The culture of lying within the SNP has been exposed at last
Nicola Sturgeon, Alex Salmond and Jonathan McColl.
Ordinary folk don’t have much time for political correctness.
That is clear from the verdict in the Alex Salmond trial, where the jury found the former First Minister not guilty of 12 “lesser” charges of sexual assault.
And returned the ancient and highly controversial Scottish not proven verdict on an additional charge of attempted rape.
This very serious offence was alleged to have happened in a bedroom at the First Minister’s official residence at Bute House in Edinburgh’s Charlotte Square.
I for one am delighted that Alex Salmond has been cleared.
I felt sorry for him and his wife, Moira, when I saw them entering the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday.
Both of them looked dreadfully stressed and as though they had been through a harrowing time, which they unquestionably have.
But I am elated today that in tomorrow’s newspaper headlines Alex Salmond will not be described as “shamed” or “disgraced”.
And that he will take place in history as the best First Minister Scotland has ever had.
The insidious culture of lying within the SNP has at last been exposed.
We have experienced that culture here in Dumbarton with the SNP Council leader, Jonathan McColl, who has defamed me, made serious allegations of assault against me and banned and boycotted The Dumbarton Democrat.
When will he receive his comeuppance?
With this verdict, the jury have made it clear to the shameless harridans who accused Mr Salmond on the lesser charges that they did not believe their evidence in regard to the leg touching and bum feeling allegations these women made.
So far as the attempted rape charge is concerned, they have sent a message to the accuser that they do not know whether to believe her or not.
Which is a pity for her and a shame for Mr Salmond and his family and friends, since any doubts people may have will continue to hang in the air.
Mr Salmond does not appear to have many friends left within the SNP since there were few, if any, of them inside the court giving moral support to him in his moment of need.
The SNP have made flag waving, marching and demonstrating an integral part of their independence campaign propaganda, but we didn’t hear a peep out of them outside the High Court, or in the Royal Mile or the Lawnmarket.
Politicians who last week were making it clear they would not be seen dead with Mr Salmond will now be back slapping and ingratiating themselves with him and telling us what a wonderful person he is.
Mr Salmond told the jury that the claims made about his alleged conduct were “deliberate fabrications for a political purpose” or “exaggerations”.
These verdicts indicate that the jury believed him, which is a political disaster for the SNP. One from which they may never recover.
Their plans for Indyref2 were blown out the window in the middle of this trial, and there is little or no chance that Prime Minister Boris Johnston will waiver in his determination to keep the Union together.
The time has come to put the Saltires and the See You Jimmy hats away and for the Scottish Parliament to concentrate on more important matters to the majority of the electorate.
Matters of life and death, such as we are now experiencing with coronavirus.
A post mortem into the details of this trial and all that went before it is due to be heard when a committee of the Scottish Parliament which was set up to look into all the circumstances is reconvened.
For First Minister Nicola Sturgeon this must be a prospect she is truly dreading.
Speaking outside court after his acquittal, Mr Salmond said: “As many of you will know, there is certain evidence I would have liked to have seen led in this trial but for a variety of reasons we were not able to do so.
“At some point, that information, that facts and that evidence will see the light of day.”
He also said his faith in the Scottish legal system had been “much reinforced”, and thanked his legal team and everyone else who had supported him.
Mr Salmond added: “Whatever nightmare I have been through over the last two years it is as nothing compared to the situation we are all going through.
“If you can, go home, take care of your families, God help us all.”
BBC Scotland reported that as the foreman of the jury read out verdicts clearing the former first minister of sexual assault, it was like the air had gone out of the room.
After six total hours of pacing and speculation, the inhabitants of court three were utterly silenced.
For two weeks, Mr Salmond had sat placidly in the dock as his future and freedom were debated in front of him. Giving evidence, there was little evidence of the political showman of old – this was a reserved Alex Salmond, acutely aware of the difficulty of the situation facing him.
Outside the court too, there was little in the way of triumphalism. He thanked the jury and his supporters, and voiced fears about the coronavirus crisis.
But he also spoke about how “certain evidence” was yet to come to light.
This underlines that while the court case is over, there are many matters which are far from settled.
There will now be myriad questions directed at the Scottish government, the SNP, and Nicola Sturgeon.
But these will be debated in the political arena, not the legal one.
As Marx pointed out all capitalists are liars, thieves and killers by definition. There’s no need to put extra layers and tiers and icing on a cake that’s already laced with arsenic. For sure, the SNP have excelled in every department and added their own tartan twist to proceedings. But they were good students and learned their lessons well….from the Labour Party. It’s a wonder Teflon Tone hasn’t joined and challenged for the leadership. Maybe the bribe wasn’t big enough.
The concrete slippers are in the post for the SNP. They had their day in the sun and they blew it! Ask Jim Sillars. The biggest party of backstabbers in Scotland.