Nicola Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell has been re-arrested today in connection with the police probe into the SNP’s finances. A Police Scotland spokesperson said:
“The matter remains active for the purposes of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 and the public are therefore advised to exercise caution if discussing it on social media. “As the investigation is ongoing we are unable to comment further at this time.”
Humza Yousaf’s week isn’t getting any better…
The LGBT+ LibDems’ damning condemnation of the Cass review, which blasts the “conclusion which infantilises autistic people and is undeniable transphobia”, has mysteriously disappeared from the official LibDem website to be replaced by… nothing. They must have transitioned after reading the room…
When asked what the new position was, their press office referred Guido to a line in Hansard from the LibDem Equalities spokesman, Christine Jardine, who praised the Cass report for highlighting the “low standard of care for our young people“- hardly in agreement with the LGBT+ faction, whose tweet is still pinned to their Twitter. Intra-party relations strong as ever…
Readers will remember that BBC presenter Martine Croxall was taken off air after boasting of her ‘gleeful’ reaction to Boris pulling out of the leadership race in October 2022. The BBC said at the time that “remarks and reactions… caused a significant risk the audience could believe opinions were being expressed on the Conservative leadership contest.” Croxall’s glee wasn’t long for this world, though…
When the cost-cutting BBC had 18 presenters apply for five roles in a “merger”, Croxall lost out. She was taken off air for nearly a year. Now she’s suing the corporation for discrimination. The case is listed for a central London employment tribunal on the 1st of May, where Croxall is suing for age discrimination, sex discrimination, and equal pay. Litigation solves everything…
Any one of the 840,000 callers to HMRC who went ignored in January can safely assume that civil servants were busy elsewhere – at home “taking the cats for a walk” and “gardening“. According to a whistleblower in the department, HMRC’s new-age commitment to “flexible working” has led to paper shufflers concentrating on gaming on their PlayStations rather than deal with the taxpayers who keep them employed. No wonder they kicked up such a fuss when John Glen criticised them for still shirking from home…
This is apparently an “open secret” within pencil-pushing circles, yet they still claim to be “under-resourced”. Still, they did have enough to find £4.5 million down the back of the sofa for “diversity coordinators”. Good to know the blob’s got their priorities straight…
Rayner has decided to start briefing on why she is innocent as Greater Manchester Police investigate numerous allegations. She’s now claiming via The Times that she had no capital gains tax to pay on the property because she renovated her kitchen, which offset the tax. Tax sleuth (and Labour activist) Dan Neidle estimates that the enhancement expenditure would have to be between £15,000 and £23,000 for no CGT to be payable. You can see the fantastic result of that level of expenditure on Zoopla from when Rayner sold the place…
This does not look like fantastic value for money. Guido is also sure the public will agree that it makes little sense to spend £23,000 on a house bought for £79,000. Did her “dab hand at DIY” brother not fancy helping out?
It also raises another question. Does anyone else wonder where the supposedly “lowly paid care worker” supposedly got this £23,000 to spend?
While YouGov’s news topic tracker shows that 77% of Brits are aware of the Raynergate scandal, LabourList have commissioned polling from Savanta into why it is getting attention. They say of their results:
“Our exclusive poll shows 1/4 to 1/3 of voters say the Angela Rayner housing row is partly getting so much attention because she’s a northern, working-class woman“
A look at the actual figures paints a different picture. Savanta finds that a vast majority of 82.6% says the reason the scandal has traction is that “politicians must be seen to be following the law at all times“. Following behind that 59.9% say that it is because “she is a senior politician” and vying to be Deputy Prime Minister. A position so important that Starmer pledged whoever occupied the role would regularly publish their tax return…
Trailing at the bottom of the list are Labour’s favourite attack lines – that Rayner should avoid scrutiny because she is a working class, northern woman. Only 27.8% think it’s because she’s working class, and an even lower 24.9% think it’s because she is northern. That didn’t go the way they wanted…
