but will represent a veritable smorgasbord of horrendous crimes
Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond. What a man; what a politician; what a loss.
absolutely 100% correct.
Agreed. And aren’t these scum of the earth Yoon ‘journalists’ revelling in the pigshit created by the assorted creatures of the ‘UK’ establishment?
I was lead to believe that Alex would spill the beans once he was cleared of the allegations against him. My assumption was that he would write a book? Obviously his death would have put a hold on any revelations etc. We still don’t have the full story on this but are we likely to to especially as Sturgeon is getting a free rein.
“Sturgeon’s book is officially out today, but the story it tries to dictate is very far from over, and her “personal journey” may have a less pleasant final destination than she imagines.”
“The owner of the last laugh is yet to be determined.”
I do hope that you are correct and note this
“A spokesman for the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service told The Herald last night that the case has now been sisted until September 19 this year.”
from The Herald from article from 25th June this year entitled
“Police probe into evidence to Salmond inquiry ‘ongoing'”
MI5 still protecting her then?
She will ever be known as the biggest Massey Ferguson Scotland has produced.
And Ronnie, she might even be a John Dere for all we know.
Best regards D
Glad you have read it – I have no intention of reading that tosh. Ty for taking one for the team.
What a truly despicable person she is. She’s not fit to lace Alex Salmond’s boots. Nor does she seem to care about the hurt that this will cause to Moira Salmond and the rest of Alex family.
He was a giant amongst politicians, she is a pigmy and an utter failure.
Yes – I’ve been thinking a lot about Moira over the past few days. What a despicable creature Sturgeon is – beneath contempt.
Indeed, Marie. Moira and the rest of his family have maintained a dignified silence that speaks volumes.
Stu, have you ever considered writing a book about the last 15 years of the SNP. Your research methods are amazing. You have detail for everything.
I dont want it to be anti “Frankly”, but it feels as if it could.
I’d buy it.
Go on, it would be a best seller
Sturgeon has thrown the pin while holding onto the grenade.
Brilliantly put.
For me I’m sick and tired of hearing about her and her book. Time to move on the more we talk about her and her book the more likely people are to buy it.
“tried unsuccessfully to cover up an alleged massive embezzlement of party funds by her husband”
The husband she dumped once he was no longer useful / became a liability for her. Stand by your man? Nope. Nicola looks after Nicola alone.
From the SNP’s website – Delivering progress: 100 top achievements of the SNP in government.
64. A majority-female Cabinet. Since 2023 the Scottish Government’s Cabinet consists of a majority of women.
So?
Girls not women.
“the Scottish Government’s Cabinet consists of a majority of women”
Do they actually make that claim using these words?
If they do, then it’s ludicrous, given that they can’t define what a woman is.
‘To talk about someone else for almost half of what’s supposed to be your own autobiography is very revealing. And what it specifically reveals in this case is that the real aim of “Frankly” is to try to methodically rubbish every possible aspect of Alex Salmond’s memory so that Sturgeon looks good by comparison. She can never repair her reputation, so she’s trying to drag his down to her level by calling him a liar, a coward, a bigot and a sex criminal.’
That is true. But it might also be what the publisher/editor wanted, because Salmond is a name that will not be “here today, gone tomorrow”… I would even wager that a publisher would want a sort of Sturgeon/Salmond book (with Salmond on the front cover alongside her), only Nicola probably had to fess up that this would be rather awkward for her, given that she might be held accountable soon.
I have seen the odd paragraph or so, and it is very poorly written. It reads like one of the passages you used to have to translate into French school: “I did this and then I did this. I went to school and then I went home”.
I remember in this very space, years ago, I made the point that Sturgeon did not seem very well-read, as she does not make any references to “knowledge” when she speaks (unlike Salmond, Thatcher and many other “real” politicians). Lo and behold, it was after I published these remarks here that she was reinvented as a bookreader and even had some sort of blog (?) about it. Wonder if Liz Lloyd reads the comments for her?
There are three politicians whose physiognomy struck warning bells for me the moment I saw them. Tony Blair, Vladimir Putin and Nicola Sturgeon. Nicola reminded me of someone who lived on our street (sounds a bit Miss Marple, but it actually turned out to be this way).
“The former first minster had already successfully sued the government in 2019 over its mishandling of complaints against him, with the probe ruled to be “tainted with apparent bias”.
He was awarded £500,000 in costs for that case”
———————————————
Does Sturgeon mention and comment on this?
Nicola Stonewall.
Stonewall, interesting meaning in the dictionary.
T SHIRTS ARE IN at the Edinburgh Festival, none will be printed INDEPENDENCE ACTION.
Some Scots appear to care more about foreign wars than the far more important existential struggle at home.
Wish I had thought of that.
What a money maker. There’s one born everyday. £££££££
Hmmm talking of money spinners how a T shirt with selected quotes from Professor Baird, on colonialism?
It’ll be a proper lassie magnet…
“Tell me more about colonial oppression and the works of Fanon”, said no fit bird ever…
How about you design one, “Stuart”, with a slogan promoting the benefits of unionism on it?
Blank T-shirts are cheaper to buy.
Is it The National that are selling them?
I don’t know who’s selling them but hats off. £20 a wip probably cost a 50 pence each. The Lefty’s are a commodity ripe for exploitation.
“Some Scots appear to care more about foreign wars”
It’s far more revealing that’s why & it’s all relative. Far more info looking outside than in. The outside press is far more informative.
Independence is only for wee diddly countries that neighbour & surround R, no one else. So the Anglo American..oops, I meant NATO & it’s five minions can move in for some (Permanent) free real estate, a military base or five, a refueling base, a training ground, a large smattering of bio labs, a legion of intelligence bases for the three horsemen of the apocalypse to listen in & monitor 24/7 & compare notes on what ‘nationalist’ uprising had a shit last & what crap they can trigger to curtail it, assassinate it or overthrow it, some illegal – under the radar torture chambers & a legion of NGOs & charities spooks in everyone’s parliaments – intelligence gathering, writing hit pieces for the foreign owned press or indulging in a spot of lawfare & policy advice. Oor Nicolas wee conspiracy against Salmond & the Gender woo a prime example of it in action.
Scotland has all of that already so we’re already captured with no hope of escape until the Anglo American/Mossy is removed from it’s hegemony, the world bank & the IMF policies of fucked up think tanks advising government policy, foreign policy & their noses forcibly removed from everyone else’s country.
Colonialism is still alive & well & with the same arswipes as it’s always had since Bretton woods.
The geno-cide also confirms the USA & the super moralistic ‘International community’ couldn’t give a rats ass about atrocities, famine, human rights abuses, democracy, crimes against humanity or even following their own rules of the UN charter, the EU charter, NATO charter or the Geneva convention.
So basically we’re fecked on independence until there is a new word order & a reset.
The UN has voted so many times on Palestine & it hasn’t made a blind bit of difference. Majority ignored. Democracy denied – yet look at the shitshow in U. Not a member of the EU. Not a member of NATO, not even a democratically elected President – yet everyone falling over themselves to kill as many Us as possible in their quest to get their mitts on R & colonise it.
We’ve missed this post, Geri. It is the same post you used to do almost nightly. The same made up points. The same hysterical language. The same “it’s all a stitch up conspiracy and we’re all fecked and the NWO beneath our beds is stopping us from voting for Indy” bollocks.
The same time zone too (posted at 3:27 AM).
Whassa matter really? Are you worried that President Trump is about to carve poot a new one?
Anyhoo, welcome back. Any news on the F-16’s? What’s the latest on the biolabs? Where do you stand these days on your wish to be known as Barbie (or Barbs to your online friends)?
“Rangers malicious prosecution payouts could top £60 million”
Any comment/mention of this?
It may not be mentioned in Sturgeon’s book, but it’s been mentioned several times before.
EG.
link to wingsoverscotland.com
What’s your views on it?
“Dan says:
What’s your views on it?”
————————————-
Simple – I don’t think there should be any malicious prosecutions.
That’s a quick* and short response. Can you elucidate a bit more on the subject, seeing as it’s clear there have been prosecutions that appear to be motivated by political and ideological leanings.
* Does everyone else have to wait up to 20 minutes for their posts to appear?
It’s just that I see some responses to some posts coming in very quickly and wonder how that can happen when it takes ages for the site to update and show posts.
Wordpress has a function where mods/admin can put individuals on an “awkward user” setting, which is basically designed to piss the user off by slowing down site response and functionality to the point they leave because it just so shit to use the site.
” Dan says:
Can you elucidate a bit more on the subject, seeing as it’s clear there have been prosecutions that appear to be motivated by political and ideological leanings.”
——————————————
I have no interest at all in The Rangers case apart form the fact it cost the Scottish Gov a hell of a lot of money.
Therefore “I don’t think there should be any malicious prosecutions.” is a full and accurate response to your question.
Okay, rather evasive response there. So if you think here shouldn’t be any malicious prosecutions, what’s your views on why certain folk haven’t been prosecuted when there is a fairly clear case against them. EG What looks to all intents and purposes as perjury in Salmond case.
This site has stated nothing can really happen with regard to Scotland returning to self-governance until justice for Salmond is delivered. Sturgeon getting a shitload of media exposure to further tarnish Salmond just shows how silly it is to create hurdles to progressing the cause of returning Scotland to self-governance whereupon proper justice could begin to actually be delivered.
“Dan says:
14 August, 2025 at 6:32 pm
Okay, rather evasive response there. So if you think here shouldn’t be any malicious prosecutions, what’s your views on why certain folk haven’t been prosecuted when there is a fairly clear case against them. EG What looks to all intents and purposes as perjury in Salmond case.”
——————————————
They should be charged and prosecuted.
You cornered it there for a meenit, Dan.
Rabbit. Headlights.
“£60 million”
Taxpayer’s money, x.
I can’t be arsed to look up how much taxpayer’s billions gets firehosed about by the HR numpties in any year, but I’m confident £60 million is less than the rounding error on the total.
Isn’t there another big compo bill coming down the pipe that will make £60 million look like a cheap night out? I’m thinking about the fall-out from the jam jar recycling wheeze.
Whatever, I’m thinking that when they’re laughing about it at the HR water coolers, some wag will say “It’s only 2 PM. By 6 PM tonight, the grafters of Scotland will have made up through their taxes everything we can screw up this afternoon”.
And they’ll be right.
For sale; second hand £6m door.
Got to hand (snigger) it to you, James. You’re the master something or other of the one-handed reply.
Hope you can keep it up. Giggity!
Got to hand ( 🙂 ) it to you, James. You’re the master something or other of the one-handed reply.
Hope you can keep it up. Giggity.
Heres the probable truth of the whole matter:
Anthony Clare (r.i.p.): And so Nicola, what can you tell me about your relationship with your father, or your mother?
” Wark claimed there had “almost been a thread of coercive control” from Salmond running through the book which she asked Sturgeon about. The former first minister replied: “I wouldn’t describe it as that.
“He was an incredibly strong and charismatic individual and for much of my life he was a force for good. He encouraged me to reach beyond what I would have considered my abilities to be, he pushed me on. I once said ages ago he believed in me before I believed in myself and all of that is true. I try to be true to that in the book and not to rewrite history.”
She went on to describe how Salmond’s approval and disapproval of her impacted her greatly, something she came to realise through getting counselling.
She said: “What I do think is that I realised a couple of times, even after I was first minister, that his approval mattered to me and his disapproval knocked my confidence and I think latterly, he probably played on that a little bit, but that was something I realised was there through my psychologist.”
————————————————-
Oh really!
Frankly has been a disaster for Sturgeon. Friends and foes are disgusted by its contents.
Wholeheartedly agree – it has done her no good whatsoever.
How many ruddy programmes and media comments is this effin’ book going to get ? Are there still those starstruck ,dumbstruck by this nasty wee wummin’?
They will stop very very soon.
Of course she will then have panic attacks, bouts of self doubt and depression, a sexual identity crisis, a career malfunction, counselling and a steady slide into oblivion etc. etc..
You missed oot a court case.
Nicola would be remembered here with more respect if she’d gone quietly. Or, at least, written a respectful memoir. But this out and out lying and smearing, whilst playing into the hands of the MSM and British state, has hopefully finished her for ever here in Scotland.
But maybe, just maybe, her move to London is about reaping the rewards of her sabotaging Alex Salmond in particular and Scotland in general.
Joanna Cherry’s memoirs and the coming court case are to be welcomed.
Money!
To think that we elected this psychotic self obsessed narcissist to destroy our beautiful country and cause such division with her deviant and perverted sexual proclivities is extremely disappointing
Maybe some of you did but I never voted for Sturgeon/SNP.
Just out of interest, who did you vote for and why?
Calm doon TH.
Scotland has not been destroyed.
It would be nice to think that the trusting gullibility of many Scots MAY have been destroyed, but frankly (haha) it’s too early to say.
We’ll get some evidence for or against that in May 2026.
On a lighter note.
Scotlands financial black hole is so big that Star Trek Voyager has been sighted over Leith.
Hmm, who to believe… Part of the political class that the public don’t have trust in churning out endless often contradictory blogs…
“There is virtually no civic movement left. We don’t have prominent leaders in their professions or communities who regularly act as public advocates of independence.”
And jist why might that be? It couldn’t possibly be because the “Indy intelligentsia” have their heads so far up their arses they wouldn’t recognise anybody outside the bubble of their own wee clique that might actually be worth supporting.
link to robinmcalpine.org
Test
“Dan says @ 6:32 pm 14 August, 2025:
Okay, rather evasive response there. So if you think here shouldn’t be any malicious prosecutions, what’s your views on why certain folk haven’t been prosecuted when there is a fairly clear case against them. EG What looks to all intents and purposes as perjury in Salmond case.”
::
We still do open courts & jury trials in Scotland, don’t we?
The lifelong anonimity orders put in place by Lady Dorrian protecting the identities of all the Alphabetties, including the “alleged” perjurer, mean that the case couldn’t be prosecuted in open court & in front of a jury because it would breach said anonimity order.
The snake eats itself.
You’re answering your own point there, and confirming Dan’s. Was that the intention?
AnneMarie Ward writes a piece today that, I feel, reads very well alongside Stu’s excellent article. Both articles are about Sturgeon, both about ‘Frankly’ and both equally damning, but for different reasons.
link to substack.com
BTW, I think I’d like Moira to have the last laugh.
And I hope she gets the opportunity.
That is an accurate damning assessment of Sturgeon.
Thanks for the link.
You might like this one too, it’s about renewable energy and windfarms:
link to dearscotland.substack.com
I particularly love Leah’s accurate description of the current Scottish Administration:
“Our glorified council is content to stay in its devolved playpen pretending to be a government.”
Ward’s piece betrays her ignorance.
Drug deaths (and suicides and deaths from alcohol) in Scotland and elsewhere have been named deaths of despair.
Research (Allik et al, McCartney/Walsh et al highligh that socioeconomic conditions play a crucial role in these deaths.
“Since the 1980s the Scottish economy has undergone major changes, such as the substantial loss of heavy industry jobs, and the financial crisis of 2007 and subsequent imposition of austerity measures, significantly affecting employment and income levels. The links between economic opportunities and mortality from drugs, alcohol and suicide have been made before. The impact of economic recessions on suicides and alcohol abuse is well documented [35, 36] and evidence also suggest increased disorders from illicit drug use during economic downturns [37]. In addition, those of lower SES may be more likely to experience depression or substance use disorders during recessions [37, 38], supporting our findings of high socio-economic inequalities in mortality from suicides, drugs and alcohol. The impact of economic change on health can also be very long-lasting. For example, the cohort of men born in Scotland between 1960 and 1980 and affected by the neoliberal policies of the 1980s have experienced high drug and suicide mortality also in the 1990s and early 2000s, decades after the economic changes [30, 31].”
link to equityhealthj.biomedcentral.com
Sure Sam. You like to repeatedly post this kind of mince at regular intervals. Presumably you believe we forget you’ve said it all before if you leave the gap long enough.
It’s all about the abdication of personal responsibility and making government responsible for the health, happiness and well-being of the citizens. It’s all about celebrating the idea that if government isn’t showering the citizens with free stuff, then the citizens have no choice but to stupefy themselves and adopt destructive lifestyles that put them in an early grave.
And all of this going on in parallel with a steady influx of new citizens who can’t believe their luck at having fallen on their feet in such a utopian paradise.
But thanks for the insight into why our government(s) are so keen on the Great Replacement. I guess it’s only a matter of time before the New Brits and New Scots, as they do all the work and pay all the taxes, look around at the millions of “victims” greetin about Thatcher, neurodiversity, booze and how unfair it all is, and decide they will be doing us a favour by putting us out of our misery.
Says the best producer of ‘mince’ currently posting….
Hatey: the drug situation is dire, and yes, I do believe part of it, at least, is down to economic and other social factors creating a culture of ‘despair’. However, drug taking is also a lifestyle choice for some, and a bravado venture leading to addiction, for others, and quite how dishing out the substitute, methadone, for thirty years helps anyone come off drugs, let alone live a productive life, must be open to question. The money could be better spent on creating proper drug treatment centres in every town, small and large, and several in the cities.
The other problem, which no one really ever addresses is just how the drugs culture spread throughout Scotland. Addicts and dealers were removed from social housing in the cities and large towns, as means of respite for their neighbours, and replanted in social housing in the small, rural towns and villages top and down the country to “disperse the problem”. This had the effect of spreading it wider, of course, with dealers sourcing new ways to bring drugs in, and, now, everywhere in Scotland has its own contingent of regular drug users. No government has, or had, the cojones to tackle the problem head on, ever, just as they never tackle endemic poverty.
I remember well meeting Nicola Sturgeon for the very first time when she stood on the co-leadership platform with Mr Salmond, and I did think then that she was nervous and lacking a bit in confidence. Her speech was good, but she lacked Salmond’s ability to capture the audience – which, to be fair, few did, anyway.
What struck me then – and I accept that hindsight is a great thing – she did not persuade me that she believed thoroughly in independence. I cannot, even now, pinpoint why I thought that, but it was a strong intuition, if you want. In any case, I did vote for them as a duo on the Salmond ticket because he was the only person in all of those who stood for the leadership at that point who could ever have brought Scotland to independence.
It was only later that I found out that Roseanne Cunningham was supposed to have been his running mate and thought that he had ditched her in favour of Sturgeon, but was told that Sturgeon had stated that she would stand against him and that would have split the SNP, with the youth vote going to Sturgeon. At least, that was what I was told. I do not know at first hand.
I worked with Mr Salmond – not for him – in a small way, and always found him affable, helpful and very, very decent and polite in all his dealings. He was, personally, a great help to me and was generous with his time. I believed then, and continue to believe, that there was, and is, no one else to match him for political acumen inn modern times, and it is my hope that he will receive, eventually, his due for all that he did for us. Alongside Bruce, Wallace, de Moray, Isobel, Lady Buchan and many others, he is a Scottish national hero. One day, all of Scotland will see that and he will join that illustrious roll call. We all have feet of clay, being human, and none of us is a saint, but Alec Salmond was a political giant whose kept Scotland inn his heart.
Fascinating – thank you for that.
Ian McWhirter has written an article about why he thinks Sturgeon was never a Nationalist.
link to open.substack.com
Aye, but this is the same McWhirter, so one has to question his perception barometer.
link to conter.scot
Sigh, link in previous post caught the pesky word moderation filter.
So here’s a link to Eva’s page.
link to oneleggedwomanspeaks.uk
She didn’t include the ferries, but could have also included many other matters such as loss of Grangemouth refinery, Alexander Dennis coachworks, hydrogen giveaway…
NuSNP – Wronger for Scotland when their gravy bus is likely a foreign built imported model rather than a home built one.
It’s a damning indictment of the lack of technical vision of our supposed leaders (both elected and in more general civic terms) that Scotland just continues to bimble along on the same shitshow trajectory when so many other more sensible options could be taken.
He is right, I think. I don’t believe she ever was, either. As a youngster – 13 years old – I joined the SNP and, looking back, it seemed that it was all about the heart at that time. Only later did I re-examine my motives for doing so, and decided that it was both heart and sense. Scotland was not thriving in the Union. The argument for independence was, and is irrefutable on every level. As I said earlier, something about that hustings prior to the joint leadership election gave me the powerful impression that she was not engaged at all, and had she been standing alone, I would never have voted for her in a month of Sundays purely because she did not convince me. Mr Salmond, on the other hand, always gave off vibes that he held Scotland and her independence as paramount and sacred.
As I said earlier, too, it seemed odd for him to drop the experienced and centre ground Roseanna Cunningham as a running mate in favour of the relatively inexperienced and ideologically left-wing Ms Sturgeon, but, if it is true that she threatened to stand against him, it makes sense when you consider that she did command a fairly large youth vote and had a loyal coterie of her peers around her already. It could not have been accidental that she came to the co-leadership role so early in her political career.
The fact that the BBC produced a programme about the Salmond case and did not report the defense evidence or comment on the case of perjury tells you the BBC was on Sturgeons side.
Later they interviewed her and she rubbished the jury findings unchallenged.
The BBC clearly had her back, what does this tell you!!!
What leak at Faslane?
Thank you, Rev, for a great article. Nice to see you’ve still got it. 😉
And thank you ‘Nae Need!’ for your substack link (at 7:30 pm) about that Skank and her book.
‘SKANKLY’
The extent of the wall to wall MSM coverage of Sturgeon and her book tell you all you need to know about how this is a three line establishment line to continue to destroy Alex Salmond and by association the very good government he ran up till the referendum.
Salmond ran them close, closer than we dare think and for that he and the indy movement had to be destroyed lest they came back.
The case against him and others, an SNP utterly hollowed out in its commitment to independence is no accident whatsoever.
And Sturgeon, she was an odious tool of it.
Oh look! 5 years jail for a £630,000 fraud, in Scotland!
link to bbc.co.uk
Clearly not a party member.
You have to remember what Sturgeon said Wed 24 Feb 2021
“The behaviour complained of was found by a jury not to constitute criminal conduct and Alex Salmond is innocent of criminality, but that doesn’t mean the behaviour complained of didn’t happen and I think it’s important that we don’t lose sight of that.”
Does she mention that in her Book of Lies?
Spaceman Spiff!
I try to resist pejorative comment for comment sake but doesn’t Sturgeon now look like a fat wee sleeve ball.
There’s nothing feminine about the way she looks now and the recent appearance in a dungaree style outfit just added to the look.
No doubt there will be many flesh pots in London to allow her to indulge in whatever she indulges in.
One thing for sure this wee fat sleaze bag is no daughter of Scotland.
And that is now obvious to all.
Nice one Stu! Like somebody here suggested, you really ought to write a book about about the whole Indyref campaign and aftermath
And the post title – is it a sly reference to a book by a well-known lady author?
Nicola always plays the victim. A classic trait of the narcissist.
She also gaslights at every opportunity. She can produce fake empathy at the drop of a hat.
Nothing She says can be believed. If she said it was morning. I would need to check the clock and look out the window.
Don’t be surprised by what she writes. Lying is like breathing to her.
Most importantly she doesn’t care who she crushes to save herself.
Well well well ..
The no doubt-book publisher promoted book fest of “It wisnae me frankly” continues apace tonight on the telly.
As usual SHE whose name shall not be uttered sides with the “most stigmatised element of society” in her opinion- no not men – but trannies who are all things nice and sugar and spice while real men are no more than snails and puppy dogs tails.
They are so lovely, (forget beheading TERFS; trannies will have their moments of high spirits and cancelling anyone not in their polycule) and SHE just isnae for backing down ; just regretting it wasn’t undertaken even more under the voters radar..
I would advert SHE / them / its attention to the list of tutu skirt wearing predators in women’s jails outlined in yesterday’s article by the Rev.
Such love, kindness (with a capital K) and state funded kiddy indoctrinating BS.
Remember now and say thank you Nikla as you wait hour upon hour in cash strapped NHS A&E departments..
She is beyond redemption, opacification in speech is her trademark but “frankly” other than the Guardian who is going to employ her/ she/ non binary it now?
I’d bet she’ll head across to the US once Lahndun has sussed her out.l for what SHE is.
Stepping back in time if I may; I remember in the heady days of Independence support Lahnduns media couldn’t decry her enough.
Strange now she’s effed up the Independence political route now how in thrall of her they appear.
Don’tcha think?
Curiouser and curiouser.
And I’ve last point/ pebble rolling about in her Doc Martin boots, now he’s been discarded like a used snot rag;
#Where is sneaky Pete??
Well said rev
FRANKly dun it an’ shut the feckin door efter himsel….
At last Nicola Sturgeon has common ground with JK Rowling.
Both writes books of fiction.
She didn’t even have the Baby Box.
That was Salmonds idea & sent someone out to research it (sorry I can’t remember his name now, Macdonald? It was on Prism a year or so ago. Yvonne Ridley will know as she reported the story. Sturgeon later implemented it. That one was incapable of fresh ideas of her own.
A serial failure indeed – or as I suspect, a plant & a massive success for the British state. No one could miss that many open goals for indy by accident, remove democracy from the membership almost immediately on gaining power, swamp the SNP with fuckwits who’d struggle stacking shelves at Lidl, shuffled failures around from on department to the another, pursued fcked up policies, pursued even bigger fcked up court cases & lost not just the case but a shit load of money, invoked section 35 & rendered the current SNP mob completely irrelevant, intolerant & unelectable. She’s obviously still working for them if all she can think to write about is to slur Alex Salmond further than she already has. What a cretin. She hasn’t anything else to fill the pages tho.
She’s a narcissist. Narcissists are pathological liars & confabulaters. What they don’t know they’ll fill in themselves to make their wee shit life sound more interesting than it actually is. They’re also masters at holding a grudge & woe betide anyone who crosses them. She’ll still be taking about Salmond twenty years from now cause no journalist will ever put her achievements under the spot light cause there aren’t any. Just a decade of twiddling her thumbs doing nothing but plotting with Evans while Salmonds policies were being finalised through Holyrood.
“What they don’t know they’ll fill in themselves to make their wee shit life sound more interesting”
Further comment superfluous.
Interesting that this “Geri” account is back posting again. It seemed to go offline at a time that suspiciously coincided with a major strike in the Middle East.
Aye right and Rule Brittania ya feckin troll.
GM; seconded. Well said.
WTF? LOL!!
Piss off, ya rocket.
For your information, not that I ever need to justify my clocking in & out times to you trolls, but I’ve had two family bereavements in quick succession & had some time away.
I see the Britnat trolls are still running rampant around here. *Yawns* Far more informative & interesting posters have been banned for far less than the contempt you show other people around here. What’s yer secret?
As for the strike in the ME, well it wouldn’t have been little old blighty – they’re impotent, they’ve kack aww knob & couldn’t strike a match without permission – so go sit down & have a fapp to yersel over images of a manufactured famine & snipper bullets. It’s right up the Britnats street for a fun day out is that … Tosser!
Well said Geri.
Agreed Marie, Geri has a way of putting these Scotland Haters in their place
@ Geri sorry to hear about your bereavements hope you are well
Thanks twathater.
You’ve hit the nail on the head.
There is definitely an opportunity for somebody with the talent to produce a fringe play on Nicola Sturgeon- The Real Interview. All the subsidiary questions that never get asked.
Or even perhaps an interview with Salmond – what would he say from the grave.
Great idea. Alex Salmond speaking from the grave. Now that could enlighten a few folks.
Folks would love to hear what was actually going on.
Or what about the press giving huge coverage to Joanna Cherry’s upcoming memoirs.
One thing for sure it is important to get the truth out to counteract the foul spin.
brilliant article, as usual.
J K Rowling has published her review of ‘Frankly’ (on jkrowling.com). Well worth a read. I would pay good money to see them debate.
Ms Rowling maintains that Sturgeon was “… consumed by a single, overriding ambition. In Nicola’s case, it’s independence for Scotland. “
I think most folks in the know now tend to go along with more astute political commentators who believe there is plenty of evidence that Nicola Sturgeon was in fact “the saviour of the Union”.
link to iainmacwhirter.substack.com
In reality if she and the SNP leadership were nationalists, and as in any other former colony, Scotland would have been independent after the first elected national majority of Scottish MPs in 2015.
Ms Rowling also fails to see the irony that in her funding the ‘No’ campaign she helped bring about a dubious colonial administration led by a ‘co-opted national party’ which according to Frantz Fanon: ‘takes the movement up a blind alley’ and implements ‘policies that mystify the people’ in order ‘to make it look busy’, attacking its own supporters and eventually succeeding in ‘rupturing the movement’.
In other words the root cause of the last decade’s various ‘mystifying’ Holyrood laws imposed on Scots including on gender ideology was the ‘No’ vote in 2014; had we voted Yes we would surely have had to spend the time rebuilding an exploited and under-developed colonial Scotland.
Another weapon of the colonialist masters is to get a dithering old fool to rabbit on endlessly.
Stop rabbiting on then, Mark.
As Mac Whirter writes SHE WAS NEVER A NATIONALIST.
How many active in the SNP actually are?
Did Alex Salmond not refer to the 90min nationalism at sports?
For many that is enough adrenaline.
@ Alf Baird, 15 Aug, 1.10 pm.
« Ms Rowling maintains that Sturgeon was “consumed by a single, overriding ambition. In Nicola’s case, it’s independence for Scotland.“ » « I think most folks in the know now tend to go along with more astute political commentators who believe there is plenty of evidence that Nicola Sturgeon was in fact “the saviour of the Union”. »
——————
Agreed, Alf. JK Rowling’s piece was actually rather disappointingly low in literary élan whatever her views. But more to the point, your quote reveals her strikingly deficient insight into who Nicola actually is. Thus she misses the (almost hilarious) glaring irony that though they were polarised regarding self-ID — and genuine thanks indeed to JK for that — they were nonetheless effectively on the same side regarding Scottish independence. Regarding which (lost my source) I just read somewhere a day or so ago that in 2014 JK Rowling gave a million to Gordon Brown to help him stymie the independence movement.
@ Alf
There is also the reap what you sow irony that JKR made her fortune by saturating both old and young minds of oor society with fantasy bullshit; So it’s hardly a surprise that quite so many melts now believe in nonsensical crud like the genderwoowoo.
In hindsight, society might be in a better place if instead of knocking out poundshop Tolkeinesque guff, she could have parasitically latched onto the Haynes Manual genre, and created volumes of books on how to actually build and fix things.
My source for the anti-independence million pound donation was GROUSE BEATER:
« I put the snub aside and kept in mind she had established a women’s refuge in the city as a better sanctuary than the contentious, badly supervised official one, proving she was prepared to put her money where her mouth is. This I balanced with the disappointment that in 2014 she had handed a reported one million pounds to her friend Gordon Brown to assist the Labour party in its death struggle with Scotland’s liberation. »
link to grousebeater.wordpress.com
Folks can read for themselves from Doctor in politics, Scottish-French author Christophe Dorigne-Thomson
“How Pre-Independence “Civic Nationalism” Became a Colonial Instrument of British i.e. English Transnational Subjugation against Scotland, a crime against Scots, a Weapon of English Settler Colonialism, & Engineered the Rigging of the 2014 Referendum Against the Scottish Nation. The Scottish National Party (SNP) played a central role in enabling this structure.”
link to nitter.net
Sturgeons complete lack of Nationalist drive, and utter complicity with the demands of the British State has lead us directly to where we are today. 🙁
BBC sources confirmation of donations:
(BBC 2014) SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE: ROWLING DONATES £1m TO PRO-UK GROUP
Author JK Rowling has made A £1m donation to help fund the campaign against Scottish independence.
The writer of the Harry Potter books, who lives in Edinburgh, has publicly backed the Better Together campaign.
Explaining her decision on her website, Ms Rowling said there was a “denial of risks” within the “Yes” campaign.
She also said there was a “fringe of nationalists who like to demonise anyone who is not blindly and unquestionably pro-independence”.
Voters in Scotland will go to the polls on 18 September to decide on their country’s future.
They will be asked the “Yes/No” question: “Should Scotland be an independent country?”
“The more I listen to the ‘Yes’ campaign, the more I worry about its minimisation and even denial of risks. Whenever the big issues are raised – our heavy reliance on oil revenue if we become independent, what currency we’ll use, whether we’ll get back into the EU – reasonable questions are drowned out by accusations of ‘scaremongering'”.
Alex Salmond says JK Rowling can donate money to whatever she pleases after hearing of her £1m donation to the Better Together campaign
link to bbc.com
—————
Also previous £1m donation:
(BBC 2008) POTTER AUTHOR IN £1m LABOUR GIFT —
Harry Potter author JK Rowling has donated £1m to the Labour Party, the party has announced.
Ms Rowling said she was motivated by Labour’s record on child poverty and opposed a Conservative plan to give tax breaks to married couples.
Her donation will boost Gordon Brown as he tries to calm unrest among party members at Labour’s annual conference.
Mr Brown said he was delighted to have the backing of “one of the world’s greatest ever authors”.
JK Rowling, whose fortune was estimated at £560 million in this year’s Sunday Times Rich List, is known to be a personal friend of Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah.
TURABDIN: How many active in the SNP actually are?
A very good question.
Out of the 43 so called ‘rebel party branches’ I reckon none.
The branches are (mostly) just panicking about the fact that the leadership haven’t mentioned ‘independence’ enough times yet to dupe enough people into voting SNP 1 & 2.
The line was “90 minute patriots” coined by Jim sillars, if I mind right, and by christ he was right, Scotland is full of them. And “80 minute patriots” as well, obvs.
Rowling is a colonialist and appears to be unaware of her own complicity in the subjugation and oppression of the Scots.
Perhaps all colonialists are unaware of their own contemptible behaviour towards those folk who they, in their superiority delusion, think themselves somehow better than… although I doubt their ignorance will spare them the wrath of God.
For as the Old Testament tells us (aye, it seems the ghost o that thrawn auld meenister o the church is loitering aboot ma heid agin):
“The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet.”
Nahum 1:3
Maybe we who are the colonised should, by the fruits of peace and kindness, warn the colonialists before it’s too late for them to change their evil ways – if it isn’t already too late.
Warn them of the approaching divine whirlwind that might eventually consume them and their capital city, London, as it did the great city of Nineveh in 625 BC, thus bringing to an end the Assyrian empire.
Or maybe the Scots should just stand well back and look on as God’s avenging plenipotentiaries set about their holy work.
I know, right? I’m a wee bit up ma ain erse there… but I couldn’t resist dropping a 7 syllable word to show awbody the extent o ma erudition; and onyway God telt me tae.
Nineveh according to the prophet Nahum was – not unlike the London of today – a “bloody city all full of lies and robbery” before God sent his terrifying angelic enforcers to raze it to the ground.
Seems pretty shallow to me.
“…The truth is that Sturgeon, like Bella Swan, is a monomaniac. Both are consumed by a single, overriding ambition. In Nicola’s case, it’s independence for Scotland…
Whit? What are you havering on about Ms Rowling? Are you not paying any attention? I don’t know any serious commentor which believes Sturgeon actually wants Scottish Independence. She’s a champion for Unionism.
Sturgeon sold us down the river.
In 2016, Independence was in the palm of her hand when Scotland’s emphatic, democratic and sovereign Claim of Right was rudely subjugated by Brexit. Doing nothing but stand firm on recognised legal principle would have broken the Union and set Scotland free, but the Dreghorn Scumbag did less than nothing for Scotland and proferred unforced and unconditional capitulation, while presenting Scotland’s despicable and unconstitutional subjugation with a soft landing. They couldn’t have done it without her.
What the vile wee creature suffered upon Alex Salmond defies description.
Sturgeon is Scotland’s Benedict Arnold, a Redcoated tra- 1tor who also retired to London incidentally, (the USA didn’t want him, nor did London much), and he wanted a job with the East India Company… which he didn’t get, because nobody likes a turncoat.
His infamous “Letter to the Inhabitants of America” cites concessions from King George as eroding his faith in American Independence; and that reads a lot like the SNP tossers and backstabbers selling out Scotland for an acceptable measure of DevoMAX slipped in beside their UK pay cheque.
No wonder Sturgeon now finds Scotland claustrophobic. That’ll be the work of the Ghosts; the Ghosts of Brexit Past, Present, and yet to Come… Ms Sturgeon has seen ahead to know how her headstone reads…
I’m just hearing for the first time about what Rowling, apparently, did.
See up thread, Breeks, for the comments you may initially have missed.
A million quid to Gordon Brown?
Now that’s REALLY disappointing.
I agree, I think Sturgeon is a champion for unionism, an absolute stalwart for the unionist cause. She’s a unionist to her fingertips 🙂
What Alf and Fearghas are saying is correct.
Also ironic that an English woman who cadged cups of tea off poor Scottish folk while she started out scratching her over rated books should end up a multi millionaire, and fund a campaign which helped stop said Scots from bettering themselves via independence.
…if anyone felt like adding a comment online about a particular book…
“Amazon has noticed unusual reviewing activity on this product. Due to this activity, we have limited this product to verified purchase reviews.”
That’s quite funny 😉
BRIT.GOV considers these American owned mega facilities «critical national infrastructure».
link to bbc.co.uk
They will need the highly visible 275m tall wind farm towers planned by a Chinese gov. owned company for the sea off St. Andrews to help run them.
The Americans and the Chinese between them have the Yookay well stuffed and trussed for the oven.
People deserve better than the globalist mercenary «political class» leading us into a dystopian future.
Interesting ‘TURABDIN’, and yes, I agree with what you say.
It’s getting harder to spot the unwavering ‘patriots’ from the globalists these days. And even harder to find anyone to trust.
I was slightly disappointed to learn yesterday that Reform UK have, apparently, slip slippity slided into all the marxist, extreme lefty Globalist shite.
Apparently both Tice and Farage have decided to announce that they too no longer know what a woman is. They’ve recently hired this woman, Frake is her surname if I recall correctly . . . I wonder if there’s a direct link tween her employment and them losing their righteous backbone on this particular issue.
As I informed Captain shit for brains yesterday when he was shilling for Nige and reform, I notice he hasn’t responded perhaps he has had a breakdown at the news
The Chinese invest & build things, help former colonial countries with loans & energy security. In Africa for example helping with ports, trains & roads that’ll open up beneficial trade routes (new silk road) & some with electricity for the very first time despite the Anglo, American, French colonisers being there for decades just sending them down the mines for a dollar a day & taking as much free gold as they could eat.
They’re also currently helping out the Global south to get out from under Anglo American colonial rule too by transferring their crop trade to them instead of American & Britnat owned USA farms. All with no strings attached, no wackadoo policies to implement via Word Bank/IMF loan directives & no need to adopt, at gunpoint, Chinese foreign policy unlike the USAs terms & conditions.
Whilst the Americans & Brits like to blow things up, like Cheap Gas pipes into Europe from R & various ports around the globe to try stop them, I’ve yet to see the Chinese invade & destroy American interests.
I know who I’d rather have on my side. The Chinese will never be colonised again. The Brits & the USA are looking for a reason to default on Chinese investments/loans/trade/ their reserve currency & bonds – they owe them a fortune & Perfidious Albion doesn’t have any money & fast losing it’s hegemony so they’ll do what they always do – go pick a fight & send the eejits to go fight to make BlackRock richer. Oh, those pesky Chinese & Rs own all the rare earth minerals too that they need to get their mitts on…Trump is having kittens cause his bombs are on backorder, ready in approximately five years, LOL cause they cleared theirs out giving million dollar weapons to Z to fight cheap drones.
Capitalism eh? Where shareholders & profits come before national security…
As I informed Captain shit for brains yesterday when he was shilling for Nige and reform, I notice he hasn’t responded perhaps he has had a breakdown at the news
🙂 lol
Aw, that’s cracking me up.
No doubt he’ll be daily briefed on these kinda matters and have to respond accordingly.
OR, alternatively, too busy tackling separatist honesty on another website.
I say this partially in jest, maybe he is a good faith actor . . . lol
The 77th in “Fifeshire” will all be shiteing themselves now that their wet dream in the east is -finally- finished…
Double shift off-keyboards for debriefing.
Captain shit for brains, Corporal Jones, “Aidan” and #SitePrick1 won’t be missed.
This ‘book’ seems like just more poisonous lies from Sturgeon. I wouldn’t wipe my arse with it though that’s all it’s good for.
” she squandered it all and achieved nothing.”
Perhaps that was her mission given to her by her true masters. Now she will be given her reward starting with the advance or this book (the sales will not amount to much).