The Alex Salmond inquiry in the Scottish Parliament shines a much-needed spotlight on SNP personnel, although the trial itself will keep certain evidence under wraps, which Salmond claims is necessary to publish in order for him to tell the ‘whole truth’ under oath.

It has focussed attention on the husband and wife teaming running the SNP for many years. Nicola Sturgeon’s husband has turned down the invitation to appear before the Alex Salmond inquiry.

The sacking of Joanna Cherry from the front bench in Westminster this week is yet another example of the internal squabbles among SNP MPs and SNP personnel in general. Cherry’s complaints are long-standing. This week Nicola Sturgeon appealed to those who were leaving the party over transgender issues. Sturgeon said before the last Holyrood election that gender issues would be central to the agenda of this administration, which she continues to do. It has split the SNP Party. Close observers of the SNP will know that all is not well with SNP politics.

Effie Deans has helpfully collated this long list of SNP misdemeanours and the personnel involved.

List No. 1: The first list of 50 begins with Derek Mackay but close observers will remember older examples such as Alex Salmond’s supporting Fred Goodwin in his disastrous and uncosted take-over of Dutch bank ABN-Amro after Barclays bank dropped out of the takeover battle, leading to the collapse of the Royal Bank of Scotland and the UK economy.

List No. 2: has another 50 examples for your interest.

List No. 3: has another 50 examples, by which stage Scottish voters should be alarmed about those running the Scottish administration.

List No. 4: having reached 151-200 in short shrift it is time to call “Time” on the SNP and to vote against it in the Holyrood election in May 2021.

Political party whips are in the habit of gathering a list of demeanours of its personnel in order to keep them in line with the threat of exposure. This SNP list is helpfully open to public gaze for all to see, and it is a sight for sore eyes.

Grievance politics

This blogpost dwells on the behaviour of SNP personnel but there are more general issues with SNP grievance politics. Such grievance politics is developing in Wales also. Those supporting Scottish and Welsh separation evidently think that an independent Scotland and Wales will produce better government, a better economy, standard of living, international trade and foreign policy than we currently have in the United Kingdom. The wish is the father of the thought because there is no evidence nor track record of its success. In order to persuade voters, they use grievance politics, which I call “Absalom grievance”. Those familiar with their Bible will know about it. Britain is losing Christianity and needs to learn biblical lessons all over again.

Links:

9 Dec 2020: Scottish historian Professor Tom Devine accuses the history curriculum in Scottish schools that “reads like a simplistic piece of arrant propaganda”, and “self-evidently arrant and dangerous nonsense”.

14 Dec 2020: the undermining of law and justice in Scotland by Scottish Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf, with his racist attitude towards white people, criticising 96% white Scotland of being run by ‘white’ people. The criticism in this documentary (about Yousaf’s inexperience and lack of qualification to make legal reforms in Scotland) is mirrored at an earlier stage in Tony Blair’s Government which caved in to EU pressure resulting in the office of Lord Chancellor being changed and some recent holders have had no legal training. This documentary maker has changed his mind about the SNP after supporting them for 30 years.

9 Feb 2021: Jim Sillars is “ashamed of those who govern us”. He writes: “I am despondent and disillusioned that a lot of SNP members think those values so minimal as to be unimportant and can be postponed to a later date.” What values? “A Scotland where justice and fairness is upheld and where their [sic] is no tolerance of bullying or state intimidation.” The Scottish administration is in a bad way.

11 Feb 2021: the remainder of the Alex Salmond saga will be found here.

18 Mar 2021: the biggest of SNP personnel, the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, has been judged to have misled the Holyrood Committee of Inquiry. A report on Sky news adds that, “as such, she misled parliament and potentially breached the ministerial code of conduct.” These three points are made as a result of a leak from the Committee proceedings and the official Report is scheduled to be published next Tuesday 23 Mar 2021. The vote 5:4 is probably along political party lines as there were four SNP MSPs on the Committee and five other MSPs. Sturgeon has accused the vote of being partisan and that the leak was also so: “this leak from the Committee, very partisan leak tonight, before they’ve actually finalised the report, is not that surprising.” BBC Newsnight said that the leak was publicised first by Sky news, but Newsnight clarified that the Committee did not say that she “knowingly” misled the Committee.

22 Mar 2021: Whither the First Minister?