SNP Cronyism row, failed Education Sec Fiona Hyslop signed off on £150,000 of public taxpayer cash to a profitable concert promoter after a meeting was brokered by an ex-special advisor to Alex Salmond, why is so much public cash going to organisations connected to senior SNP members close to the SNP leadership, Hyslop's position is completely untenable, there is a pattern emerging here regarding the SNP Government

Dear All

Have you ever noticed that SNP members connected to Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon have no problem in accessing public cash for organisations they are involved in?

If it happened once, you could easily dismiss it, but there now seems to be a pattern merging.

Senior SNP promotes an organisation they are involved and taxpayer is paid to that organisation, not a couple of thousands, not tens of thousands but hundreds of thousands of pounds.

At the same time the SNP is screaming about food banks and using this as an election gimmick to garner votes, £150,000 in state aid from the Scottish Government when to help T in the Park, a music festival promoted by a commercial company.

The company has a huge turnover of £167 million and pre-tax profits of £9 million, so why the state aid?

SNP Ministers are now facing questions because of a senior former SNP advisor Jennifer Dempsie’s involvement; she was the ex-special advisor to Alex Salmond and the partner of SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson.

Dempsie is also said to be vying to be a candidate in upcoming Holyrood elections as a list candidate for the Highlands and Islands.

While an employee of the company, she brokered a meeting between culture secretary Fiona Hyslop and DF Concerts. I remember DF Concerts from my time at Glasgow University, DF means Daft Friday; this was the major student event before the end of term, a 12 hour gig of music, bands, comedians and drink.

Any Labour culture spokeswoman Claire Baker is asking the question, why does a hugely successful company need any kind of public funding?

She wants Fiona Hyslop, who previously was a failed education Sec under Alex Salmond’s regime to explain her actions.

Yet again, there is a new cronyism row in the SNP which shows that the party is a cult run exclusively for the financial benefit of a few and using independence as their gimmick to acquire money, power and status.

Scottish independence is now dead, recently the Scottish independence Party was formed because more and more nationalists are waking up to the fact, they have been conned; they now know they are serving a clique who doesn’t put Scotland’s interests first but that of their own.

After the meeting between Hyslop and the organisers;  the Scottish Government duly handing over cash to the firm, with Ms Hyslop's approval.

Baker, in her letter to Hyslop states:

"Given the success of T in the Park, these figures surely raise the question of why the festival needed any form of public funding. I of course recognise the valuable contribution T in the Park has had on the Scottish economy over the past two decades, but it has also generated significant sums of money during that time. I would be grateful if you could clarify on what grounds this state aid was deemed necessary for one of the most profitable events in the Scottish cultural calendar."

Will Fiona Hyslop resign in disgrace?

Will unpopular Nicola Sturgeon sack her?

Not this side of Holyrood 2016.

The SNP is a cult run for the benefit of SNP family members, their relatives and their partners.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University