Just when they thought they were out of the woods, the SNP have been pulled right back in. Following Nicola Sturgeon’s sensational arrest on Sunday, reports have emerged that First Minister Humza Yousaf is willing to exhaust all options in a bid to get his party under control — and has gone so far as to tell his MSPs to back Sturgeon or quit the party. No Privileges Committee investigation for her to worry about…
There’s only so many times a First Minister can be called ‘weak’ before he snaps. Three separate sources have told the Times that, at a private meeting in Holyrood, Yousaf issued veiled threats to his politicians, primly reminding them that they were expected to publicly support his decision to allow Sturgeon to retain the whip. If they didn’t, Yousaf warned, they’d be doing damage to the independence cause. Ah, the classic separatist threat never gets old…
Humza’s allies (both of them) have presented a slightly rosier view of events. Mr S hears that he spent the meeting begging his politicians to band together in the name of party unity. ‘I did not read the riot act,’ Yousaf assured inquisitive journalists. And despite a number of SNP politicians calling for Sturgeon’s suspension, the show of goodwill went on — culminating in a present of flowers in ‘sympathy’ for dear Ms Sturgeon. Let’s hope they weren’t funeral lilies.
It’ll take more than flowers and a sharp tongue to whip these politicians into line, though. A fair few politicians are bitter about Yousaf’s refusal to suspend his predecessor and not all of them are keeping quiet about it. Coming soon to an anonymous briefing near you…
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