Ian Blackford has confirmed to Sky News’s Joe Pike he’s standing down from Parliament at the next election, having resigned as the SNP’s Westminster group leader late last year. Inevitable…

SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has admitted he wasn’t told the party’s auditors had quit until nearly three months after he got the job, and conceded the SNP is on the brink of losing £1.2 million in short money in a matter of weeks. In an interview with BBC Radio Scotland, Flynn revealed he was only told about the auditor crisis on February 10, despite being elected as SNP Westminster leader on December 6. It was just yesterday when the SNP’s deputy leader Keith Brown insisted the party was “one of the most transparent” in the UK…

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland, Flynn admitted it was a “difficult time” for SNP staff:

“It’s obviously a situation which is in a state of flux.  When you’re not in control of something, it’s best not to make firm commitments as to what could or couldn’t happen.”

I became fully aware of the situation in February, as I said to you, I received an email from our finance officer who advised me that back in September the party’s auditors had opted not to continue and we need to find our own.”

The only problem is Ian Blackford claimed on Sunday that his deputy Kirsten Oswald gave Flynn “a very firm and detailed briefing” on the party’s finances when Flynn knifed Blackford in the back to replace him. So detailed that Flynn didn’t know his team is on track to lose £1.2 million…

As the battle to become Scotland’s next First Minister continues to be fought on trans grounds, it appears candidate Humza Yousaf has found support from some genderless and heartless social media accounts. The SNP MSP for Glasgow Pollok seems to be receiving support from social bots – an automatic program that simulates human behaviour on social networks – spouting the same phrase: 

The “other two” here refers to fellow candidates Finance Secretary Kate Forbes and former Community Safety Minister Ash Regan. At least four accounts that published the above phrase on Twitter have since been suspended. Another ineffectual drone has tweeted an endorsement of Humza Yousaf in the race to replace Nicola Sturgeon – “In this election, it has to be Humza” says Ian Blackford.

Hat-tip: Wings Over Scotland

Ian Blackford has announced he’s stepping down as the SNP’s leader in Westminster after five years in the role. His own MPs had been agitating for him to go – his handling of the Patrick Grady sexual harassment claims hardly doing him any favours. Sturgeon herself allegedly intervened to stop a coup two weeks ago. Now it’s finally reached a tipping point…

“I have today informed SNP MPs that I will not be restanding as leader of the Westminster parliamentary group at our AGM next week. After more than five years in the role, now is the right time for fresh leadership at Westminster as we head towards a general election and the next steps in winning Scotland’s independence.

“During my time as leader, the SNP won a landslide victory in the 2019 general election, with an increased share of the vote and MPs, and support for independence has continued to grow with polling this week showing a majority in favour.

“While I am stepping down as Westminster leader, I will continue in my role as the MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber. and I have also accepted a new role at the centre of the SNP’s independence campaign, leading on business engagement.

“I would like to thank our MPs and staff for all their support over the past five years. Whoever replaces me as Westminster leader will have my full support as, together, we stand up for Scotland’s interests and democratic right to choose our future in an independence referendum.”

Stephen Flynn – who led the coup against Blackford – is the frontrunner to replace him…

Those following Ian Blackford’s Twitter account over the past fortnight won’t have missed his recent holiday to the States. He began in Arizona on the 23rd, with a helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon two days later. Monument Valley was on the agenda for the 27th, followed by Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah on the 30th. Utah got a second day’s exploration on August 1st, followed by Death Valley on the 2nd and Yosemite on the 3rd. Blackford finished up in San Francisco on the 6th. A lovely time enjoyed by all, not least Brits who avoided a whole two weeks of reduced preaching from the Celtic Crofter…

Imagine Guido’s surprise, therefore, when today’s National splash sees none other than Mr Blackford demanding Boris Johnson “comes out of hiding”, and accuses the PM of being “missing in action” during a cost of living crisis. One rule for a relaxed, tanned Blackford, another for everybody else…

“Every day people are waking up to warnings that the Tory-made cost-of-living crisis is spiralling out of control – with each report more worrying than the last. Yet the UK Prime Minister is missing in action.

“Boris Johnson might be on his way out – and rightly so – but for now he is still the Prime Minister, with duties to protect the people who live here. He must come out of hiding”

There’s another problem with Blackford’s demand other than the obviously hypocritical posturing: Boris’s holiday is already over – as one keen-eyed flyer proved via TikTok yesterday…

Presumably Keir Starmer would have been playing the same game had Boris not returned from holiday before him…

Away from the by-election drama, the SNP is still somehow tying itself in knots over Patrick Grady. Yesterday Nicola Sturgeon finally condemned Blackford and his Westminster colleagues for their “utterly unacceptable” support of Grady, only to then tell journalists she still had confidence in Blackford and wasn’t calling for his resignation. Now Blackford himself has spoken out on the leaked recording for the first time. Well, he’s spoken – he hasn’t answered many questions…

In an excruciating nine-minute STV interview, Blackford was asked six times if it’s permissible for a sex pest to be an MP. Not once did he give a straight answer. Instead, he claimed there had to be “due process”… even though there already has been, and Brady was found guilty:

“Patrick Grady was found guilty and has led to a suspension of him from Parliament for two days… There has to be due process in all of this and Patrick Grady was found guilty under that process and was dealt with and suspended from Parliament.”

Asked why he hasn’t just booted Grady out of the party, Blackford claimed:

“Well, because, at the end of the day, discipline within the SNP happens through a number of ways. It happens through actions taken by the SNP group, it can be actions taken by the SNP headquarters. And the decision that was taken on a proportionate basis given a two-day suspension by Parliament that Patrick Grady would be suspended for a week. Now, it’s up for Patrick Grady to reflect on his behaviour and where he goes from that.”

This morning, Guido spotted an SNP MP deciding to butt in on the issue of Dowden’s principled resignation. Perhaps they should get their own house in order…