Tinpot moments in Scottish politics

[D Angelo Barksdale]

[Michael W]

22 minutes ago, Marlo Stanfield said:

I feel we're going to need a 'tinpot Police Scotland moments' thread. What the f**k is going on here? 

[D Angelo Barksdale]

22 minutes ago, Michael W said:

I feel we're going to need a 'tinpot Police Scotland moments' thread. What the f**k is going on here? 

Somebody is clearly at it. Not sure if these nonsense leaks are from Police Scotland or pro or anti Sturgeon SNP people.

[KirkieRR]

If, eventually, nothing happens and there are no charges, will there be apologies required from PS, the Press, opposition parties, Mad Wings Stu etc?

[DeeTillEhDeh]

3 hours ago, Marlo Stanfield said:

Somebody is clearly at it. Not sure if these nonsense leaks are from Police Scotland or pro or anti Sturgeon SNP people.

Some of the reporting is sailing very close to the wind.

[strichener]

11 hours ago, KirkieRR said:

If, eventually, nothing happens and there are no charges, will there be apologies required from PS, the Press, opposition parties, Mad Wings Stu etc?

Apologies to whom?  The same people that tried to get an ex-collegue the jail?

[Trogdor]

Would be quite funny if the only jail time was for Murray Foote for contempt of court. 

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

19 hours ago, KirkieRR said:

If, eventually, nothing happens and there are no charges, will there be apologies required from PS, the Press, opposition parties, Mad Wings Stu etc?

Why should their be an apology from PS, if they’ve got a report of a crime that appears credible they are legally bound to investigate it? 

[StellarHibee]

19 minutes ago, Inanimate Carbon Rod said:

Why should their be an apology from PS, if they’ve got a report of a crime that appears credible they are legally bound to investigate it? 

Unless they're investigating something that never really had any credibility at all.

[Trogdor]

37 minutes ago, StellarHibee said:

Unless they're investigating something that never really had any credibility at all.

I think we are well passed that point tbh.

Given the sums of money involved and the party's well documented financial problems (loan for cashflow) there is more than enough circumstantial evidence to go on. Something has definitely been amiss. Perhaps it is just the case that Murrell is as catastrophically bad with finances as he is bald.

I don't really see how PS can be criticised for investigating. The police presence they have thrown at it and the CSI tents was a bit OTT. That's a different issue though.

It would have been remiss of them not to investigate imo.

[ScotiaNostra]

If anything the feeling was the PS didnt want to touch this, which is why it seemed to go nowhere for a few years. Why it suddenly went the other way will be interesting to find out. It may prove to be OTT.

Maybe some within SNP decided that was the moment to throw them under the bus and provided some evidence or was something found by the Police. When did the actual investigation into this actually start.

At the moment the most likely does seem Murrell just lost the plot with the finances whether intentionally or not and others seem to have known but beyond that I havent read anything yet to suggest more.

[HibeeJibee]

On 04/05/2023 at 13:33, RuMoore said:

If anyone is looking for a laugh put on Debate Night from Wednesday. 

Lorna Slater on the panel, hilarious viewing. 

She really is woefully out-of-her-depth.

Bottle return scheme a disaster? Highly Protected Marine Areas enraging rural communities? Train and bus usage still way down on 2019 but a huge target to push people out of private cars? Caledonian MacBrayne ferries going to the dogs?

Fear not - if you're a Green MSP plus environment minister, and fancy a trip to Rum but don't want to slum it on CalMac's service as the limited timetable isn't very convenient, just get the taxpayer to literally charter you a private ferry instead ...
 

 

 

Edited May 12, 2023 by HibeeJibee

[welshbairn]

Tbf to Slater chartering a boat seems to be a pretty normal thing to do for Rum, however badly Scotgov have done over the ferries there probably would never be the demand for a much more frequent service, there are only 40 people living on it.

Quote

Steve Robertson from the island's community trust described the row as "a storm in a teacup" but confirmed that the CalMac ferry service did not meet the island's needs.

He said: "Lorna Slater is coming over to do a very important meeting to try and move things forward for the community.

"It makes people feel disappointed that that's the story when for us a taxi charter boat is a normal part of island life. We have to use these to make the island anything like sustainable.

"She can take the ferry service if she wants to have the meeting on the ferry and fit in with the very narrow options to spend time on Rum."

 

Edited May 12, 2023 by welshbairn

[HibeeJibee]

21 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

Tbf to Slater chartering a boat seems to be a pretty normal thing to do for Rum, however badly Scotgov have done over the ferries there probably would never be the demand for a much more frequent service, there are only 40 people living on it.

Steve Robertson from the island's community trust described the row as "a storm in a teacup" but confirmed that the CalMac ferry service did not meet the island's needs.

Absolute height of hypocrisy given her brief and the well-documented ferry woes. I've regularly used the west coast ferries in recent years and this development is laughable.

She is staying on Rum for about 4.5hrs... supposedly today's 3hrs stopover by CalMac would be insufficient. Yet she could have gone Wednesday or tomorrow and had a longer stopover than she's making today - or she could have stayed overnight (there is a bunkhouse and a couple of B&Bs). In any case the service is only so erratic and unreliable because CalMac has redeployed Lochnevis:



to cover gaps elsewhere, only to then redeploy the relief Loch Bhrusda:



to also cover gaps elsewhere, then hired in the modest Spanish John:

Edited May 12, 2023 by HibeeJibee

[Joey Jo Jo Junior Shabadoo]

Juan looks a bit shit.

[sophia]

3 hours ago, HibeeJibee said:

Absolute height of hypocrisy given her brief and the well-documented ferry woes. I've regularly used the west coast ferries in recent years and this development is laughable.

She is staying on Rum for about 4.5hrs... supposedly today's 3hrs stopover by CalMac would be insufficient. Yet she could have gone Wednesday or tomorrow and had a longer stopover than she's making today - or she could have stayed overnight (there is a bunkhouse and a couple of B&Bs). In any case the service is only so erratic and unreliable because CalMac has redeployed Lochnevis:



to cover gaps elsewhere, only to then redeploy the relief Loch Bhrusda:



to also cover gaps elsewhere, then hired in the modest Spanish John:

 

I believe that you've been suckered into joining what now appears to me to be a most unedifying pile on.

Your piece doesn't give any indication that you have an understanding of a minister's diary.

 

[DeeTillEhDeh]

Just fucking bin the Greens.

[Trogdor]

56 minutes ago, DeeTillEhDeh said:

Just fucking bin the Greens.

^This is the way.

[welshbairn]

6 hours ago, HibeeJibee said:

Absolute height of hypocrisy given her brief and the well-documented ferry woes. I've regularly used the west coast ferries in recent years and this development is laughable.

Given that the disastrous political decision to blow the ferry budget on giving a contract to a Clyde firm who didn't know how to build them happened 7 years before Slater or even her party entered the Government, I don't see where the hypocrisy is. And is the transport minister a hypocrite if he goes to a meeting in a chauffeured Government car or a taxi rather than a bus?

Edited May 12, 2023 by welshbairn

[Bob in Denny]

1 hour ago, welshbairn said:

Given that the disastrous political decision to blow the ferry budget on giving a contract to a Clyde firm who didn't know how to build them happened 7 years before Slater or even her party entered the Government, I don't see where the hypocrisy is. And is the transport minister a hypocrite if he goes to a meeting in a chauffeured Government car or a taxi rather than a bus?

Not a dig..

Ferguson Shipyard has built more than a few Cal Mac ferries over the years..

more likely someone fecked up along the line...