Ever since the SNP started pushing for a referendum on Scottish independence, certain elements of the UK press have gone after individual MPs, all representing the SNP.
If memory serves me well, Michelle Thomson was the first. She was never accused of anything, never arrested, never charged. She gave a voluntary statement to the police. The procurator fiscal's office is taking no further action because there's no evidence there was a crime or that she was involved in one.
The press presented it differently, with lurid front page stories claiming she had built a £1.7million property empire by 'greed, vanity and crooked deals.' I don't need to remind you that £1.7m buys you a rather nice house in a nice area of London. Whatever else she has, it's not an empire. You can read the rest of the press allegations against her here:
https://wingsoverscotland.com/choco-ration-soars-again/
I'm not a fan of the Rev Stu, who is abrasive and arrogant, but he gives a pretty good account of the 'case' against Michelle Thomson and how she has been pursued by quite ruthless elements of the UK press.
Michelle Thomson lost the SNP whip and was dropped as a candidate in her Edinburgh West constituency in 2017. The seat was lost to the LibDems in the general election.
Michelle Thomson was followed in the list of SNP people allegedly being 'investigated' - mostly by the press: Natalie McGarry, Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh and Chris Law. Natalie McGarry has been charged. The other two have not.
Part of the Daily Telegraph's 'evidence' against Chris Law is that their reporter saw 'an Aston Martin racing car with the number plate 007' parked outside his home. No, I don't know who owns the car. This is called guilt by insinuation.
Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh lost her seat to the Tories in 2017. Natalie McGarry's career ended when she failed to be nominated for her seat. Her Glasgow East seat was held with a much reduced majority by the SNP. Chris Law is still an MP, having held his Dundee seat in 2017,again with a reduced majority.
All of this is a result. For the press. Michelle Thomson, Natalie McGarry and Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh are, in my opinion, victims of an attempt to get rid of Nicola Sturgeon: the press have been quick to claim her leadership of the SNP is flawed because the party isn't scrutinising its candidates closely enough. I've spoken to people who have applied for membership of the SNP and been turned down and a couple who wished to become candidates and didn't make it. Unless, of course, I happen to have met the only four who didn't make the cut with the SNP in the whole of Scotland...But there is a quality assurance process at work in the SNP.
Another result of the press's campaign is that 3 women have been kicked out of politics. And other women who might have considered politics as a career and a vocation have been put off for the
foreseeable future. We can't afford to be without these people. And I have to wonder why the press went after them. Soft targets? If the press thought Nicola Sturgeon would also be a soft target, they need to think again.
I'm also hoping the Rev Stu has had a good look at his own history and can stand up to close scrutiny. He's currently in a dispute with Kezia Dugdale who tried to use him to batter Nicola Sturgeon. And he's been attracting some not very nice press scrutiny with more to come when/if he takes Kezia Dugdale to court. And there's a major difference between MPs and Wings Over Scotland. Nicola Sturgeon has absolutely no control over Wings, which will go on saying and doing whatever the Rev
Stu wants.
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