Quote of the day 16th January 2021

“The conduct of the First Minister of Scotland must, however, be beyond reproach.”


(John Swinney MSP, who was then leader of the SNP, in 2001, referring to a Labour first minister. Today Swinney is Deputy First minister of Scotland.)

This gives rise to some difficulty for Mr Swinney, who much more recently described serious allegations by former SNP First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond against the present SNP First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as "total nonsense."

Swinney is in a bit of a difficulty either way. Had he accepted the charges Alec Salmond is making, then he would be agreeing that the present First Minister of Scotland's behaviour is very far from being above reproach. He doesn't - so instead he is effectively accusing the former First Minister, who he tried to make leader of an independent Scotland not all that long ago, of smearing his successor.)

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