Sturgeon's husband arrested.

[Rainbowshit]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-65187823

🍿 🍿 🍿

So the questions now are -

Did HY know?
Should he have known and if so who should have told him/when should it have been discussed?

If he didn’t know was it because he missed a meeting or was it hidden?

Given that others knew then who knew and how come they didn’t tell him?

If people didn’t know does that mean there’s been no search started for a beer auditor? Surely organising that is someone’s job so did they know?

He’s rather opened a box of questions for himself… Which is interesting when he could have just said “They resigned in October and a new company is being looked for”.

I like the idea of a beer auditor 🍺

😂

my dream job!

FYI - I'm not a part of the big conspiracy !!

I think Yuseless knew but his ego is so big he wanted to go down in history as the first Muslim FM and the first ever FM of Asian descent. I truly think his tenure will be shorter than that of Truss

If people didn’t know does that mean there’s been no search started for a beer auditor? Surely organising that is someone’s job so did they know?

As CEO of the Party it would have been Peter Murrell’s responsibility to identify another auditor.

If he goes the Truss Road the world will think WTF?
But actually I agree with you.

I don’t think he will go that quick. I imagine a general incompetence rather than grand plans failing catastrophically. Nicola Sturgeon resigned before it came to the crunch and the SNP aren’t used to rebelling so it will take more to push him out.

Straight from the Nicola Sturgeon playbook…deny, deny, deny. Let’s brazen it out…HY really is the continuity candidate. I feel like the Sturgeon-Murrells must have something huge over him!
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-65242685

I don’t think that’s remotely surprising actually.

They can’t do anything that could be taken as any implication of guilt or making any suggestion about their opinion of where the investigation is going to go.

Especially when he’s resigned from his job so he’s just a party member.

I'd imagine this is all just going to make HY look even dimmer than he already does.

I suspect he'll hide behind the fact that he didn't know, is as shocked and disappointed as everybody else and is determined to put things right. Very much that it all happened before he was appointed.

And if you believe that...

I think he just saw the shiny bauble of First Minister and chose to ignore all the shit that was going to come with it, well it's been a tiny honeymoon period!

Radio Scotland was interesting yesterday morning. An SNP supporting journalist (who's a former MSP) openly saying that the GRR is dangerous for women and children and is very unpopular, and that the leadership of the party has been captured by the ideology. And then Kate Forbes' campaign manager making it very clear that KF has no interest in the possibility of a new leadership vote.

Of course Kate Forbes campaign manager would be saying that. The person calling for a new vote would be condemned by many in the party for making the party look bad, for not respecting the previous dubious vote, etc. etc.

@Shelefttheweb
Do you think it's all spin KF saying she doesn't want to run for party leadership again?

Are you thinking she just wants to sit back with the popcorn 🍿 while it all unravels and Yousaf falls down with it?

I think she would publicly make that decision once the opportunity presents itself. Saying anything to undermine the new leader now, including suggesting she might run again, might help oust him but would be fatal to her chance of getting elected.

Yes I think Kate Forbes has to position herself carefully now, as a reluctant hero / rescuer figure.

[Deep voiced voiceover bloke] Out of the shadows and the stench of chaos came the one woman who could hold Scotland together at this time of great peril. The people begged for her command. With her sword of justice and words of wisdom, she battled the monsters of corruption and insoucient campervanning, till the danger was past. Kate Forbes, saviour of the nation!

Silly question... Why do we think the leadership is going to change again so quickly and that Kate Forbes will come back into the picture?

It's beginning to look like a potential Scottish version of Truss and Sunak. Yousaf is grossly ill equipped to handle the level of scandal which is catching up with the SNP and because he was so clearly billed as the Sturgeon continuity candidate he's got little wiggle room for claiming no knowledge.

Given they've just run a massive lengthy leadership process it's apparent there's no other candidates coming out of the woodwork. And the vote between the two was very close as well.

From what I recall Sunak wasn't directly involved in pushing Truss - at least not publicly. He might have been having behind the scenes meetings by the dozen but he wasn't front and centre calling for her to go. I reckon Forbes will take a similar approach.

Thank you, I hadn't realised that the wagons were circling around HY quite so much just yet, I will watch more closely!

Agree KF is best to wait very quietly in the wings.

All absolutely fascinating.

Given they've just run a massive lengthy leadership process

It wasn’t massively lengthy. It was also halved from what it should have been under the SNP rules by Peter Murrell at the start of the process - which gave a advantage to the ‘establishment’ candidate, Humza, as the other candidates had little time to consider, find proposers and organise a campaign following what to them would have been sturgeons unexpected resignation.

It wasn't a coronation that took a week either though. They did numerous events, hustings, campaigning...my point was that (rather like the Tories) they're not going to want to rerun that again as it was generally perceived as pretty damaging to the party.

The Telegraph is reporting - as of about half an hour ago - that the SNP are claiming the campervan is a campaign 'battle bus'. It'll be interesting if and when we find out who is the registered keeper, insurance details etc.

The story's behind a paywall but if you hit the 'X' in your browser bar before it finishes fully loading you should be able to read it. I'll post some excerpts below anyway.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/04/12/snp-accounts-nicola-sturgeon-mother-in-law-campervan1/

It was bought for campaigning, but the most appropriate place that a major political party could find to store it was... Peter's mummy's driveway.

Pull the other one!

From the Telegraph:
.....................................................

A luxury campervan reportedly seized by police from the home of Nicola Sturgeon's mother-in-law was bought to be used as an SNP election battle bus, it has been reported.

Party insiders told the Daily Record that the vehicle, which is thought to have cost around £110,000, was purchased during the pandemic for use in the spring [of 2021]

But it is understood the Niesmann + Bischoff motorhome was never used for that purpose after Covid restrictions were lifted by Ms Sturgeon.

...

The campervan was an iSmove model, the latest version of which includes felt walls "for delightfully soothing acoustics", an expandable kitchen, electric shelves, mood lighting and a "disappearing" shower.

SNP sources said the campervan was purchased due to uncertainty over which Covid restrictions would be in place during the election campaign.

They said: “The campervan was about trying to have an ability to campaign while complying with the rules. It would have acted as a mobile campaign room. It would mean not having a need for hotels and minimise mixing.”

However, a party insider admitted: "It was not a great idea." Asked about the campervan at an event on Tuesday, Humza Yousaf, the new First Minister, said: "I’m not going to comment on a live police investigation.”

...

[continues]