The FM leaves behind a directionless movement, a government in crisis and a poisonous political debate. I wish her more success in whatever she does next.
Great article. It strikes me that she became increasingly convinced that “the SNP were Scotland” and possibly even that “she was Scotland” forgetting that her job as FM was to deliver for all Scots. She has managed to further divide the people of our country and it’s a massive job to tackle that divide but that is essential if we are to move forward.
Now that Sturgeon has been knocked off her perch, it is time to start thinking how the undemocratic parliament at Holyrood can be reformed so that no-one else can get the stranglehold on power that she has had (supported by Greens who couldn't win a single constituency).
This book shows how Sturgeon's rise was made possible only by the flawed constitution of the Holyrood. With nearly half the MSPs appointed by party bureaucrats, her lock on office was not hard to achieve. Labour had the same till 2007, when the effects of the Iraq war hit them and their supporters fled to the SNP. Now that has imploded, perhaps we can have a grown-up debate about how to reform the parliament in order to establish an actual DEMOCRACY.
Nobody else must be able to establish security in power to the extent Sturgeon has done. We must return to the separation of powers principle in which the legislature controls the executive. In Scotland we have had that the other way round. That must never be allowed to happen again.
There is a lot about the connection between Sturgeon's rise and the undemocratic nature of Holyrood, and its origins in what is called “the Dewar Constitution”, in this book:
Sturgeon's only achievement is duping the Indy flock long enough to build up her £500,000 pension pot! As mentioned in the article she has chosen division and fights instead of acknowledging, reviewing and trying to move forward and heal the wounds of our country after 2014.
There is nothing but a litany of poor policies, failure in every major government responsibility, and division wreaked across our country as a result of Never-endum Nicola's reign.
Education standards, NHS Scotland, Ferguson's Shipyard, BiFab, Police Scotland, Council Funding, Named Persons, Gender bill...
And as for her handling pandemic, it was PR and political exercise, not following the science and instead creating more damage by longer Lockdowns etc.
Let's not forget ongoing Police Scotland investigations the missing £600k of "Ringfenced" IndyRef2 subs, the £170k loan by her Chief Executive husband, and her dodgy memory.
A broken divided Scotland. That's her legacy, and that's how she will be judged, certainly not on "education".
Who is going to fix it? There's no serious SNP pretender,, but unfortunately I don't see any talent within the other parties at Holyrood.
However we desperately need a change, and to concentrate on the issues that affect our daily lives, not pursuing independence as it's a wild goose chase.
Thanks for that. The list system is clearly open to abuse. Salmond tried it and it has propelled Slater and Harvie, who have very little support in Scotland, to power. Reform however would require Westminster legislation and I can't see Keir Starmer touching it. I think that in the short run we have to make the Scottish government treat Parliament with less open contempt and offer the chance to achieve something to those MSPs (including opposition ones) who do not go into government.
Is not the truth that the failure of Brexit and now Nicola Sturgeon has shown that nationalism is. as many of us thought, outdated, irrelevant and destructive? Should we not be looking to ensure that progressives do not waste the chance we now have to rebuild our countries?
We have to make sure that Labour becomes the largest party in Scotland at the General Election with a strong group of MPs giving effective support to a Labour government which will face enormous difficulties.
Even so there will still be the problem of a moribund Scottish government with more than 3 years to go before the voters can put them out of our misery. Some form of coalition, once the nationalist agenda has gone, might be the answer. Labour and the Liberal Democrats have people who could strengthen the government and no one would miss the Greens or the fundamentalist nationalists.
Great article. It strikes me that she became increasingly convinced that “the SNP were Scotland” and possibly even that “she was Scotland” forgetting that her job as FM was to deliver for all Scots. She has managed to further divide the people of our country and it’s a massive job to tackle that divide but that is essential if we are to move forward.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Now that Sturgeon has been knocked off her perch, it is time to start thinking how the undemocratic parliament at Holyrood can be reformed so that no-one else can get the stranglehold on power that she has had (supported by Greens who couldn't win a single constituency).
This book shows how Sturgeon's rise was made possible only by the flawed constitution of the Holyrood. With nearly half the MSPs appointed by party bureaucrats, her lock on office was not hard to achieve. Labour had the same till 2007, when the effects of the Iraq war hit them and their supporters fled to the SNP. Now that has imploded, perhaps we can have a grown-up debate about how to reform the parliament in order to establish an actual DEMOCRACY.
Nobody else must be able to establish security in power to the extent Sturgeon has done. We must return to the separation of powers principle in which the legislature controls the executive. In Scotland we have had that the other way round. That must never be allowed to happen again.
There is a lot about the connection between Sturgeon's rise and the undemocratic nature of Holyrood, and its origins in what is called “the Dewar Constitution”, in this book:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BT8MQ4R1/ref=sr_1_1?Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=0&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=0&__mk_en_GB=%C3%85M%C3%85Z%C3%95%C3%91&qid=1675164524&refinements=p_28%3Ahating+tories&s=books&sr=1-1&unfiltered=1
A good piece.
Sturgeon's only achievement is duping the Indy flock long enough to build up her £500,000 pension pot! As mentioned in the article she has chosen division and fights instead of acknowledging, reviewing and trying to move forward and heal the wounds of our country after 2014.
There is nothing but a litany of poor policies, failure in every major government responsibility, and division wreaked across our country as a result of Never-endum Nicola's reign.
Education standards, NHS Scotland, Ferguson's Shipyard, BiFab, Police Scotland, Council Funding, Named Persons, Gender bill...
And as for her handling pandemic, it was PR and political exercise, not following the science and instead creating more damage by longer Lockdowns etc.
Let's not forget ongoing Police Scotland investigations the missing £600k of "Ringfenced" IndyRef2 subs, the £170k loan by her Chief Executive husband, and her dodgy memory.
A broken divided Scotland. That's her legacy, and that's how she will be judged, certainly not on "education".
Who is going to fix it? There's no serious SNP pretender,, but unfortunately I don't see any talent within the other parties at Holyrood.
However we desperately need a change, and to concentrate on the issues that affect our daily lives, not pursuing independence as it's a wild goose chase.
Thanks for that. The list system is clearly open to abuse. Salmond tried it and it has propelled Slater and Harvie, who have very little support in Scotland, to power. Reform however would require Westminster legislation and I can't see Keir Starmer touching it. I think that in the short run we have to make the Scottish government treat Parliament with less open contempt and offer the chance to achieve something to those MSPs (including opposition ones) who do not go into government.
Is not the truth that the failure of Brexit and now Nicola Sturgeon has shown that nationalism is. as many of us thought, outdated, irrelevant and destructive? Should we not be looking to ensure that progressives do not waste the chance we now have to rebuild our countries?
We have to make sure that Labour becomes the largest party in Scotland at the General Election with a strong group of MPs giving effective support to a Labour government which will face enormous difficulties.
Even so there will still be the problem of a moribund Scottish government with more than 3 years to go before the voters can put them out of our misery. Some form of coalition, once the nationalist agenda has gone, might be the answer. Labour and the Liberal Democrats have people who could strengthen the government and no one would miss the Greens or the fundamentalist nationalists.