Nicola Sturgeon – Used and Discarded 223


Nicola Sturgeon is discarded, having served her purpose for the British Establishment once she obtained the UK Supreme Court judgment that Scotland could not hold a referendum on Independence.

That fight was deliberately thrown by Sturgeon’s unionist Lord Advocate. After almost nine years of leading Independence supporters into a whole series of blind alleys, with promise after promise broken to deliver a referendum, and mandate after mandate squandered, she appears to have shattered the Independence movement.

Throughout this nine years, Sturgeon was sustained and promoted by the unionist media.

She pretended she wanted Independence, and they pretended to attack her for it.

Meanwhile Sturgeon was given an extraordinarily easy ride over the real failings of her government. The achievements of Alex Salmond in building an extremely efficient reputation for the SNP’s ability to manage the business of government, were all knocked back.

The collusion of the unionist media in hiding Sturgeon’s role in the attempt to frame Alex Salmond on false charges – a conspiracy orchestrated from her office and her husband’s office – showed the Sturgeon/Unionist axis in operation.

Salmond of course was rightly perceived by the unionists as a much more genuine threat to the union. They had a joint interest with Sturgeon in putting him away.

The main cause of  bad government performance was Sturgeon’s compulsion to sideline all people of real talent in the SNP, and surround herself only with the extremely mediocre, who would never challenge her.

No leader genuinely concerned with the good of the country would ever appoint Shirley-Anne Somerville to be a minister.

Scotland has slid down the international tables, in healthcare, in education, in substance abuse, in almost every important area. The ferries debacle has been a disaster for the island communities.

Much of this has been a result of the SNP gradualists walking into the devolution trap. Devolution forces the government in Holyrood to try to mitigate the effects of Tory policies, with resources constrained by Tory austerity and hands tied by neo-con fiscal policy.

Devolution is a dead end filled with poison gas. Sturgeon’s lack of urgency to escape from it was inexplicable.

Sturgeon’s place in history will be as the woman who saved the Union in its hour of maximum danger – the moment the UK left the European Union, against the will of the large majority of Scottish people expressed in a referendum.

Having saved the Union then, Sturgeon went on to obtain the Supreme Court ruling against a referendum and subsequently shattered the Independence movement over identity politics.

She succeeded, by refusal to listen sympathetically to concerns of others, to unleash a wave of hatred towards trans people from those who had previously given the question not a moment of thought.

The contrast is astonishing between her softly softly attitude to Scotland’s Independence, where doubters were to be gently persuaded over decades, and her drastic attitude to gender reform, where doubters were to be condemned as misogynists and racists.

Sturgeon was a great boon to the unionists. Whether as useful idiot or as traitor is something history will decide. My money is on the latter.

But after the Supreme Court judgement, the UK Establishment did not need her any more. All that soft soap treatment disappeared. They started to seriously question her, on all points.

There has been a huge change in press tone towards Sturgeon since the Supreme Court judgment. The UK establishment believe they no longer need her to hold back the Independence movement.

I suspect much more tellingly, the Establishment has also finally taken off the gloves over the missing £600,000, that was donated to to a “ring-fenced” fund to campaign in the Indyref2 that Sturgeon did not deliver.

The money disappeared into the SNP’s accounts and where it went is not clear.

I could not understand why Sturgeon blatantly lied at the press conference last week, when asked by Tom Gordon of the Herald when she first knew that her husband had lent £107,000 to the SNP.

She replied she could not recall, and sought to distance herself from the loan, saying he used “his resources”.

Now it is a strange marriage where the husband lends £107,000 without telling the wife. But it is not impossible.

However it is impossible that the leader of the SNP was not told that the party was lent £107,000. Whoever it was from, let alone her own husband.

But I could see no reason that Peter Murrell should not lend the party the money. It was not illegal to do so and arguably a good thing to do. Why on earth would Nicola pretend she didn’t know?

This only started to make sense to me yesterday, when I learnt that Murrell made the loan the day after he was interviewed by the police about the missing £600,000.

No wonder she wanted to distance herself from it, and the timing.

Numerous sources have reported in the last few days that Police Scotland have now been given the go ahead by the Crown Office to pursue a criminal case over the missing money.

That seems the most likely explanation for the timing of her resignation today.

The good news is that, if my sources are correct, the £600,000 question is going to make the coronation of the Angus Robertson family collective as devolutionist party leaders somewhat difficult.

So farewell Nicola Sturgeon. You served the Union well. Now they don’t need you any more and you have been tossed away.

They won’t get you that UN job either (all UN posts need to be agreed with the candidate’s member state). The Establishment is both ruthless and ungrateful. I suspect the protection over the Salmond affair will disappear too.

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223 thoughts on “Nicola Sturgeon – Used and Discarded

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  • David Collins

    All hail Craig Murray by chipping away at the edges with pure intellect against bluster and fantasy that the witch is finally got now we want there passports and to cut the leccy off as the shredders will be burning throughout the night getting did of the paperwork that would put them on the rope for the crimes committed but it was money and your email stash that took them down not incompetent handling of public services as claimed

    • Cedders

      There is a great deal of evidence which suggests that what usually brings down troublesome politicians is getting caught telling lies. A case in point would be Boris Johnson.

  • Jane Morrison

    Thanks for cutting through the BS on this matter.. Pity you don’t have a column in a widely read newspaper to prise open the eyes of the propagandised.. We know the reason why that is of course.

  • Brian c

    Good to see an informed critique from a leftwing independence supporter. There will no doubt be a tsunami of uninformed gushing tributes.

    • Brian c

      Yes, as AC Bruce asks below, is there any chance she might be replaced by a loose cannon? Someone who hasn’t been vetted and approved by the London Establishment. Or is the SNP sewn up just as tightly as their other parties?

  • A C Bruce

    Who next, Craig, to lead Scotland to independence? Who is not compromised or a puppet of the British state? Any insights would be welcome.

  • Bob (original)

    Whilst I thought she was deliberately sidelining Independence for the benefit of London / the Union,

    I did think that she would get her pay off, with a role at an international organisation.

    As an ex-UN staff member myself, her senior role would be a political appointment, lobbied by London.

    A few of her unreported actions in New York City in previous years suggested to me that she would end up in The UN.

    If London reneges on any ‘understanding’, then hell mend her.

    History will indeed show that Sturgeon was Scotland’s most effective traitor!

    • UNGSD

      [ Mod: Sockpuppet – aka ‘Nota Tory Fanboy’ on this thread, various identities on others. From the moderation rules for commenters:

      Sockpuppetry.
      …. the adoption of multiple identities is not to be allowed.

      Please use one identity only. ]

      “A few of her unreported actions in New York City in previous years suggested to me that she would end up in The UN.”

      Care to elaborate for those of us on the outside?

    • Bob Mack

      There remains a lot of sackings to be made at all levels of party function before the ship is back on a true course to Independence .

      Let us hope the new leader is of the same opinion. If not we are going nowhere.

  • fredi

    Numerous sources have reported in the last few days that Police Scotland have now been given the go ahead by the Crown Office to pursue a criminal case over the missing money.

    That seems the most likely explanation for the timing of her resignation today.

    Is it? So we can rest assured it isn’t anything to do with the content of the Stewart McDonald’s emails?

  • Goose

    Now she’ll never get to wear those ruby slippers.

    “Oh, what a world! What a world!”

    The SNP membership need to pick someone less autocratic. And above all; true to the cause.

  • Doug

    Golden opportunity for all pro independence parties and supporters. Put Flynn in temporary charge of the SNP. Withdraw all SNP and Alba MPs from Westminster. Set up assembly in Scotland containing politicians, bloggers, economists, folk like businessforscotland, Salvo etc to work alongside Holyrood. Induce new Holyrood election. Have one new pro independence party embracing all pro independence politicians to win election and independence.

    • Cedders

      Given the mess made by the SNP, what Scotland needs right now is a government that is prepared to tackle and fix all the existential problems which the country faces – cost of living, NHS, education, ferries, etc etc etc. Now is not the time to be thinking of independence. The Scottish people rightly expects their government to help them get out of the very deep hole they are in, otherwise they may well vote for someone else to have a go.

      • Nota Tory Fanboy

        [ Mod: Sockpuppet – aka ‘UNGSD’ on this thread, various identities on others. From the moderation rules for commenters:

        Sockpuppetry.
        …. the adoption of multiple identities is not to be allowed.

        Please use one identity only. ]

        Spoken like a true Tory… (Cedders, not Gordon Currie)

        • Funn3r

          What is the function of “government?” Why do we need it?

          Surely the government (of any country) should have a mission statement that they are there to “protect and ensure the well-being of the population.” Don’t laugh. Yes I know that is the very last on a government’s list of priorities.

          So my point is; you made a pretty mean comment to Cedders.

  • Daniel Lee

    Her self-declared list of achievements since assuming an incredibly strong electoral position in 2014 were…weak? Baby boxes at number two FFS. Absolutely and utterly useless.

    Her blather about how tough covid times were for her made me sick. Adopting ever more tyrannical measures with her WEF shill Devi whispering into her ear, dragging the UK gov along her twisted path. Destroyed the education, wealth and health of a generation of young people so she could perform at the lectern each day in her superhero cape. And her snide remark about Alec Salmond displayed her true colours; dreadful, vindictive, narcissistic, spiteful.

    It will be two steps back and three forward over a long period of time but today is a good day for Scotland.

    • Observer

      These “progressive” politicians seem to be particularly hard for their voters to see through.

      Say something nice, voters assume you’re nice

  • Lapsed Agnostic

    First thing I saw when I turned on Beeb News this morning was a picture of Stewart McDonald and Nippy posing together (from his Twitter feed I think) and the large caption ‘Sturgeon Resigns’. I thought: Wow! What’s in those emails?

    I don’t follow Scottish politics that closely, but it seemed to me that Nippy had to face tougher questioning from the press pack (particularly Channel 4’s Ciaran Jenkins) at the end of her resignation speech than she has in her entire tenure as FM. There wasn’t much in the way of: “What do you think has been your greatest achievement as First Minister?”

    • Goose

      Probably the cumulative effect of a series of unforced errors.

      The gender recognition reforms, and the transphobic abuse unleashed. The fact these reforms are deeply unpopular with the SNP membership shows the leadership chose the wrong issue to pick a fight with Westminster.
      The sketchy party accounts business; £600k missing, while her husband is seemingly flush with cash and loaning the party money to pay his own rather inflated salary? Her recent memory lapses and distancing from Peter Murrell’s financial affairs, give the distinct impression something could be awry. The emails were probably the final straw (depending on what they show).

      • Lapsed Agnostic

        Thanks for your reply Goose. I was largely joking about the emails – if there is any criminal-standard financial chicanery occurring in the higher echelons of the SNP, I doubt she’d have been discussing it with Stewart McDonald. Anyway, I don’t even know why the SNP has these cashflow problems. All they had to do was keep in with 160-million-pound lottery winner Colin Weir who, despite doing things like giving West of Scotland League minnows Largs Thistle £750k for an all-weather pitch even though they weren’t his team, still left over 40 million in his will when he died a couple years ago. How difficult would it have been? All they probably would have had to do was laugh along with his funny Jags stories* and pretend they hadn’t heard them before.

        * Partick medic: “He’s got concussion, Boss. He doesn’t know who he is.” [of Colin McGlashan]
        John Lambie: “Tell him he’s Pele and send him back on.”

        • Goose

          re: McDonald’s emails.
          I’d assume that as soon as Craig revealed he’d obtained them, the SNP leadership would’ve been notified, and then would have sought clarification as to what they contain? Someone was obviously attentive, because two police quickly showed up at his door.

          Craig’s being coy about the contents, for understandable reasons, hence I’ve no idea as to whether the contents are potentially damaging or not? It might be that they are completely immaterial to this sudden decision to resign by the FM? It’s anyone’s guess at this point.

          • Lapsed Agnostic

            Thanks again for your reply Goose. I’m sure there’s embarrassing stuff in the email trove, which is probably why the TPTB gave our host a shot over the bows last week, but I doubt whether any of it would have been a resigning matter for Sturgeon. We may yet find out. As you state, her resignation is probably due to a combination of things. Anyway, it certainly came as a surprise to me; I thought she’d have to be dragged kicking & screaming from Bute House after months of media speculation about her resigning.

            Correction to my previous comment: It was of course Partick Thistle assistant manager Gerry Collins, rather than a team medic, who teed John Lambie up for his most famous quote. Apologies for the error.

  • Ebenezer Scroggie

    How long before Swinney the Poo follows in the footsteps of his fuherin? He has been her equivalent of Martin Bormann for years.

    Without her protection his arse is going to be hanging out in a very cold breeze.

  • yesindyref2

    Meantime from the Scottish Social Attitudes Surveys:

    Year Independence Devolution No Parliament
    2021 52% 38% 8%
    2019 51% 36% 7%
    2017 45% 41% 8%
    2016 46% 42% 8%
    2015 39% 49% 6%
    2014 33% 50% 7%

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_on_Scottish_independence

    So since Sturgeon took over, underlying support for Devolution has gone from 49% in 2015 to 38% in 2021, and underlying support for Independence has RISEN from 39% to 52%, almost a directly corresponding transfer.

    And with Devolution under intense threat from Sunak, Gove, the self-appointed Viceroy Bobbin’ Jack and the rest of the crew of the Jolly Roger including Starmer, the People of Scotland will increasingly be faced with the choice of being ruled by Bozo, Truss, Sunak or whatever comes next, or Independence as a proud Nation and State in our own right.

    And THAT for anyone who has half a brain cell, is the legacy of Sturgeon’s time in office as First Minister of soon to be Independent, Scotland.

    Won’t be long now.

    • Kit Bee

      ‘And THAT for anyone who has half a brain cell, is the legacy of Sturgeon’s time in office as First Minister of soon to be Independent, Scotland.’

      So our Nic resigned today because we are so close to independence she wont be able to bear the inevitable accolades due to be heaped on her?? LOL

    • Cedders

      Indeed, you will be able to swap the tyranny of Westminster for the tyranny of the whole of Europe. I wish you luck – you will surely need it.

  • stuart mctavish

    Na, the court judgement was that the question related to a reserved matter – and specifically avoided saying that Holyrood was not allowed to hold a referendum on it.

    Any implication to the contrary can only have been from Lord Reed misconducting himself by pissing on the judgement of his colleagues during the summing up (which is not binding).

    Doubtless the do nothing conspiracy (as James Kelly puts it) has its reasons for embracing the deception, surprised its not so subtle flaw escaped someone of your reputation though

  • Julian Evans

    I wonder how much the SNP leadership’s obsession with gender politics was to do with demonising Joanna Cherry in the eyes of ‘liberals’.

    There seems no other reason for identity politics to have become such a big issue within the independence movement.

    • Alf Baird

      “There seems no other reason for identity politics to have become such a big issue within the independence movement.”

      Gender identity ideology has clearly been imposed on Scotland by external interests, i.e. it does not emanate from within Scotland and has clearly been pushed and promoted by powerful external organisations and interests, and facilitated by Whitehall appointed officials running the UK’s Scottish Government/Dept. GII seems to be primarily about diverting and weakening emphasis on national identity/national consciousness which are the key fundamentals for any ‘people’ seeking self-determination independence and reclaiming their sovereignty. A couple of generations subjected to intense gender identity ideology indoctrination and associated laws would probably be sufficient to weaken and perhaps even destroy ‘a peoples’ national identity/consciousness and hence remove their motivation for national independence and sovereignty. It therefore seems most likely that GII is a neo-imperialism tool. Interesting also that an academic researcher who specialises in genocide was appointed as part of the UK-Scottish Governments ‘Expert advisory team’ on ‘gender reform’.

  • dearieme

    Ideally the Führerin should have shot herself in a bunker but I suppose she would have missed.

    P.S. “Tory austerity” didn’t happen. The UK government has gleefully pissed more and more money away throughout the Coalition and Conservative periods.

    • Nota Tory Fanboy

      Of course Tory Austerity happened – why do you think two UN investigations found the British Government guilty of persecuting the disabled and destitute?

      • Bayard

        It depends if you think “austerity” means “cutting back government expenditure by reducing spending on anyone not liable to vote Tory even on a good day” or “cutting back government spending on anyone not liable to vote Tory even on a good day”

  • BLMac

    Salmond was the Wallace of the modern independence movement and got hung drawn and quartered.
    Sturgeon is the John Balliol, and good ridddance.

    Now, where’s our Bruce?

    • A C Bruce

      Maybe she’s the one who will bring about independence 😉

      Extraordinary general elections.
      (1) The Presiding Officer shall propose a day for the holding of a poll if—
      (a) the Parliament resolves that it should be dissolved and, if the resolution is passed on a division, the number of members voting in favour of it is not less than two-thirds of the total number of seats for members of the Parliament, or
      (b) any period during which the Parliament is required under section 46 to nominate one of its members for appointment as First Minister ends without such a nomination being made.

    • Goose

      The Guardian’s ‘runners & riders’

      John Swinney
      Angus Robertson
      Kate Forbes
      Humza Yousaf
      Neil Gray
      Màiri McAllan

      If the SNP lumber themselves with any of those, they’ll be finished. The odious Anas Sarwar and his lying boss Starmer are the only ones choosing any of those, would please.

      • A C Bruce

        Just about any of them are better than the corrupt, malign assholes that Westminster imposes on Scotland.

        Maybe another Bozo or Truss would be preferable? There seems to be no end of them in England that can be foisted on us.

        Perish the thought.

        • Goose

          A C Bruce

          Respectfully disagree.

          Swinney was dreadful, nearly scuppering the SNP altogether, in his last stint as leader. Others on that list are obvious disasters waiting to happen too.
          Sturgeon says she intends to stay in politics, so whomever she endorses, it’d be a good idea to be sceptical about that candidate. The SNP need to avoid allowing the anti-independence mainstream media(incl. BBC) to define and narrow the list of candidates.

          • A C Bruce

            Nicola Sturgeon isn’t endorsing anyone, according to Nicola Sturgeon.

            I stand by my assertion that any one of them is preferable to the Westminster scumbags who brought my country to its economic, political and social knees.

      • Robert McAllan

        Brief biographical details for those ‘runners &riders’ I kid you NOT!!

        John Swinney; Introduced graphics depicting oral and anal sex into educational curriculum!

        Angus Robertson; Employed Drag Queen Nathan Sparling as his political adviser!

        Kate Forbes; Staunch Free Presbyterian who took the cowards way out during recent GRR (Bill) debate at Holyrood!

        Humza Yousaf; Failed in every portfolio he has held!

        Neil Gray; Parachuted into Airdrie and Shotts constituency from Westminster!

        Mairi McAllan; Special adviser to Sturgeon. God help oor kilts!!

  • DiggerUK

    There seems little enthusiasm for a reappraisal of how Indyref is taken forward by Scotnats from here. I do not expect anything of substance anyway. I have no skin in the game one way or the other on independence, I’ll live with the decision of the citizens of Scotland.

    But now seems to be a good time for everyone who wants independence to get on one wagon. I realise urging you all to join, or rejoin, the SNP will not be a populist argument. But split as Scotnats are it’s the only viable choice…_

      • DiggerUK

        Bold words.
        Just one problem, if Indyref2 does happen and gets a majority, you will end up placing the SNP in charge.
        Good luck with that one…_

          • DiggerUK

            Even with fake, ‘mealy mouth’ support, independence wIll not happen without the SNP, and the SNP has a few local difficulties atm.
            Alba, nor anyone else, is in no position to take on that leadership role. If you don’t rally forces in the SNP, just who do you think is going to rally the Scotnats,… Bill Wallace?

            Scotindependence led from any other source is empty fantasy. Best get used to that idea for now…_

  • Ian

    Maybe it was the missing £600k that was the final nail in the coffin, but if you look at the overall picture she had totally boxed herself into a policy dead end from which there was no escape. She must have known that. For years she has juggled slogans and hidden behind her willing, over-promoted and over rewarded praetorian guard. But, like all demagogues, it was obvious the walls were crumbling and it was only a matter of time. The only surprise is that she lasted as long as she did.
    The upcoming conference was shaping up to be a Hobson’s choice, over which she was losing control and credibility, and which would expose her paucity of ideas and lack of enthusiasm for independence. Her cherished GRR policy was shattered by events, pilloried by all sides, and most of all put trans people in a firing line not of their choosing. And yet, had she accepted the amendments, it need not have been such a debacle. But her rigid ideological fervour. blinded her to the compromises which would have smoothed the way.
    She is also on the rack for the most incompetent economic and social policies Scotland has suffered for years, with little prospect of respite. Having got rid of most of the talent in the SNP ranks, and gutting their internal democracy, she had a rapidly diminishing circle of people to blame, and even less to draw on to improve things. It is a catastrophe of self-destruction and hubris which will set back independence for a long time – just as her media friends wanted. Whoever takes over has the most almighty task to rebuild the SNP and its credibility, a task which will probably take years. Her resignation is overdue, and you can see what a debacle she is hoping to escape the blame for. She has been the architect of this folly and doesn’t deserve the odious insincerity and fake praise she will garner.

    • Garry W Gibbs

      Ian,
      I couldn’t agree more.
      I’m listening to her leaving speech on You Tube and even that was manipulated into an offensive sales mantra, even having the gall to pat herself on the back.
      This is a person with little to no self-awareness living in deep denial. Even her fear of crying was turned into a sinister threat.
      She was the coldest, iciest, icicle in a frozen wasteland getting colder by the day.
      God save Scotland and the Scottish.

  • Big Jock

    Can’t disagree with any of that.

    She managed to take independence from 45% to 44%. That’s where she left us today. She deliberately didn’t put through the independence bill until after the SC judgement. Because had she done it the other way around. WM would have had to block the referendum against the will of the public. That is a fight she would have won, and she didn’t want to win.

  • Mac

    Well, needless to say I agreed with every word of that. Most enjoyable reading.

    “I suspect the protection over the Salmond affair will disappear too.”

    I have been thinking about this quite a bit since I heard the news. We will see how big and tough Sturgeon is now as a civilian again, same as Alex.

  • Dom

    I can see the Yanks wanting her to replace Stoltenberg. Feisty little lady with cute accent standing up to Pootin and Xi. Downing Street would just be told it had happened not lobbied for its approval.

  • Roger

    From all I have read about Nicola Sturgeon, her removal from the office of First Minister is a happy event for Scotland.

    So why not celebrate it and rejoice, instead of writing so sourly about it?

        • Nota Tory Fanboy

          Unfortunately I can’t take credit for that as I copied it from someone else but I also can’t remember who that was – sorry!

          Also, RE “sockpuppetry” (@ Admin), it might be worth considering the approach taken by Bitwarden… (particularly given recent laptop losses)

      • mods-cm-org

        @Roger, the term “Wastemonster” is in wide circulation. It was first used here in 2013, and has appeared every year since, except 2017.

        @”Nota Tory Fanboy”, we don’t allow the use of multiple identities here. You’ve used 2 identities on this thread, and 7 over the last month. There is no statutory right to post here; if you want your comments published you should accept the house rules. (Any further enquiries about this matter should be posted in the Blog Support forum rather than under Craig’s articles.)

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