[0762]

Have any of the leadership candidates got the dynamism, drive or charisma to actually do that effectively? IMO there is a huge latent support for Scotindy in Scotland. Many members who have left will return if that leader "presses the right buttons" by taking actions that are common sensical ones and impress the SNP members and the wider Scot indy movement. The first thing to do quickly is eg send questionnaires out to past members (take a significant sample) and ask the question, "Why did you leave? Provide the reasons why"? There will be a number of logical reasons incl paying membership fees not affordable or disillusionment due to a lack of direction and proper leadership or just lost interest. Assess the results and remedy asap!! One huge factor in his/her favour is the fact there is no political opposition in Scotland and the lack of any kinda common sense in unionist "better together" (NOT!!!), AKA "bitter together" political parties (plus autocratic Brit govt) taking a totally illogical undemocratic stance on the right of Scots to decide at any time re holding a referendum on their own self-determination - a vote loser - proved historically for well over a decade! And all these Scot political parties/opponents actually sending out a common message that you, I and millions of other Scottish people are classified as second class citizens who have no right to decide on our own future direction for Bella Caledonia, should provide one of the biggest pieces of political ammunition (together with other hugely contentious anti-Scotland stuff!) for that new SNP leader to use and progress positively to the next phase of our journey to become a fully independent country. Btw I reckon the resignation of Peter Murrell will actually result in an increase in SNP membership numbers. It was well known that he was gonna follow Nicola Sturgeon oot the door at some point after her announcement to vacate the Scot FM position and leader of the SNP. However, the timing of his decision was clearly never planned esp when linked to a trivial matter covering the number of members in the SNP - a case of just reveal it to the membership as discreetly as poss and be done with it, rather than stupidly giving "ammunition" to our unionist/media enemies who are trying to bring down the SNP, the Scot indy movement and our democratically elected Scot devolved govt. This scenario is truly a case of "out with the old and in with the new" - an ideal opportunity for a positive reset by an incoming leader/FM who recognises this huge opportunity to progress ahead positively as previously described. Incidentally, didn't Kate Forbes say on her first campaign day that the SNP needed change and root and branch reform of the the operation/admin was required? HOW PROPHETIC THAT STATEMENT WAS!!

[0762]

I finally got round to doing a wee bit of research re this whole "storm in a teacup" covering the SNP membership and the salivating unionist bastards/anti-Scotland media-Brit govt collaborators who seem to think the whole SNP-Scotindy movement is done. Absolute bollocks IMO! Every opportunity is taken by them (media and political opponents) to take the focus off the dismal membership figures of the other main political parties. Btw the SNP is, by far, still the biggest supported political party in Scotland even with the revised figure of 72k members!!! A look at the House of Commons Library (note anyone can peruse this info) website in their section titled "Party membership as estimated share of relevant electorate" updated to the end of 2022, shows that as a percentage, the SNP had 2.46% of the electorate as members - FAR AHEAD OF ALL OTHER POLITICAL PARTIES SUCH AS LABOUR (35% OF THE SNP FIGURE), CONSERVATIVE(15.6% OF THE SNP FIGURE), LIBDEM (6.5% OF THE SNP FIGURE) AND GREENS (3.9% OF THE SNP FIGURE) - note those figures are extrapolated from an online graph believed to be accurate to +/- 0.1%. Reasons to be cheerful - damn right they still give good reasons to be cheerful and to kick on from there to a higher membership level again!!!!! After such a long period in government, this record of the SNP has no equal that I'm aware of, and is one that all members should be proud of. If all current members in positions of power can remember that the cause is much bigger than their individual egos, and in some cases their abilities, then we are on a positive course to succeed and win in the end.

[ritchiebaby]

It looks like Nicola and now Peter have got out just in time. And where have all the SNP party members gone? Were they ever there?

Whoever the new leader turns out to be is going to have to get themselves out of a quagmire quickly.

Now the shit will hit the fan. There's obviously a lot of mileage left in this "situation". Who knows what and when?

[0762]

No evidence so far ritchie - hopefully it will stay that way! All the usual speculative bad SNP stuff being uttered by gleeful Unionist media people like the bbc's Glenn Campbell and others. Murrell released tonight with no charges btw. What has really pissed me off re this four year old story is the fact that Murrell, and others, didn't quickly do the logical thing and clarify where the holding account for this money actually was. Transparency please, show the money FGS, esp re an issue to do with so much money, incl monies I paid out in good faith together with hundreds of thousands of other trusting Scotindy supporters. My theory (for what it's worth!) is that someone has fraudulently got into this insecure money cache and this has resulted in embarrassment for the SNP and a "cover-up". Some really bad decision-making been made! I hope I'm wrong TBH! I must add that thankfully there is no reduction in support for Scottish independence; different re the regard for the SNP at the moment though. I'm listening to delusional Labour people invited on the bbc and believing they will be big beneficiaries in Scotland based on what logic/what achievement???? It transpires yesterday that Mr "undemocratic non-constitution" Starmer finally confirmed that he sacked Leonard as the Scot Labour leader to be replaced by Sarwar and against the democratic wishes of the Scot Labour Party!!!!!!? Labour head office confirming the "branch office" status of the Labour Party up here eh!!! Anybody who is daft enough to vote for this red Tory political party that is apparently colluding with the Tories to glean votes up here to thwart the SNP, a rejuvenated version of "bitter together" and their lying rhetoric/bogus promises of 2014, really is relative to what Trump previously described as the "stoopid vote" and IMO these people have no interest in the positive future of Scotland in the way that the SNP have preached it to members and voters of Scotland down the years i.e. the interests of Scotland and the Scot people come first!! No way is that mantra ever applicable to the toxic Scot Tories or the other part of their comedy act, the Scot Labour Party!! Agreed, we have a battle on our hands and Yousaf has to be at the forefront of the appropriate response and restoration of political stability plus moving forward positively with proper governance. Gotta be bold and decisive Humza! And take ownership of your decisions and future policies!

[ritchiebaby]

It'll take some weeks, maybe months, to go through all the files, etc removed from his house and SNP HQ. Then we''ll see what the Procurator Fiscal decides. Probably the reason no charges have been brought so far is that Murrell didn't come out and say "It's a fair cop, guv. I did it."

Like you, I wonder why after 4 years nobody seems to have got to the bottom of this. And why has there been no transparency? I too share the theory that "someone" misappropriated money, but as I asked before - who, what and when?

And I'm sure Kate Forbes, and possibly Ash Regan, talked about root and branch change within the party being required. I'm beginning to feel a wee bit of sympathy for Humza Yousaf, who has been landed with a huge PR problem.

[0762]

Given the huge Police activity and overwhelming UK media reporting on the event, one could be forgiven for thinking that a modern day Al Capone had been caught in a house on the outskirts of Glasgow!! Without trying in any way to downplay such a seemingly legitimate and important investigation, IS IT ONLY IN SCOTLAND WHERE EVERYONE, NO MATTER THEIR "POSITION", OR TO WHOM THEY ARE RELATED, ARE TREATED AS "EQUALS", OR CAN WE EXPECT SIMILAR POLICE ACTIVITY AROUND EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THOSE WHO TOGETHER HAVE RECENTLY DEFRAUDED THE UK GOVT (AND TAXPAYERS ACROSS THE UK) IN RELATION TO COVID CONTRACTS?????????????? Will each person complicit in the billing of tens of billions of pounds for unusable PPE and services that failed/never happened, along with those in Westminster who promoted Tory Party cronies and friends in the award of associated contracts, face similar Police activity and comparable media attention (incl highly prominent coverage by the colluding state broadcaster, the BBC)???????? WHERE IS BARONESS MONE BTW?????

[ritchiebaby]

Oh, dear, 0762, this is hitting you hard right now and you're lashing out.

Now that the SNP auditors have resigned there's more questions to answer. Have they missed something during an audit? Has there been a bank account(s) that they didn't know about and couldn't audit? The last accounts lodged were for 2021 and show the loan from Mr Murrell, which was reduced by £47k before 31 December. The reported £600k Referendum Appeal Fund does not appear as a bank balance in the list of assets, but it could easily be treated in another heading (creative accounting?). It does appear in the Notes and Income, so it is somewhere in the Balance Sheet.

I'm sure all will be revealed at some stage and we can make our own judgments. Certainly Mr Murrell and the National Treasurer and others must be treated meantime as innocent until proven guilty.

[0762]

I concur with your last line ritchie. Much like the previous Salmond inquiry/trial - innocent until proven guilty! Re my last thread, you must have noticed the stark difference re this kinda investigation up here compared with the corrupt activities of Brit govt officials and Tory cronies in London - it is absolutely glaring and leads to the question, "Who is driving this type of investigation and what is the agenda"?? In my humble opinion there is something not quite right re the way this has been carried out and I'm not the only Scottish citizen up here who is questioning it btw. I remember the SNP President, Mike Russell, commenting early last year that the Scotindy money was safe and the criticism coming from various sources was ill-founded. Now I regard Russell as an honourable individual, but again there was no quick reference to a holding account and clear evidence that dispelled all negative reports/comments re this issue. A more fitting description of my mood and that of other Scotindy folk who have contributed to this fund is "frustration" TBF. And the fact that this money for the cause of Scottish self-determination is being used politically against us by certain antagonists is even more frustrating. Ideally, I wanna see this money recovered/traced, in whatever way it can be done, and reinstated in a secure account, ready for future use. I hope the Police and other associated investigators can do that or SNP officials can initiate their own mitigating measures to resolve this issue and quickly stabilise and move on.

[ritchiebaby]

Well said, 0762. I certainly agree with your general point about the highly dubious Covid Contracts. The Government/Civil Service procurement process was a disgrace and an absolute shambles BUT was it illegal? I don't know enough about it to decide. One thing I do know - heads should roll, saving £1m or so in the process.

[hibeejim21]

Sturgeons fucked it, prob ended independence for next 20 years. I still maintain the Salmond case reeked of corruption and now the long standing mystery of the missing money and a suspect leadership election to put Nicolas patsy in place before the shit hit the fan.

No point going on about the tories, snp are always going to be held to a higher standard, and they have to meet that full on.

I have my feeling there is something else going on here, something a bit more than a 600k going walkies.