Nicola Sturgeon didn't know her husband stole £400,000

[Imdunfer]

Really? She lived with this guy and didn't know? She had a camper van parked on the drive and didn't know he stole the money to buy it?

I don't buy it.

AIBU

Maybe Nana Murrell was in a MN-style feud with her neighbours and this was the biggest and best FU they could come up with? Or maybe it was a better option than penguin bollards to stop the CFs parking on her drive?

Yes, it would be different if they had married in the 1990s.

https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/nicola-sturgeon-never-saw-peter-37218850

JIST TAE SAY AH NIVIR EVEN GO IN THE KITCHEN SO HOW WOULD AH HUV SEEN ANY CARS CAMPERVANS OR FANCY BAGS

I'm convinced it was extra accommodation for the relatives at Hogmanay.

Maybe...it's also true that generally (in England too & also US) girls are more likely to identify as trans. I'm not sure whether this necessarily correlates to facing more homophobia in the case of lesbian teens. What I do think is that it relates to spending more time online than boys (hence why girls have been worse affected by the SM boom, as the book The Anxious Generation argues) and especially networks like tumblr which spread these ideas mainly to girls.

That's a good point : they could have split quietly but the partnership seemed to benefit both, and if they were going to continue to present as a long term couple, marriage would enhance the illusion.

If he was linked with some religious figure, that makes even more sense.

Good point- can I clarify though what you mean by 'the other one'? Peter? Or do you mean that it would have made SNP supporters who opposed the repeal thunk that Nicola was especially untrustworthy due to her being closeted while supporting the repeal?

Re Souter, the SNP now still supports gay rights, it's not as if Yousef has changed that. So do you mean Souter's return is more linked to dislike of Nicola being lesbian than policies?

Sorry for the questions, I'm a bit tired and probably not being very quick on the uptake!

Yes pop band is a good simile, but we shouldn't that many are guilty probably, the problem didn't begin with Sturgeon though she was a big part of it.

Excuse me officer, I have no idea how those incendiary devices or Molotov cocktails got there. Because I never, ever go in my kitchen. Like, literally.

Yes. It should be noted though that Sturgeon and Murrell's relationship, whatever its true nature is, dates back long before 2010 to when it was less accepted for a political figure to be openly gay. That doesn't excuse lying.

Overall though the main issue is the financial fraud. If they'd been in a lavender marriage for a long time, yes it would have been dishonest to the public but arguably it wouldn't have been a huge deal if both had agreed and were happy with the charade.

Who is the female partner?

Yes. Very different. No online shopping.

Can't argue with that, anyone would be the same!

There was a rumour that it was a former French ambassador, but Sturgeon has denied that in her book and elsewhere.

https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/sturgeon-laughs-off-rumours-of-affair/

https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/nicola-sturgeon-addresses-rumours-secret-29609911

I suppose if she stopped the relationship with Murrell and came out it would raise questions as to why she lied previously.

She could have quietly broken up with him and remained single if she didn't want to come out, though.

Incidentally, it's worth noting she only dated Murrell from 2003 though they met in the late 1980s. While 2003 was a harder tome for gay people than now, it wasn't the 1980s or 1990s. Clause 28 had gone.

So it makes it a bit stranger why she decided to do this charade. I agree with pps that maybe it was to protect Murrell. Especially if he was dating a religious figure (as one pp said) or preying on teen boys (hopefully not, but another rumour)

I meant if Nicola sturgeon suddenly announced she was gay then people would be asking “so, what about Peter?” and vice-versa.
i do think it would also have made people question if they were trustworthy having lied for years about their relationship (which is somewhat ironic given their reputations now!)

The SNP does now support gay rights but if you look back at the criticism they got in 2011 (including one statement by the Greens directly linking their position with a large donation from Souter) around their position on gay marriage and how reluctant they were to stand up and say it should be allowed they haven’t always been so. Their stance only really changed when it had to in terms of voters.

I can’t see any major policy changes under Yousef or Swinney that would explain Souter’s return to donating so my assumption is that it was a personal issue with Nicola Sturgeon. He may just have disliked her, but given all the rumours about her sexuality and his stances it does seem like the obvious reason.

Nothing seems to have been off the radar, as long as it was basically not very useful to a master criminal.

Maybe she subscribes to the MN norm and has entirely separate finances from hubby?
Never understood that myself so everything goes into a joint pot but then again...... I am weird.😁

If you're in Scotland and either spouse has children from a previous relationship, you're better keeping separate finances.

I think they were planning to kidnap people in it and force them to vote for independence, that is about the only way they would get a Yes vote now.

He just wants to get back to banging the Independence drum like a broken record, these are seriously unwell people in a lot of cases, the sooner they are out of power the better.

I think seperate finances are probably more common in more affluent couples.

If you have tight budgets to stick to then its probably more important all cash is in one pot.

If you have plenty spare at the end of the month then it doesn't really matter who pays what bill.

Separate flats in London would be my guess, no one would know who he was and sighting her in London wouldn"t really get many people to unglue their phone from their face? Half of London probably doesn"t know who she is anyway. The only thing that goes against my theory is that there would always be a media outlet or journalist that would sniff around if they thought she was living a separate life somewhere, that didn"t happen to any great extent to my knowledge and they didn"t find a bolthole anywhere that she owned or anything? But I don"t buy the Lego Brookside house, that is B.S, it sticks out a mile as B.S

There's so many of them! SNP Mhairi Black married her wife in 2022, as did SNP Jenny Gilruth who married Labour's Kezia Dugdale. It hasn't held them back, and there are lots of gays too in all parties. Comedians actually joke about being held back because they're straight....

Name any international politician of significance who is openly gay? The names you mention are Z listers, NS was an A-List politician (before she started using toasters that cost 6k)