I’m an SNP member and an independence supporter and freely admit to concern over the impact of yesterday’s scenes on the campaign for independence.
Richard Walker: Murrell raid made me worried about independence, and the truth
Perhaps Richard Walker and others should have been concerned more and earlier about the matters which led to the current situation. All of this could have been avoided if so many SNP members had not been determined to shield the party leadership from scrutiny.
There are lessons to be learned here. Will the SNP take heed of those lessons? If past evidence is to be our guide then there must be serious doubts. It is too easy to blame the party’s tribulations on malign agents, real and imagined. Taking responsibility is hard.
Richard Walker is right to use caution when commenting around the fringes of an active police investigation. And to urge caution on the part of others. But I reckon I’m safe to point out that there is absolutely nothing untoward about the Police Scotland operation at the Murrell residence and elsewhere. It is from all appearances meticulous and in accordance with protocol. It is not excessive. It may be that extra care is being taken. But that is understandable given the level of media attention and public interest.
The notion that the police operation is excessive is being encouraged solely as a diversion and as a means of preparing a scapegoat should matters develop in ways some will regard as unfortunate. It would be immensely gratifying if this were to stop and people accept that nothing is happening here that isn’t a consequence of the way the SNP has been managed over a number of years but particularly in the last decade.
This is not to suggest that that there has been any criminality. Only that there has all too evidently been serious mismanagement. Well managed organisations do not find themselves in the straits to which the SNP has been reduced.
Perhaps, instead of grooming scapegoats, Richard Walker and like-minded SNP loyalists would do better to attend to getting their house in order. Both for the sake of their party and for the sake of the fight to restore Scotland’s independence.
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Peter A Bell 
Thank you Peter, restrained, sensible commentary.
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Well said.
Richard Walker is correct to ask “What happened to presumption of innocence?” with respect to the on-going police investigation, for this is something that everyone should be accorded until proven otherwise.
However, I can’t help but wonder if Mr Walker posed the same question when the even higher profile figure of Alex Salmond was being investigated nor when lesser well known individuals Mark Hirst and Craig Murray were investigated over the last few years, for various matters.
He may well have done for all I know. I hope so. For the same principle should apply in all cases regardless if it is sometimes inconvenient.
For consistency always lends opinion and comment some degree of credibility.
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Reblogged this on Ramblings of a now 60+ Female.
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You do well to steer a canny course avoiding legal minefields and sticking to fact based observations . All parties seem to be determined to marginalize their members and consolidate power in the hands of a leadership cabal . Grooming scapegoats and shepherding members seems to be common to all parties .
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Yup.
Some of the stuff going around is absolute foolish garbage, including that demands should be made of the Home Office as to why they authorised such a search. Clearly these fools, to borrow one of your favourite words, have never heard of Devolution.
Dunlop has it right.
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In my opinion the SNP brand has been fatally damaged by this and what Sturgeon and Murrell were up to for eight years, Murrell and Sturgeon “Ratnered” the party’s credibility its over for the SNP.
This is interesting, I’d imagine the party’s financial position has gone from bad to worse.
“The SNP’s accounts for 2021 were published on 16 August 2022.
The party’s total income was £4,510,460, total expenditure was £5,262,032, assets were £1,630,454 and liabilities were £1,055,689.”
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In a baffling display of inter-species solidarity , the sheep are ” standing with ” the sheep-dogs that have been rounding them up , corralling them along various winding , treacherous paths and into a selection of improvised holding-pens , to be dipped in critical-thought-erasing soft soap prior to a thorough pre-auction fleecing .
Even as some of their number are revealed to be wolves in woolly drag , the flock bah in unison ” it was the goat wot dunnit ” .
Unsurprisingly , the lambs are silent
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Sturgeon’s legacy is wrapped-up in police cordon tape. Her resignation was timely: If she had the police dismantling her house and her party HQ when she was still FM all this would look even worse (the strange thing is that’s very possible, and likely). Take a step back: This is unprecedented in British politics, nevermind Scottish politics.
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Interesting stuff.
“Senior SNP figures shut down plans to open the books on party finances when questions were first raised about “missing” funds for a second independence referendum, The Times can disclose.
Keith Brown, the deputy leader, whom Humza Yousaf sacked from his cabinet shortly after replacing Nicola Sturgeon as first minister, had his proposals to increase transparency by demanding “a monthly written summary of income and expenditure” shelved by the party hierarchy, including Sturgeon’s husband, Peter Murrell, in 2021.
“The main blockers to change were people in the non-elected positions like Peter Murrell and Kirsten Oswald [the SNP MP who was appointed business convener by Sturgeon],” a party source said. “Mike Russell [the SNP president] was supportive so the elected party president and the elected deputy leader [Brown] lost to the unelected Murrell and Oswald.”
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/d3146e8e-d58d-11ed-9f4d-c5bd4b89feab?shareToken=6af7ac09651e44cc6ee00bca863242be
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And there’s this as well.
It looks like more of the SNP’s chickens are coming home to roost.
“This is an SNP administration that broke ministerial codes, hid from accountability and battled in the courts to keep Scottish taxpayers in the dark. And all of this in service to Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance business empire, which is now subject to a Serious Fraud Office investigation. Questions are now raised as to why this Scottish Government has proven so eager to go above and beyond to keep the billionaire businessmen happy.
Furthermore, there is a growing body of evidence to suggest that naivety in the face of superrich business moguls is indeed a hallmark of Nicola Sturgeon’s time ensconced in power. In the particular case of Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance, the First Minister has questions to answer concerning her judgement. After all, as she is so fond of reminding us all, the buck stops with her.”
https://thinkscotland.org/2022/11/theres-not-just-a-ferry-fiasco-the-gupta-scandal-is-even-bigger/
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