A fierce new critic of the SNP has burst onto the Scottish political scene. This acid-tongued detractor describes Humza Yousaf’s deputy Shona Robison as ‘a bit of a cold fish’, ‘like an automaton’ and ‘painful to listen to’, and says Angus Robertson’s promotion to the Scottish cabinet meant ‘the ego has landed’.
Who is this merciless mocker of the Nationalists? Step forward, Elena Whitham, SNP MSP and Scottish government drugs minister. Whitham, who recently called for the decriminalisation of all drugs, is splashed across the front page of today’s Daily Record.
The paper has acquired her contributions to a WhatsApp group of SNP politicians. In addition to making known her feelings about Robison and Robertson, Whitham lashes the party’s response to a sexual harassment allegation against MP Patrick Grady, demanding to know ‘why didn’t we act’ and ‘why are we supporting Grady’.
SNP colleague Willie Coffey is the recipient of another barb. Reflecting on the unlikelihood of him securing a ministerial job in a reshuffle, Whitham posted ‘Burn…’ and the laughing emoji.
Almost refreshingly for an SNP politician, she doesn’t restrict herself to bad-mouthing her colleagues. Of Conservative MSP Brian Whittle, she mused: ‘Fuck me. Whittle is a prick.’ During Holyrood proceedings on the Queen’s platinum jubilee, she commented: ‘Give me strength to get through this royalist bollocks.’
The Record, a former Labour paper now seen as sympathetic to the SNP leadership, is playing this as a tale of ministerial gaffing. But the real story is that private messages between SNP politicians were leaked to a paper that generations of Scottish Nationalists have reviled.
It underscores just how thoroughly the party’s once iron-tight discipline has broken down amid the fallout from Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation, the acrimonious leadership election and Humza Yousaf’s disastrous first 100 days. Not to mention a police investigation into party funds.
Mr Steerpike is old enough to remember when the SNP Holyrood group posed as one big happy family. Now they’re fighting like Nats in a sack.
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