One of the major differences between Sturgeon’s position and (say) Hancock’s is that there are very clear expectations on someone who has misled the Scottish Parliament to resign.
Problem is, as with Trump, and Boris, at this time th SNP are on a wave of populism… simply because they are not Boris/Tories. Therefore I suspect this saga wont have much impact on the Scottish parliament elections in May…
They have always been poorly adapted to politics, lacking IMHO the fairness and states person like skills necessary… and their ranks and file is riddled with bigots and racists… More folks would actually consider independence if it was not the SNP that were championing it…
But Johnson misleads parliament and tells bare faced lies just about every time he gets to his feet. Why are there not expectations for him to resign? In UK politics now, lying is the new normal, it’s almost accepted. In Johnson’s case he is loved for it, sadly his supporters prefer comforting lies to hard truths.
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This is such tricky territory…today we see things in a more appropriate light, in that behaviour that was acceptable in the past no longer is, but with that also comes some challenges when there is a legal versus moral/ethical scenario… plenty of things we find distasteful and inappropriate, may not stand up to any current legal definitions of wrong doing, and I am speculating here, but this might be the issue.
I cant comment on the case more on the AS/NS issue, but the fact that one may have made political mileage out the other is hardly unique in politics… Salmond being fucked over by Rabb C Nesbits mrs would not be surprising…
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They better hope the lid doesn’t come off before May’s elections. The aim of their opponents won’t be to win their voters. It’ll be to stop it going out.
Hopefully this is the beginning of the end for the SNP. They’re not winning power because they are effective at governing. Lack of other options and a better story. The Spectator has already published a version of the evidence with just one redaction.
The Tories are gunning for them, although their unit to save the Union can’t seem to keep a director. Not ideal.
Looks like the SNP might save them a job. For a party that has always feted itself on being different, open and transparent, they looking very shaky on that ground. Depending on who’s left standing atter this mudfight, they could be done for a while.
Mhairi Black old enough to lead yet?
problem is we are in a time of populist government… where the ‘people’ seem to accept far more than would previously have been considered unacceptable for the sake of one cause…
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How much of their vote is genuinely about independence and how much of it is about short-term self interest?
It’s worth remembering that their second political strategy (2 of 2!) just involves staying slightly to the left of the Tories and spending a bit more money.
It’s supposed to be a smart strategy. Maybe it is in the short term. It primes the envious demographic of the English to want rid, but it does raise the question.
Why are the Scottish voting for the SNP:-
- Free money
- Not Boris
- Independence
- To win a night out with Alex Salmond
0 voters
It also becomes a problem for them as the tories gradually move more centre and even slightly left of centre.
Hard to keep giving away more money than Rishi atm.
Gove apparently has a plan to go up there with funding. They’re spending money of a huge heroin rehab centre in Scotland, which will play both ways for them.
- They’re spending money in Scotland without going through Holyrood
- But look at Scotland! Their biggest priority is this drug rehab mega-centre! Poor old Scotland.
Also expect the furlough to be a big theme of those May elections.
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Andrew Neil’s Spectator channel digging in.
Get The SNP, a Film Scotland remake of Get Carter, seems to have begun in earnest this week.
There’s a vote of no confidence being proposed against the Deputy Leader in Holyrood. Scottish Labour are backing it. George Galoway, constant shrinker from the limelight (ha!) says he’s tactically voting Tory.
Cue Eastenders drums. Just no bagpipes please.
Things have gotten to a place in the Salmond enquiry where the SNP could be going into the May elections without wee Nicky at the helm. If that happens, all bets are off according to Andrew Neil.
It could happen. This week.
So I know I’m ostensibly the only person interested in this sort of thing, judging from recent replies (or lack thereof) but there has been quite a lot of development this week.
Wee Nicky’s indoor barbecue. She said afterwards that she’s answered every question. She did, but fifty times during her eight hour session, she answered I don’t know or I don’t recall.
A clear case of political McCann’ery, e.g. pleading to the crime of absent mindedness to avoid the larger charges of conspiracy and corruption.
I’m not sure that politicians realise how damaging the “don’t recall” strategy is, especially when they can recall stuff in vivid detail that supports their version of events.
Sturgeon isn’t saying the words “I’ve got something to hide” when pulling this lark, but she doesn’t need to. It’s heavily implied and strongly suspected thereafter.
More than anything else, it shows what a fucking shower the SNP are. Sturgeon really was supposed to be the tipping point, their best advocate of independence.
This week, she looked a diminished and dishonest woman, which wouldn’t be so bad if she hadn’t traded on her probity and honesty.
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David Davis used Parliamentary privilege this week. It may well sink Sturgeon, the SNP or both.
Interfering with witnesses after the criminal investigation, brand new complaints process with no mediation process, the omission of key facts to keep their case afloat, their legal team being misled.
The defence collapsed because the Scottish government lied, who “actively withheld important relevant information”. The Chief Law Officer of Scotland, keeping schtum until forced to reveal a couple of weeks ago.
Timelines completely fucked. The inquiry not considering the unredacted content the Spectator published. Most of the content redacted was not excised to protect the witnesses; it was about whether Sturgeon has broken the ministerial code.
It is interesting that David Davis is leaking this. He’s publicly perceived as being bland but fair, by Tory standards anyway. The Tories have been after the SNP for a while and they are doing it very cleverly. For all the furore about Johnson’s visits, if the wheels come off of the SNP then he’ll have been there doing wanky Boris shit, which is fucking statesmanlike compared to this bollocks.
They’re taking this down forensically by using a figure like Davis.
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It seems that some of you have the mistaken impression that Sturgeon is keen on Scottish independence.
Whereas the political assassination of Salmond was actually because Sturgeon was worried that he might be threatening a return to politics. He was considering a return to politics because Sturgeon had been dragging her feet on independence since Brexit.
The SNP is imploding at the moment because it’s infested with careerists who would likely be out of a job in the event of independence. The SNP might actually be fucked at the MSP elections. Particularly if more independent candidates like this one crop up:
Who you might remember from this excellent Corbyn video that makes me cry 
:
So it looks like her ladyship has dodged a bullet
For now. I think we’ll see more and more evidence pile up. Plus I don’t really trust anything up there to investigate itself. Yes, I know James Hamilton is Irish.
Are the Scottish Conservatives still ploughing ahead with tomorrow’s no confidence vote?