Questions raised over SNP police raid timing

It’s not the SNP’s year is it? Just when the nationalists thought they could catch a break after the chaos of recent months, fresh revelations have been published about the infamous police raid on Nicola Sturgeon’s house. It turns out that Police Scotland put in their requests for a search warrant of the Sturgeon-Murrell property midway through the leadership contest on 20 March. But officers were left waiting for another two weeks until they got the green light on 3 April — seven days after the contest had ended.

Talk about convenient timing for establishment candidate Humza Yousaf. Had those scenes of the blue forensic tent been engrained in voters’ minds during the race, the election — which Yousaf narrowly won on second preference votes — could well have had a very different outcome. Of course, the Crown Office – presided over by a Scottish government minister – denies that any operations were delayed due to the leadership contest.