Scotland's Politics - Angry, Hyper-Partisan and Toxic
I promised earlier to share a link to Professor James Mitchell's article on the current state of Scottish politics which he describes as 'angry, hyper-partisan and toxic'.
I'm sure lots of people will agree, but what unites the key players is they all agree 'it wisnae me'.
Comment: The Salmond affair has shown Scottish politics to be hyper-partisan and toxic
By Professor James Mitchell - Holyrood Magazine
The report of the Hamilton enquiry on whether the First Minister "breached the Code in respect of meetings and discussions with the former First Minister Mr Alex Salmond between 29 March 2018 and 18 July 2018 and related matters" will join that long list of works frequently quoted but rarely read.
As ever with such reports, most people are only interested in its key finding. And this was unambiguous and came early in the report: "I am not aware of anything in the conduct of the First Minister in respect of the introduction of or her observance of the Procedure which could be considered to be a breach of the Code."
SNP supporters portray the report as exonerating the First Minister and the last word on the matter.
They suggest that the parliamentary committee investigating the Scottish Government’s handling of the harassment complaints was a hopelessly partisan matter.
They have a point, but the committee report cannot be dismissed so easily.
These two reports need to be read alongside the Dunlop Review of the Scottish Government procedure for handling harassment complaints involving current or former ministers.
The report of the Hamilton enquiry on whether the First Minister "breached the Code in respect of meetings and discussions with the former First Minister Mr Alex Salmond between 29 March 2018 and 18 July 2018 and related matters" will join that long list of works frequently quoted but rarely read.
As ever with such reports, most people are only interested in its key finding. And this was unambiguous and came early in the report: "I am not aware of anything in the conduct of the First Minister in respect of the introduction of or her observance of the Procedure which could be considered to be a breach of the Code."
SNP supporters portray the report as exonerating the First Minister and the last word on the matter.
They suggest that the parliamentary committee investigating the Scottish Government’s handling of the harassment complaints was a hopelessly partisan matter.
They have a point, but the committee report cannot be dismissed so easily.
These two reports need to be read alongside the Dunlop Review of the Scottish Government procedure for handling harassment complaints involving current or former ministers.
