Spare a thought this Christmas/New Year for the person at the Fiscals’ office on whose desk the file marked ‘Operation Branch Form’, the investigation into the SNP’s finances, is resting.
SNP
The SNP must get serious on tax
“So where do things go from here? Blaming Westminster, finger-pointing at Labour and shouting “wiznae us!” will not suffice. Not now, and certainly not in 2026 and 2027, when the Holyrood and council elections occur….”
Is Scotland heading for an early election?
The parlous state of UK public finances and spillover impact of the October 30 Budget could mean Holyrood refuses to pass next year’s Scottish Budget, triggering the government’s resignation
SNP ‘Company Man’ can’t save the party he loves
“Leadership requires a willingness to confront so much that he turned a blind eye to. A decent, able functionary, as Swinney understood when he stood down as leader in 2014, does not have the qualities required to lead a political party, far less to lead a government.”
Swinney a shoo-in? Nae thanks
‘My idea is that one tries to exit this quagmire by staging Scottish (and maybe Welsh and Northern Irish) and UK elections on the same day – or perhaps staggered over several days like the upcoming European Parliament elections on June 6-9. The campaigning could last several weeks or months, enabling a full-scale, profound debate on the UK’s future to take place. Constitutional, socio-economic, geopolitical.’
What do Humza Yousaf’s new policies mean for Scotland?
“It may be that the process of establishing and issuing the bonds is seen as strengthening the Scottish state in advance of a future independent Scotland. But in a constrained fiscal environment, it will be fair to ask whether borrowing in a more expensive way makes sense.”
Sturgeon arrested – and SNP ratings stay strong
“Voters still do not appear willing to desert an SNP that is mired in scandal, has lost its figurehead, and looks in no position to bring Scotland any closer to independence than it came in 2014. That is because voting SNP has become the partisan or electoral expression of support for independence.”
What’s going on at the SNP?
“History may judge the police search and arrests to be over the top – or justified. We don’t know yet. But I think the interests of justice would be best served by a speedy decision from the Procurator Fiscal on this.”
Emerging from the shadows
“Opportunities for Labour arise from an SNP that excels in performative politics but fails in policy performance. The respective and competing nationalisms of Edinburgh and London governments are shrill and limited in their understanding of self-government. You cannot ‘take back control’ by focusing on empowering London or Edinburgh at the cost to all else. Labour has some way to go but with an independence referendum unlikely any time soon it does have some time.”
Where’s the great transformation?
‘If the 2021 Holyrood election is remembered as a turning point it will be because it was the catalyst for a referendum. The manifesto and style of politics adopted by the SNP do not suggest that Scotland is about to be transformed in any way comparable to critical elections of the past in terms of public policy.’