With apologies, I'm going to have to be totally ruthless about not allowing anyone to post comments on this blog that touch directly on matters that are now subject to the Contempt of Court Act. However, here are my general thoughts for the day, and I'd invite anyone trying to leave comments to keep it equally general.
In a parallel universe where Kate Forbes had won, we could have been saying today that the slate has already been wiped clean. As it is...
— James Kelly (@JamesKelly) April 5, 2023
I think it would be fair for SNP members to say: "There's a lot we didn't know when we narrowly elected Humza, and the vote was deliberately timed to ensure we knew as little as possible. The vote now needs to be revisited. We need to choose a leader with our eyes wide open."
— James Kelly (@JamesKelly) April 5, 2023
Major question now on who, specifically, decided that truncated leadership contest was essential, contradicting the standard SNP leadership protocol. Was this NEC decision, (ex-)CEO, Nat Sec?
— Peter MacDonald (@BlackIslePMD) April 5, 2023
To say it now looks rather questionable is stretching understatement to breaking point.
Yousaf still punting that Sturgeon resigned because she was tired. As I said at the time only numpties would believe that and plenty proved they were numpties.
ReplyDeleteIFS, I know you were strongly disagreeing with the allegation against me that you quoted, but I'm still not going to publish it because I really do take exception to the nonsense that this has got anything to do with "Alba opportunism". It's a matter of record that I wasn't at all happy with Alba's direction of travel in the months leading up to Nicola Sturgeon's resignation, so the idea that I'm some sort of drone is self-evidently ridiculous. I'm just a lifelong independence supporter who is terrified of the consequences for our cause if the mess caused by the leadership election isn't sorted out quickly. The situation today wouldn't be quite so bad if Yousaf had unified the party by making Kate Forbes his deputy, but as it is he's sacked almost everyone who isn't associated with the Sturgeon faction, and now the entire Scottish Government is associated with everything Sturgeon and her closest associates did.
ReplyDeleteJames, no problem. I don't post this stuff to attack you but to highlight the ignorance of WGD numpties and others. I'm afraid I do not have solutions to the current situation but I always felt that wheest for Indy was both wrong and would eventually come back to seriously harm the independence cause.
DeleteYou don't have solutions ? Know who would've guessed that ? !
DeleteAnonymous numpty at 2.29pm - you are responsible for the current situation - own it and try some humility.
DeleteThere might have to be an Annual Conference to elect new office bearers and a new NEC as they would have been liable for any alleged financial issues in the party.
ReplyDeleteI think pro indy voters are trying to tell the SNP something.
ReplyDeleteThe joy on Kate's face was not faked. I think she must have known what she was inheriting. So relief that she was not the fall guy like Humza. She still has a chance to win new election.
ReplyDeleteThis cannot be a simple SNP leadership contest. It has to be an election.
Kate Forbes can't contest an election as leader unless there's an SNP leadership election first.
DeletePersonally, I think the smile on Kate Forbes' face after the announcement was genuine, but not for any cynical reason like the one you suggest. She was able to do that because she's a genuinely good-hearted and kind person. Most people wouldn't have been able to, it would have been a masking smile at best, and they'd have taken weeks to come to terms with the disappointment.
DeleteThis cannot be a simple SNP leadership contest. It has to be an election….1.21pm
DeleteI agree with this comment
Terry callachan Dundee
They’re falling apart at the seams now. The tentative Rutherglen by election could be an absolute bloodbath - the sort of loss so large it bakes in future defeat and sets the Indy movement back a decade or more.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I don’t think we should be waiting around for the inevitable. If Eck has not yet been talked into running in any Rutherglen by election, it’s time he was.
For all sorts of reasons, I can’t see a more tangible opportunity for Alba to make the sort of breakthrough it needs to keep the Indy movement from being dragged down with the SNP.
And I know some people don’t like parachuted publicity candidates. But let’s be real here, a small party has to play to its strengths. Right now, Eck is that strength. Use him.
Perhaps the Yes Movement could grow a collective pair and actually stand for election.
DeleteIt would have to exist first. It's an abstract concept, not an organisation.
DeleteSalmond is not head of the Yes movement. He’s head of the Alba party.
DeleteAnd he’s the only one with the guile, stature, and story that would be too irresistible for media to ignore.
You put up a collective Yes candidate, they get ignored. You put up Eck, he gets significant news coverage and a real shot at a significant vote share.
Rather Eck was in Holyrood. All too easy to ignore in WM.
DeleteWho’s to say he couldn’t do both? A by-election provides opportunities for smaller parties that get drowned out come election time.
DeleteIdeally Alba would have some momentum going in to 2026. But that’s not going to happen if it passes over golden opportunities.
Well it would be worse if Sturgeon was still leader
ReplyDeleteNo it wouldn't. It would be far better if she was still leader, because she would now be resigning and the members would get a chance to make a well-informed choice on her successor. For this to happen just *after* the hand-picked continuity leader was installed is the worst of all worlds - unless they can quickly sort this mess out by reopening the leadership question.
DeleteJust as James says. This is appalling. She’s smearing all of us—and all of Yes—with her hubby’s… business. It’s a total, unmitigated disaster for Scottish independence. And it happened while we Wheesht.
DeleteOh I think we can safely assume this was all carefully choreographed and Humza was in the loop well before the resignation. I wouldn't be surprised if the multiple hustings attendees were "booked" at quite an early stage.
DeleteAnd now we really know why Sturgeon resigned. I wonder if some of those who might have stood also knew what was coming and didnt stand. Not wanting to get caught up in the shit storms that are about to hit the proverbial fans.
ReplyDeleteYou mean like Angus Robertson.
DeleteRobin McAlpine:
ReplyDeleteBecause for reasons that are beyond me other than that he really is as bad at his job as he seems, Humza Yousaf has seen absolutely none of this coming and has not only tied himself closely to the last lot, was not only still defending Peter Murrell after he had to resign for lying about party members but is still (utterly inexplicably) crossing the road to defend Nicola Sturgeon today.
Whoever is advising him should be removed very, very quickly. By his own choice Yousaf has put himself in a position where, for as long as he leads the party, he is a full and total liability, a constant reminder of what ‘continuity’ actually means for the SNP. If things go the way I expect them to over the next few weeks, his position is untenable and he’ll need to go. (He had/has a tiny window in which to do a sharp U-turn but he’s not taking it.)
…
My guess is that Kate Forbes will be SNP leader by Christmas and her challenge is enormous. (Can you see why they were so desperate to get the leadership election over by the Easter recess which was always likely to be when the police made their move?) I will return to Forbes’s challenge if things play out like they look like they’re going to.
https://robinmcalpine.org/how-bad-is-this/
Who would want the job now James? It is a poisoned chalice. it was poisoned by Sturgeon and Murrel.
ReplyDeleteTerry callachan Dundee , strange wasn’t it ? Very ODD , How the hustings the vote everything was rushed through then the top Police officials visit Holyrood but deny its about anything big but they resign anyway ?immediately after these odd events THE ARREST .Add all this to what was also Very ODD , what happened with Alex Salmond , similarly we were told very little then told don’t talk about it then there were resignations too and a final order , the names of those who accused Alex Salmond is to be kept secret ….FOREVER !
ReplyDeleteAll these strange occurrences smell of Westminster control , part of the war on Scottish independence .
If independence support really does strongly uncouple from SNP support (as initial polling suggests is beginning to happen), it's going to become more important than ever for Alba to start standing against the SNP in constituencies, otherwise a huge chunk of pro-indy vote is just going to either melt away entirely or go to Labour or such-like.
ReplyDeleteIf the SNP numbers continue to tank (and we may not have seen the trough of that yet) and they are projected to lose lots more seats then at some point splitting the indy vote isn't going to be half as bad as just not providing an option for a chunk of it.
This ^^ Absolutely this.
DeleteIf you haven't come to the conclusion that you cannae believe anything coming out from Sturgeon's gang then you ain't a very bright and sensible person.
ReplyDeleteEven the Unionist parties have their scandals, why would a true supporter of Independence change views just because of this? It makes no sense
ReplyDeleteWho's been saying it will? It might put people off the SNP under the continuity leadership, but that's a different matter.
DeleteSo many people still under Sturgeon's spell. If you want to see an extreme example of how someone can get complete control over other people to their own self destruction try watching the Netflix programme Waco.
ReplyDeleteErm, SNP supporters asking for donations to the party, according to The National. A garden party?
ReplyDeleteBernard Ponsonby is being quite direct about the situation the SNP finds itself in.
ReplyDeletehttps://news.stv.tv/politics/bernard-ponsonby-asks-if-it-is-only-a-matter-of-time-before-police-scotland-interviews-nicola-sturgeon
Two main points: why would any member continue to pay dues into this shit show? And his opinion about Humza Yousaf not being a top drawer politician.
To the anonymous troll who has just attempted to post here: the reason you "haven't seen me post about it" is BECAUSE I WASN'T AWARE OF ITS EXISTENCE UNTIL YOU MENTIONED IT. If you want to draw my attention to something, just email me normally like a normal person would. For the love of God, grow up.
ReplyDeleteNo, I'm afraid "you MUST have known about it because John Robertson blogged about it" is not a credible objection to what I've written above, because like 99.999999% of the population, I do not read John Robertson's blog and have not done so for several years. What next - are you going to tell me it was on A Thousand Flowers?
DeleteFrom the clown show that is WGD you have:-
ReplyDeleteLiar Skier who thinks everything is just fine and dandy.
Eilidh who is outraged at the polis going through Sturgeons underwear.
Assorted others who blame the Britnats and Campbell and the polis.
Shades of the same response by the Waco cult in Texas minus the weapons arsenal. It's not the great leader's fault - it's everybody else.