The SNP cares more about power than principles

Defeats in politics sometimes appear to be victories at first, and victories to be defeats. The SNP has survived a vote of no confidence (VONC) at Holyrood, as it was always going to. The Nationalists were home and dry before the debate was even called thanks to the backing of the Greens. The Conservatives tabled the motion against John Swinney, Nicola Sturgeon’s deputy, after he ignored two votes in parliament requesting that he hand over the Scottish government’s legal advice to the Alex Salmond inquiry. Only when the possibility of a VONC was raised did he hastily release some of the documents.

Obstruction has been a hallmark of the SNP government’s approach towards the inquiry. The parliamentary probe was set up after Alex Salmond, Sturgeon’s mentor-turned-enemy, took the government to court over an internal sexual harassment investigation it launched into him in 2018. The Court of Session ruled the process had been ‘unlawful’, ‘procedurally unfair’ and ‘tainted with apparent bias’ and Salmond was awarded costs in excess of £500,000.