Nicola Sturgeon

Fair enough LemonJam I stand corrected

However my first point still stands.

All police interviews are conducted under police caution. In simple terms how I explain the three parts:

1) You have the legal right to remain silent- you do not have to answer police questions
2) However if you do not answer the questions today, and IF the mater later goes to court, and you say something THEN, that you did not say today- the court is less likely to believe you and it could harm your defence
3) The court will know what you've said as the interview will be recorded visually and audibly.

She responded to the line of enquiry initially by giving a written statement. It's hard to answer specific questions if you are in fact innocent and have no detailed knowledge of the charge in question at he time of sudden arrest. Ive no doubt Sturgeon was shocked as she was lead out of her house, put in a. cell to await arrival of a solicitor and having fingerprints, photo and possibly DNA taken.

It's much better at that stage, with such a forensic charge, that is going to rely on detailed documentary evidence to give an initial statement 'I have no knowledge of" etc. The police always then respond along the lines of - "please, go away and think of any evidence that would exonerate you, whatever you can think of- texts, emails, witness statements in support, budge statements etc etc and please get in touch further...."

This she appeared to do, following up with a further detailed written statement. I feel strongly it is unfair to say she did not co operate with Police Scotland in that context or to suggest saying "no comment" attached with a written statement, is proof of culpability. It is not.

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Fair enough LemonJam I stand corrected

However my first point still stands.

Thank you FriedGreenTomatoes2. I also think all the people who donated to SNP coffers must feel very, very angry, upset and let down.

It is not a crime to love and trust your husband. These types of offenders are by their very nature secretive and deceptive. I expect Murrell was so heavily involved in his crimes, he never even considered that his wife would also be under suspicion until his house of cards came tumbling down.

We have all seen or heard stories about compulsive spenders who build up massive credit card debts or employees who steal from their employers. They have all ruined peoples' lives in one way or another. Unfortunately, Murrell's crimes were much more high profile.

Many people have been deceived by a criminal spouse or partner and Nicola Sturgeon was probably kept as much in the dark as the partners of lesser known offenders. However, I don't think her husband should have had his job in the first place, it was clearly a conflict of interest and gives the impression that the SNP was a family business rather than a political party. There must have been other roles he could have been appointed to.

Well she's lost any credibility she might have had (none in my view). There will always be suspicion hanging over her. She might as well stay in England. If nothing else the taxes are lower there.
However, this story is not over yet. There is more to come. I hope Joanna Cherry is also on the book festival roundabout!

Easy to believe a wife did not know that her husband was embezzling money when he worked in a separate business to which she had no access. Impossible to believe when Sturgeon and Murrell were in the same business, the SNP, and she appointed him to his position. When concerns about finances and then missing donations were raised she dismissed them; when household items bought with stolen money were listed she claimed no knowledge of them, even items clearly intended for female use, and finally maintained a skilled evasion during police interviews.
Now a publicity tour promoting her forthcoming book and interviews proclaiming her innocence.
She has taken some of Scotland for fools and thinks she can continue in the wider world.
"Refusing to accept blame for a crime committed by her husband." Really?
She and her husband were involved in the same business and when concerns were raised about missing money over a period of time she was in a position to call for an investigation; most wives are not in this position. She was, but this she failed to do.
Refusal to accept blame for failing to check the finances of the SNP. She is culpable.

Well, the good news is that the SNP appears to have bounced back without her. 😃

I suspect she knew most of what was going on.

I cant think og a good reason not to have had the books looked at, if you were the Leader.

The bit that gets me is, she wanted Scotland to run it's own affairs. Whatever.
But then she decamps to....of all Countries...England!

next she'll be telling us she doesn't drink coffee

Unlikely, as her luxury item on desert island discs was a coffee machine 😀

"But then she decamps to ...of all Countries ...England!" Yes why indeed? A lifetime of slagging off England. Next she'll be telling us "she doesn't hate the English" or am I confusing her with someone else

Lemonjam you and I had better stop calling him Burrell, but I blame you for leading me astray on that 😂

I've just read that Murrell stole from Salmond when he worked for him years ago. Salmond stated that he did. Seems unlikely that Salmond didn't mention this to Nichola who was then his protégée. It's all smellier and smellier.

She's in London!
I'm amazed.

Spinnaker

I don't feel sorry for her either Aveline. It was her job to know what was going on. She's as hard faced now as she ever was, in my opinion.

Yes, agree with your description of her 👏👏👏

Oreo

Lemonjam you and I had better stop calling him Burrell, but I blame you for leading me astray on that 😂

Apologise for leading you astray Oreo by my error 🥱

I should jolly well think so too 🤭

Galaxy

Unlikely, as her luxury item on desert island discs was a coffee machine 😀

Really?😲😁
At least she didn’t choose a camper van.

Say what you will about her, but I’m totally in agreement with her regarding the coffee machine luxury on my desert island - as long as the beans are included.

They certainly love their coffee.

Absolutely agree with your comments eazybee Sturgeon has covered for her ex husband all along the line. Crocodile tears are pathetic.

SueDonim

Oh, cry me a river, Nicky. I agree she didn’t commit the crimes but she threw obstacles in the way of her husband’s behaviour being exposed, and let’s remember, this embezzlement wasn’t a one-off impulse, he went on a twelve year spending spree.

Not only SNP members lost money in this - and some of those would have been low-income donors - but the costs of the investigation have racked up to £2million, which we, the ordinary tax payer, have borne.

If Sturgeon couldn’t see what was going on under her nose, it’s difficult to believe how she had the nous to run a country.

I’m quoting because I’ve only just read this thread, otherwise I’d just have written ^Well put SueDonim.

If Nicola knew nothing about any of it, why did a bald man need two Dyson hairdryers? They are over £400 each, so an extravagance at best. I could understand NS having one at home and one for ‘on the road’ though.

"None so blind as those that will not see" as my old mum used to say.

Even giving Ms Sturgeon the biggest benefit of the doubt, it can't be ignored that she ferociously denied any discrepancy in the accounts and fought any attempts at examination. Not usually the actions of someone who believes implicitly in the correctness of such accounts?

No, and when four (?) accounts people resigned from the SNP a bind man on a galloping horse would have taken notice.