Till Death Do Us Part; SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon's husband Peter Murrell wants to snub the Alex Salmond inquiry, Sturgeon's promised full cooperation, is the greatest unconvincing political marriage in Scottish history heading for the rocks, is Murrell worried about ending up in a prison cell, is this the button which pushes the Scottish Conservatives motion of no confidence in Nicola Sturgeon to launch status, is this the TAD, total annihilation device which ends Sturgeon?

Dear All

It has been a quite good time for people who are watchers of Scottish politics because we are living through SNP Watergate, the greatest political scandal at Holyrood. It has been estimated that the SNP Government led by Nicola Sturgeon has attempted to obstruct the work of the Holyrood Salmond Inquiry in the region of 55 times. The exact number maybe higher but eventually someone will publish a definitive breakdown of that number, when and the relation to the evidence of the committee at that time. One thing which we all know now, is the SNP Government is corrupt, the Crown Office is compromised and corrupt, and there is a deafening silence by SNP MPs and MSPs as a collective group. Notable exceptions are Joanna Cherry, Kenny MacAskill and Angus MacNeil who are Alex Salmond supporters. Interestingly, in the recent SNP Westminster re-shuffle, these qualified and veteran MPs have not been given a brief to cover. In fact, Joanna Cherry, seen as a threat to Sturgeon's continued leadership has been sacked as the party's shadow justice and home affairs spokeswoman.

Although no qualifications are necessary to hold a shadow brief, Cherry was a QC, which certainly is useful. Cherry has unlike the majority of the SNP since 2015 onwards had some success in her brief, and is seen to be high profile. Why would you sack someone who is high profile in favour of people who aren't? In what must be comedy, the SNP have decided to brand themselves 'the real opposition', which is farce, they have also given themselves titles. Alison Thewliss, who is an unremarkable politician in every sense of the word, has been appointed Shadow Chancellor. During my time in the SNP, Ms. Thewliss was dubbed Alison Clueless, and that was when she was just a Councillor, could you see her running the UK treasury? One thing which Ms. Thewliss does is to wear yellow clothing, I am not sure if this is to cheer herself up or whether it is to convey she is a SNP member. If it is the latter, what is the mentality like inside her head to think walking around like a 'walking billboard' is smart? If she wanted to make money, surely she could get some advertising boards and sell someone's else's brand. Could you Alison Thewliss being a walking billboard? I think I can, yeah, walking about the city with 'eat at Subway' posters front and back.

The sacking of Cherry at this time is a sideshow, but it did attract a lot of attention because of her support for Salmond. In reality, it matters not a jot who takes any shadow brief at Westminster for the Scottish National Party. They will never become a government of the UK, they will never sit as part of a coalition in government, and they will never hold the balance of power. Every SNP MP at Westminster is someone just making up the numbers, they contribute nothing in the grand scheme of things. They occasionally at up with little dramas in the Chamber, but that is just an expression of their lack of competence, lack of ability to work within the system for Scotland's benefit. Can you name any real change or benefit that the SNP MPs at Westminster managed to achieve which fundamentally altered the lives of Scots? I will save you the trouble, the answer is nil, all the benefits that have come to Scotland have come from the main pro UK parties, the SNP merely tweak a regulation here and there, but the overall product is pro UK. A vote for the SNP at Westminster is a waste of time, if people want more value for their vote, then clearly a pro UK politician from a mainstream yields and raises the chances of better results.

So, forget the sacking of Joanna Cherry, enjoy the SNP civil war, and be like a spectator in ancient Rome watching the Gladiators fight. If you think you will see a quick kill then be prepared for a long wait. Although Team Salmond and Team Sturgeon are fighting a dirty fight, no one yet has delivered a final kill. We are at that point in the movie, where Team Salmond having the edge is slashing the external limbs of Team Sturgeon with great effect. The spray is like something out of the TV series Spartacus, where although playing to the crowd, they are secondary to inflicting damaged. So, where do you focus for the best value for your buck, you should be looking at Nicola Sturgeon and her 'husband' Peter Murrell, and the close knit group surrounding Sturgeon. The press terms these people her "allies" and colleagues with the farcical notion that they are her "friends". I think we are all very aware how Nicola Sturgeon's treats her friends as the Salmond affair demonstrates. Also, I find the notion that Nicola Sturgeon has friends as somewhat bizarre, and also even more bizarrely when she publicly says it. Her 'come back' trans video was pretty fucking awful, if you have listened to Sturgeon over the years and her claims of friendship with others, you would think her residence would be packed out every night. Nope! In a recent post, I wrote about the death of star Nazis judge Roland Freisler, when he died a foreign reporter noted "apparently nobody regretted his death", no one will regret the death of Nicola Sturgeon when her time comes, just as no one will remember her fondly when she eventually resigns.     

As Sturgeon and her 'husband' to escape questions over the Alex Salmond affair, it seems that Peter Murrell after visiting the Salmond Inquiry doesn't want to come back. It seems he isn't too happy that the Labour Party has asked the Crown Office if he had perjured himself when he gave evidence. He is now said to be reluctant to come back to give further evidence and is seeking legal advice. We now know that in the SNP there was a group known as the "Vietnam Group", who exchanged messages about the Salmond criminal case. At this point, we don't know the identities of the members of that group, it is said that this included senior SNP politicians and staffers. And I would like again to direct your attention to the blog of Craig Murray and his Affidavit because his sworn testimony touches on the existence of a plot. Kenny MacAskills public domain interview revealed the 'Vietnam Group' and the Crown Office holding messages which they are now required by law to turn over to the Salmond Inquiry. I guess at this juncture, you would have started in your mind to start to form questions would you would want to put to Murrell.

1/ Are you aware of reports of a group reported in the media as the 'Vietnam Group'?

2/ Do you know the names of the membership of the 'Vietnam Group'?

3/ Have you since it has been reported in the media carried out an investigation into these revelation?

4/ If not why?

If Murray states he is aware of the 'Vietnam Group', and hasn't carried out an investigation, you would have to ask yourself why not? If senior SNP staffers and senior SNP politicians were involved in a plot to jail Alex Salmond, you would want to know why. You would also want to know did they have any link to the accusers in the Salmond trial. You would want to know did any of the 'Vietnam Group' meet with accusers. You would also want to know if any SNP candidate in the upcoming Holyrood election 2021 was linked to this group, had a membership of this group and/or a relationship with the accusers. One question that all SNP candidates are required to answer is there anything you know about your candidacy that could impact or damage the party? If any Holyrood candidate failed to answer that question truthfully, they could be removed and disciplined by the party. And in extreme cases could lose their party membership. I would say if there was an issue such as a court order, then the candidate would have to state that a court order stops them declaring information. They would be able to do this, without them giving details of any court case. So, has any SNP candidate standing in Holyrood 2021 declared any problem when asked is there anything in their background or connected to them which could damaged the party?

If so, was that brought to the attention of Peter Murrell?   

As Murrell at present is refusing to play ball, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon now faces a crunch Holyrood vote over her husband's snub to Alex Salmond inquiry. If a vote goes ahead and she loses it, it would be a humiliation. It could also be a possible precursor to a vote of no confidence in Nicola Sturgeon. I suppose given what is in the public domain, people may ask why there hasn't already been a vote of no confidence in her? There are plenty grounds already for a vote of no confidence even if you exclude the Salmond affair. As many commentators remark, what has Nicola Sturgeon done to improve the lives of the people of Scotland? Some people singled it down to a 'baby box', you could make one yourself out of a spare amazon box with a few blankets and a pillow, stick a baby in, stick a cat in, stick a puppy in, all good. Nicola Sturgeon is damaged goods, and as such, all the mainstream parties want a shot at taking her out to claim the prize. The Scottish Conservatives attempt is  saying that unless SNP chief executive Peter Murrell complies with a recall request, they would table a parliamentary motion on the issue. The motion would accuse Sturgeon of misleading the parliament by previously promising full cooperation with the inquiry.

The Tories said of the ultimatum:

“It’s her party. The chief executive works for her. She should demand he at least shows up."

Murrell, has been the puppet master as the SNP’s top official for 20 years. Murrell alongside Liz Lloyd are the gatekeepers of the SNP. They hold the real power in the SNP, I knew this as a SNP member a decade ago. Murrell turned up at the Salmond Inquiry, to "help" the committee out with their inquiry. I watched him in action, his evidence of the Salmond meeting was rather amusing. Imagine, load of guys come to see your wife, you ask no questions, the most obvious one being, 'what the fuck are you lot doing here'. Not Murrell, he goes upstairs, gets naked and dives into a shower, when he comes down as if by magic, everyone has disappeared but unfortunately the fairies left Sturgeon behind. If a ton of people invaded your living room, you want to know something, and you would want to play host, if it is all legit. Even if it was just to offer a cup of tea. Apparently not Murrell, he jumps in the shower to wash his ass. If you saw an ex MSP, now a QC, and a former Chief of staff to Alex Salmond, plus Sturgeon Chief of Staff Liz Lloyd, you might twig something is up.  

Apparently Murrell allegedly gave evidence to the effect:

"Well, I wasn't at home. I wasn't aware of the capacity in which she was having the meetings."

And allegedly added:

"I wasn't at home at either meeting. I think the third meeting took place at SNP conference on the eve of an SNP conference and I suspect I was busy elsewhere."

It later merged that Murrell told Green MSP Andy Wightman that he said hello and went upstairs for a shower.

So, Murrell says he wasn't at home, and then says he was at home. Was it Murrell's intention to present him himself to the Salmond Inquiry as a bumbling fool? I don't know about you, but I would like to see if he gets equally confused in other areas such as his tax return. One thing is certain, after perjruy was raised, his attention span seems to more focused, by the the fact that he is taking legal advice, and his refusal to turn up. Will he change his mind, doesn't anyone really care about his recall problems? I am sure people are now more interested in finding a way to terminate his employment as SNP CEO along with ending his wife's career in public office. Sturgeon promised any inquiries into the Salmond case would have access to whatever they wanted.

She told MSPs:

“The inquiries will be able to request whatever material they want, and I undertake today that we will provide whatever material they request. That is the definition of full, thorough and open inquiries. It will not be for me to decide what material the parliamentary inquiry, when it gets under way, wants to request. My commitment is that the Government and I will co-operate fully with it, which is, I think, appropriate.”

It seems her husband, Peter Murrell has other ideas?

Finally; I hope the Salmond Inquiry take the opportunity in the event that Murrell turns up to ask more detailed questions, and don't move on till Murrell answers them. I would go back over every single question previously asked, and when he waffles, close that approach down by stating, 'I am not your pal, I am not interested in vague answers, and remind him that he is under oath'. If I was the Scottish Conservatives, I would crack on with the vote of no confidence in Sturgeon, and I doubt in the present climate that even the Scottish Greens would support Sturgeon.

Yours sincerely

George Laird                                                                                                                        The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University