Tessa Jowell professed to have had no idea that David Mills had remortgaged their house. At least unless you believed that, then you ought not to believe the even more incredible protestations of Nicola Sturgeon. Although not in court, it will all come out now, so to speak. Peter Murrell played a central role in the attempt to frame Alex Salmond, whose constituency office Murrell had been running more than 30 years ago, when he had stolen the then substantial sum of £500 from SNP funds. Salmond knew that Murrell was having difficulties, so he replaced the money and said no more about it.
Has the Aberdeen South by-election been handed to the Conservatives? Too late to benefit if so, Ross Thomson has returned to that party, for which he held that seat from 2017 to 2019, because Reform UK had declined to nominate him for it this time. By only 155 votes, but even so, it was in fact Labour that came second there in 2024, yet no one is even mentioning it. Whereas the Green old guard is desperate for their party not to contest Makerfield, in the hope of securing from Andy Burnham a commitment to Proportional Representation in the 2029 Labour manifesto. There is absolutely no chance of that.
The Green Party is regularly ahead of Labour in the polls, it has just had a hugely successful set of elections, no one seriously doubts that it now has more members than the Labour Party, it has already come from a distant third place to win a parliamentary by-election, and people who wanted an alliance with Change UK should be enjoying their very well-deserved retirement. Votes do not belong to parties. They belong to us, the voters. It would not be as if a Reform victory at Makerfield would make Nigel Farage Prime Minister, so if I were a Green-inclined voter there and the Greens pulled out in favour of Burnham, then I would vote for Robert Kenyon to make the point that I would be the judge of where my vote went.
But speaking of a Farage Premiership, the people who saw it as their ticket to the top are as incensed at the emergence of Restore Britain, recruits to which from things like the British Democratic Party (look it up if you dare) are being told that they were not allowed back, as those who harboured similar hopes for Burnham are at the failure of the Greens to show due deference to him and to them, the Green grandees. What does Burnham think of having been endorsed by Peter Tatchell?
The things a wife can fail to notice are extraordinary.
ReplyDeleteThe things a party leader can fail to notice are extraordinary.
Charges against Peter Murrell:
1. Embezzlement of £459,046.49 of SNP funds over a 13-year period (2010–2023).
2. Purchase of a £124,550 motorhome using SNP funds for personal use.
3. Creation of false duplicate sales documents relating to the motorhome to portray it as a legitimate party expense.
4. Use of £16,489 of SNP funds towards a £33,000 Volkswagen Golf in 2016.
5. Use of £57,500 of SNP funds towards an £81,000 Jaguar I-Pace in 2019, and allegedly creating a false invoice to disguise the purchase.
6. Claiming £18,408.91 in expenses allegedly not entitled to, including alleged false invoices.
7. Spending £159,757.39 of SNP funds at 82 retailers on items allegedly for personal use or the use of others (2014–2022).
8. Spending £81,610.19 of SNP funds on Amazon purchases (2010–2023), allegedly for personal use or others, recorded to disguise their true nature.