Oor Nicola Sturgeon thread.

[Benjamin_Nevis]

That the Tories going for a vote of no confidence after the publishing of the legal advice?

Should that not be what happens once everyone's given evidence and a conclusion reached that the code was actually broken?

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, renton said:

That the Tories going for a vote of no confidence after the publishing of the legal advice?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-56259056

Clutching at straws......

[DeeTillEhDeh]

Should that not be what happens once everyone's given evidence and a conclusion reached that the code was actually broken?

The Tories and Labour reached their conclusion before any evidence was published.

With the likes of Murdo Fraser and Jackie Baillie tweeting and speaking to the press ever day any semblance of a fair inquiry has gone completely out the window.

c***s will be c***s.

[renton]

7 minutes ago, MP_MFC said:

Would surely call into question the impartiality of the ongoing enquiry if an entire party including a member of the committee has prejudged the 

Not sure such an enquiry was ever set up or intended to be impartial? 

[paolo2143]

Exactly wee Douglas "i would never get tired of smacking that face" Ross is tweeting like Donald Trump tonight.

He is saying that now it is absolutely clear FM broke the code she must resign. This is spite of fact that no such further evidence has been produced today.

Indeed the legal advice seems grey and it could be argued reasonably that it was only in December that it was absolutely 100% clear that case should be dropped

I suspect it is because they know that despite all the hype and Tory hopes the smoking gun has not appeared as of yet. We heard nothing on Friday or since that we hadn't heard before. He knows if they cannot get rid of her now then she will likle;y be safe and when it comes to may i suspect that a large section of the public will still vote for her, even those that are angry with her at current time.

Edited March 2, 2021 by paolo2143

[S7C]

The brass neck of the Tories calling for her resignation before she's even had the chance to give evidence.

[jamieson87]

The Tories, famous for resigning with dignity when it has been proven that the ministerial code has been broken. 

[MP_MFC]

Not sure such an enquiry was ever set up or intended to be impartial? 

I'm fairly sure any enquiry that is to deliver a verdict needs to at least give the pretence of waiting until all parties have submitted evidence before passing judgement.

[renton]

1 minute ago, MP_MFC said:

11 minutes ago, renton said:

Not sure such an enquiry was ever set up or intended to be impartial? 

I'm fairly sure any enquiry that is to deliver a verdict needs to at least give the pretence of waiting until all parties have submitted evidence before passing judgement.

Yeah, just seems like one of those doctrines that really no one cares about.

What is of more importance is whether the Tories are on their own with this or if they have secured the backing of the other opposition parties - including the Greens.

[Bairnardo]

Austerity didnt balance the books therefore it didnt happen is absolutely mental stuff, yet totall unsurprising from Dawson park Bigot

[oneteaminglasgow]

3 minutes ago, renton said:

Yeah, just seems like one of those doctrines that really no one cares about.

What is of more importance is whether the Tories are on their own with this or if they have secured the backing of the other opposition parties - including the Greens.

I would be surprised if the Greens are on board - surely they'll know that a decent proportion of their list vote comes from SNP voters trying to maximise the pro-indy seats. Would they really want to risk jeopardising that this close to the election?

[DeeTillEhDeh]

You could take blow torch to the Scottish Tories.

Their Twiiter is in overdrive with very selective quoting of the legal advice - Sarah Smith would be proud of them.

[renton]

1 minute ago, oneteaminglasgow said:

I would be surprised if the Greens are on board - surely they'll know that a decent proportion of their list vote comes from SNP voters trying to maximise the pro-indy seats. Would they really want to risk jeopardising that this close to the election?

I doubt it, and then maybe it's just the Tories trying to stick her with the no confidence tag 2 months before an election.

Then again, maybe the Greens abstain?

[mizfit]

So does someone want to break it down what’s actually going on?

[renton]

Just now, mizfit said:

So does someone want to break it down what’s actually going on?

As far as I can tell? Some of Salmonds former staffers indicate they had the name of one of the complainants leaked to them in spring 2018, and that Salmond told them the earlier meeting with Sturgeon was on this subject. 

That's the meat of the VoNC as far as I can see. 

Meanwhile the legal advice does not make those running it look to clever and it begs the question as to what influence Sturgeon had in maintaining the original action before ScotGov conceded.

I dunno, Nicola Sturgeon is either very clever, or very stupid and I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

[O'Kelly Isley III]

Presenting a motion of no confidence on the eve of Sturgeon presenting her evidence is either the Tories feeling hyper-confident of taking her down, or indeed the opposite, in which they fear that the evidence for her defenestration will fall short and they are forcibly trying to manufacture a crisis situation in advance.
Either way they will be making a grave mistake if they think that a sizeable percentage of the Scottish electorate are on the same page, and even if Sturgeon DOES go this may not unfold quite the way they they expect in the coming period. Whatever happens, Salmond would do everyone, including himself, a favour by disappearing from public view.

[Baxter Parp]

Just now, O'Kelly Isley III said:

Presenting a motion of no confidence on the eve of Sturgeon presenting her evidence is either the Tories feeling hyper-confident of taking her down

Their success with the legal advice has gone to their heads.

[G51]

Sounds like Holyroods got a discipline problem.

Maybe that’s why we beat them at rugby nearly half the time.

[MP_MFC]

From reading through it, the two people corroborate Salmonds assertion that he was told the name of a complainant by a senior gov official and that Geoff Aberdein told them of his meeting with Sturgeon before it happened and that it was about the accusations.

Neither of these in any way seem to confirm that sturgeon misled anyone in the way that the tories are spinning, it's perfectly possible that the names were leaked by an official but that the FM did not know this as I'm fairly sure if anyone did this they would not want to then make a deal of it to anyone else given the repercussions of this being made known before trial and likewise Aberdein may well have believed the meeting to be about Salmonds conduct but again there is no actual evidence to back up that NS was aware of his belief.

It's pure cynical politicking and putting 2 and 2 together to make 5, get out ahead of the FM evidence tomorrow in case, as probable, it is the same damp squib with no smoking gun that they were expecting from Fridays session and control the news agenda for as long as possible in the hope that mud sticks. They know they havy nothing.

[paolo2143]

Let's wait and see but i do think that even if FM goes that it will play out the way the Unionists/Tories want.

Firstly i remember in 2014 when Scotland voted No there almost seemed to be a sense of shame that we had missed our chance. This resulted in a backlash against Union in 2015 and NS/SNP getting 50% of vote in G.E.

Something similar may happen here.

Even if the FM thinks her position is untenable she might be able to say something along lines of she will stand down after elections as she thinks it is not in interests of Scotland during Pandemic to step aside. The public might even agree with that as long as they know she will stand down as soon as  selections over. That way she could almost come across as working tirelessly for Scotland during Covid crisis even though she knows she is going.

A i said i think the Greens should not support NC vote until she has given evidence and James Hamilton has reported back