The dream of indy is dying. Only the fall of Swinney & co can revive it |
You’re tempted to reach for the wisdom of Winston Churchill when seeking to comprehend the events of the last seven days in Scottish politics. In November 1942, following the Allies’ victory at El Alamein, Churchill had said: “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps the end of the beginning.”
For the first time since the Sturgeon/Swinney axis began to wield power in Scotland 11 years ago, the customs and practices of the Scottish Government are being laid bare. The bodies are floating to the surface and the skeletons are rattling in the cupboard, all eager to tell their tales. This time, many of those who had preferred to look the other way during this period are paying attention.
For a decade or so, Ms Sturgeon and Mr Swinney and all their placemen and acolytes had successfully concealed the party’s dysfunctional financial stewardship by marginalising those trying to get at the truth.
It didn’t seem to matter that their wanton disregard for due process and scrutiny seemed to proceed unhindered; flaring up occasionally and then disappearing in the slipstream of the UK Government’s misdeeds. All that mattered was that they didn’t occur so frequently and within such close proximity that a chain reaction was inevitable. They never seemed to catch fire.
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