Latest news with #AlexSalmond
The Herald Scotland
12 hours ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Fergus Ewing quits SNP to run as independent in 2026
The veteran MSP and former minister said his decision was 'not an easy one' but was driven by disillusionment with the direction of his party and the state of the Scottish Parliament. READ MORE Mr Ewing said his old party had "deserted many of the people whose causes we used to champion". 'I have taken [the decision to stand as an independent] because I love the people of Inverness and Nairn and the people of Scotland more than my party, which I have been in for more than half a century,' he said. 'I believe the SNP has lost its way and that devolution itself – presently – is letting Scotland's people down.' Mr Ewing, first elected in 1999, served for 14 years in ministerial roles under Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon. In recent years, however, he has become one of the SNP's most vocal critics, repeatedly challenging the party on key policies, including its stance on North Sea oil and gas, delays to dualling the A9 and A96, the proposed deposit return scheme, gender recognition reform, and plans for Highly Protected Marine Areas. He was suspended from the SNP Holyrood group in 2023 after voting against then Green minister Lorna Slater in a motion of no confidence, defying party whips. In March this year, he announced he would not seek selection as an SNP candidate, warning the party was 'no longer the party for all of Scotland'. In a statement confirming his bid to run as an independent, Mr Ewing criticised what he described as the increasingly 'fractious and tribal' nature of the Scottish Parliament and the centralisation of power within party structures. 'Too much power rests unchecked in the hands of party leaders, free to choose candidates who will slavishly support them, rather than stand up for the people who sent them to Holyrood,' he said. 'Choosing the pliant over the talented.' He added: 'It's time for Holyrood to live up to the high expectations people rightly held for it, when my mother, Winnie, reconvened our own Parliament in 1999. It came of age some years ago – surely now it's time for it to grow up.' Mr Ewing urged politicians in the main parties to work together "whether in a grand coalition or a less formal arrangement" to reform public services and maximise economic growth. In recent months, he has argued that party leaders have prioritised loyalty over competence in candidate selection. 'The party machine has become too all-powerful,' he said in an interview last month. 'Candidates who may be suitable from the party point of view – in other words, obedient and pliant – but perhaps not what the people want.' Earlier this year, Mr Ewing faced speculation that he could be barred from standing for the SNP again, with reports suggesting the party's internal vetting process had flagged concerns over his repeated public criticism of government policy. Although he ultimately passed vetting, the episode fuelled tensions within the party. Former cabinet secretary Alex Neil said any move to deselect Mr Ewing would have triggered 'a massive revolt from both the public and within the party', describing him as 'one of the most effective MSPs in Scotland'. Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes, a close ally of Mr Ewing, also intervened in the row, urging the SNP to consider his 'long-standing contribution' to the party and its values.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
STEPHEN DAISLEY: Swinney has no spark, no vision and no clue. If he were to quit now he'd leave no legacy ... just consequences
Reports of a plot to replace John Swinney as SNP leader prompt an obvious question: with whom? The First Minister's pitch when he took over the leadership was that he would be Mr Stability, a safe pair of hands who could move the party on from the Humza Yousaf disaster, factional disagreements over gender and independence strategy, and the never-ending police investigation. Now, there's a lot to be said for stability. After all, 'May you live in interesting times' is intended as a curse, not a blessing. But whose interests are served by Swinneyean 'stability'? Certainly not taxpayers who want to see their money spent wisely on the improvement of public services. Swinney, like his recent predecessors, is adept at raking money in and pouring it back out but the record on outcomes leaves a lot to be desired. The finance secretary who gutted funding for local government. The education secretary who tried to fix an exams disaster by downgrading the results of working-class children. The Covid recovery secretary who produced no recovery in hospitals or on high streets. The first minister who, over a long and undistinguished ministerial career, has had a hand in every calamity to issue from St Andrew's House, from the educational attainment gap to the unlawful named persons scheme, the Ferguson Marine ferries to the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, the secrecy that bedevilled the Alex Salmond inquiry to the brazen deletion of ministerial messages from the Covid pandemic. Internal rivals might be displeased with his absolutely honking performance in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election, losing a safe SNP seat to a Labour party that he said wasn't even in the race, but if anyone is entitled to vent about the man's performance it is the general public. They thought they were getting a political handyman, someone who would roll up his sleeves and fix the breaks, cracks, squeaks and grumbles across government. Thirteen months later, the same faults remain. Decrepitude has become the norm. Which brings us back to the 'who' question. Let's say the plotters give Swinney his jotters. Who follows him into Bute House? Stephen Flynn is a name insiders keep bringing up, and I keep advising them to put right back down. Flynn is a wide boy with a restless mouth and a smug manner and zero in the way of executive experience. He is a less qualified Humza Yousaf. Angus Robertson? Cold, aloof, and unrelatable. If Scottish elections were held only in Stockbridge and Kelvinbridge, he'd romp home, but the farther you get from a university, a Waitrose or a book festival, the further his appeal diminishes. Kate Forbes could make a decent fist of it but the green-haired brigade would sooner see Reform in government than allow a Bible-believing Christian to lead the party. Not that any of this matters, of course. The problem is the SNP itself, its failure to govern and its shifting priorities. Scotland will not flourish under Swinney. It will not flourish under Flynn or anyone else touted as a possible successor. The SNP is not a party that exists to make Scotland flourish; it exists to make Scotland independent. Yet the Nationalists are no closer today to achieving either than they were 18 years ago when they entered government. Scotland did not flourish under Alex Salmond, whose energies were directed to the SNP's raison d'etre. It was of little consolation to those who hoped for economic and social progress during those first seven years, but Salmond spoke often of independence as the necessary condition for transforming the country into a powerhouse of prosperity, innovation and fairness. Unionists could dislike his objectives and his personality while recognising that he had ambition for the country, however misguided. Scotland is still not flourishing but nor is it making much progress towards independence. Under the post-Salmond leadership of the SNP, the unholy trinity of Nicola Sturgeon, Humza Yousaf and John Swinney, the journey has not merely stalled, the destination has changed. The immediate objective is not tending, growing or marshalling the independence movement, but entrenching and expanding their own ruling caste, a self-perpetuating elite whose purpose is not social or constitutional change but the acquisition of power and status for their own sake. They are in office to be in office and every decision is taken with the maintenance of office in mind. They are embedding themselves as the new Scottish establishment, helpfully sporting yellow rather than red rosettes so they may be distinguished from the old establishment, and nothing - not the improvement of education, nor the recovery of the NHS, nor even independence - will get in their way. That establishment was on full display last week in John Swinney's mini reshuffle, an ingathering of the inconsequential, an anointing of the adequate. It's hard to be disappointed in the calibre of ministers, for how do you work up any kind of feeling towards a Tom Arthur or a Màiri McAllan? There is nothing there to oppose because there is nothing there. At the head of this committee of beige sits Swinney, the beigest man of all.. No spark, no passion, no vision, no clue. Tomorrow, the First Minister will address the Scotland 2050 conference in Edinburgh where he will urge us to reject 'another 25 years of Westminster mismanagement' and instead 'look around us at our immense potential today, and have the confidence that we can do better with the full powers of independence'. The party that proclaimed 'Scotland free by 93', and then 'Nationalist heaven in 2007', now wants its followers to believe independence will be nifty in 2050. At some point, the party faithful will have to accept that they are not being led but strung along. The SNP will not deliver a booming economy and radically improved public services to ordinary voters, and nor will it, in its current incarnation, deliver independence to those for whom the constitution comes before all else. The SNP will deliver only for the nomenklatura in whose grips it has been held for more than a decade now. That ruling elite has its priorities but they are not those of the general public nor, for the most part, of the rank and file of the independence movement. They are nationalists who put themselves before the nation. Why remove John Swinney as leader when he is the ideal figurehead of today's SNP? A man with a lanyard, indistinguishable in ideology or political purpose from all the other men and women with lanyards, no more or less likely to grow the economy, close the attainment gap, meet A&E targets or secure another referendum on independence. If Swinney were to go now, he would leave no legacy, only consequences, fashioned by his failings but borne by others. The young people denied a quality, life-changing education. The local government services cut and the people who relied upon them abandoned. The hollowed out town centres, the boarded up shops and businesses, the pervasive economic despair and societal gloom of a country where venturing beyond the major cities will bring you face to face with communities that have been given up on for so long they have given up on themselves. A first minister worthy of the office would set about tackling these social ailments, but John Swinney is not worthy of the office, and nor are any of those who would be likely to succeed him.
The Herald Scotland
13-06-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Badenoch convinced Tory conference - but what about voters?
Right as the Conservative leader stood up to speak, the Murrayfield pitch was being ripped up and replaced. Diggers and tractors tore up the grass ready to start afresh. Inside, Ms Badenoch was about to do the same to her party. Could the workmen here be dropping hints at the Tory leader that it is time to tear the party up and start again? "The speech isn't about looking back," she said, defiantly. "It's about the future. Our future. I am renewing the party." Renewal became the buzzword of Badenoch's speech. The phrase lingered amongst MSPs and activists I spoke to on the way out of the hall. One MSP told me that this was a party ready to fight. They were on the brink of disaster but they were not going to go down without a battle. And they believed the Conservative leader hit the perfect tone. Read more: Badenoch claims 'Scotland needs Conservatives now more than ever' Pensioners backed by Alex Salmond lose legal challenge over winter fuel payment Andrew Bowie: Coalition with Reform is worst thing we can do But the questions are still inescapable: will her plan work - and is it enough to stop Nigel Farage's Reform UK demolishing the Tories in Holyrood and Westminster? In her speech, Ms Badenoch acknowledged she had a fight on her hands. And she is not wrong. Projections for the Scottish Parliament election next year suggests Reform could win at least 10 MSPs, while the Tories lose around half of their seats, falling to around 15 MSPs. In May next year, voters go to the polls and that is bad news for Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay unless Ms Badenoch's renewal can come quickly. Ms Badenoch met a score of Scottish journalists after her keynote address. In the packed room overlooking the Murrayfield pitch constructions, Ms Badenoch said her eyes were on the long approach - 2029. And she was adamant she was no longer looking to the past. The Tories, she told us, needed to move on from the turmoil of Liz Truss and Boris Johnson. The policy decisions of her predecessors, though, are haunting. Decent press room views from the Scottish Tory conference. @HannahMargBrown and I are at Murrayfield for Kemi Badenoch's speech. — Rebecca McCurdy (@_RebeccaMcCurdy) June 13, 2025 Ms Badenoch was joined by the Scottish Tory leader for the packed press huddle. Together, they displayed a united front. Asked how long they spoke to each other, she said: "We WhatsApp." Mr Findlay jumped in to joke: "It's a joint support group." Ms Badenoch brushed it off as a joke but she admitted that being Conservative leader was full on. Perhaps there is a truth to both of their statements. Being leader of a party fighting for survival is an almighty task, and one that most would not volunteer to do. She was firm that defectors had no negative impact on her party: if they would rather go to Reform or the Liberal Democrats, then they were never real Tories anyway and the party was better off without them, she told us. That may be her view, but it's a dangerous one for a party on the brink and desperate to scoop up every single vote. I asked her about Jamie Greene, the former Tory MSP who defected to the Liberal Democrats. He referred to Ms Badenoch's visit as "Kemi-geddon", arguing the party was a sinking ship that was losing support on an apocalyptic scale. She said: "Am I right in thinking that Jamie Greene that supported the SNP on the gender row? He's never been a Conservative. How anybody could have supported what was obviously a mad piece of legislation and call themselves a Conservatives is beyond me." An awkward statement of Conservative unity, given two other current Tory MSPs - Jackson Carlaw and Sandesh Gulhane - backed the Gender Recognition Reform Bill in 2023. Ms Badenoch seemed re-energised. The awkward exchanges with the press and public were long gone. But has it come too late and it is Kemi-geddon after all?
Daily Record
10-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Record
Another council tax freeze could sound a death knell for local authorities
The political benefit of John Swinney freezing the council tax before a tricky Holyrood election is obvious. The First Minister wants to go into the campaign showing he has helped Scots with their bills during the cost of living crisis Slamming the brakes on planned rises by town halls would be a popular move with voters sick of paying more for less. But the impact of a freeze would be a disaster for public services and the locals who depend on state education, youth work, roads and leisure facilities. Council services have been on their knees for years and the SNP Government is to blame. Instead of allowing councils the freedom to set their own rates, SNP Ministers have for years paid town halls to freeze the tax - usually on the cheap. A recent Audit Scotland report laid bare the funding pressures faced by local authorities. Wage rises, higher employment national insurance costs and increased demand for services contributed to a £647m black hole in 2025/26 alone. Imposing a freeze next year would lead to another toxic double dose of service cuts and user charges. The First Minister should look in the mirror when the blame is handed out for the mess councils find themselves in. As Alex Salmond 's Finance Secretary, he was the architect of the original council tax freeze policy. He also helped persuade Humza Yousaf to announce a freeze in 2023 despite howls of anguish from councils, unions and centre-left politicians. Local authorities are in desperate need of financial stability and an end to SNP Government short-termism based on generating headlines. Yousaf 's council tax freeze was followed twelve months later by rises of over 15% - a farce that does not benefit anybody. If a charge sheet was drawn up of SNP sins over the last 18 years, council under-funding would be close to the top.
The National
05-06-2025
- Politics
- The National
We should be taking our lead from these Yes activists
This is of course partly as a result of the 'no acknowledgement' digital and social media bad-manner culture that has evolved in general and partly I suspect from the many SNP and other so-called 'parliamentarians' who live in a bubble of self-importance and complacency, who have not yet woken up to the fact that the appellation 'politician' is now increasingly a term of derision and contempt. These are not the statesmen of previous years who would have without delay replied in person, via a secretariat at the very least, to engage with any aligned and sympathetic movement in fraternal solidarity. It is not possible to imagine a John Smith – or Alex Salmond for that matter – to be so distracted by affairs of state not send a message of thanks and leadership affirmation. The entitlement mindset of many but not all SNP grassroots members and politicians has delivered nothing thus far in terms of national liberation from the colonial 'commonsteal' and it is increasingly apparent to all passionate and dispassionate observers of the Scottish struggle for freedom that a house divided on itself cannot, simply will not, prevail. The British elites will continue to 'divide and conquer' until the independent-minded people of Scotland 'unite and conquer' to provide a decent inheritance for their children and grandchildren. We urgently require a regular series of highly visible national 'gatherings' of all indy groups together that will attract hitherto uncertain people and reforge old friendships in a spirit of mutual reconciliation and resolve. No 'Pollyannaism' but real, visceral attempts to express and let go of personal impasses and resentments as well as strategic and tactical disagreements. One or two non-politically correct face-to-face encounters on Glasgow Green, Salisbury Crags or right outside Holyrood would clear the air, don't you think? Sober, polite conventions have their place but in the words of Burns, 'The heart is aye the part that maks us right or wrang'. A 'heart felt' reunification in the movement must precede polite talking shops. Yes Berwickshire has set a great example to all other groups and let us all look at least initially to 'liberate Scotland' to be a gathering point. Three or four big, and I mean big events need to be convened and the SNP could easily re-establish their tarnished freedom credentials by using their enormous resources hitherto squandered or frittered away, to be the midwife of a reinvigorated national vision of post-colonial life. Tempus fugit, so let's all start writing and talking to each other Berwickshire style! Dr Andrew Docherty Selkirk THE evidence on nuclear power disproves Lynn Jamieson's irresponsible jeremiad (Why nuclear power isn't the green energy solution you've been told, May 30). For a start, nuclear requires the least mining of any electricity source, because uranium fuel is the most powerful on earth by far. That is from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. The same commission did a lifecycle analysis of the total carbon footprint of all electricity sources, from mining through to decommissioning of facilities. Again, it found nuclear has the lowest carbon footprint of any electricity source. The industry matches that with an excellent safety record: it is so safe that pregnant women are able to work on top of the reactor pile caps at Torness. To scaremonger to the contrary is an abominable disgrace. There are many more errors of fact, including that nuclear power stations cannot turn up and down. The French nuclear fleet just this past Sunday turned down from 38 gigawatts to 25 gigawatts, to accommodate rising solar power, and turned back up to 40 gigawatts in the evening when solar faded away. Decisions on our energy future should be based on facts. And the facts in Scotland are that Torness is the single largest, cleanest, most reliable electricity generator in the nation, and a vital source of good jobs for local people. That is something we should renew for the next generation. Lincoln Hill, director of policy and external affairs, Nuclear Industry Association NEITHER the SNP nor any of the other nominally pro-independence parties are proposing a way to translate support into a democratic vote. They all defer to Westminster. They are diverting attention from their lack of any plan for restoring independence by promoting totally pointless arguments about 'voting strategy'. And people are falling for it! I despair! Peter A Bell via
