Is this the end for Scotland's SNP? Police probe, independence, Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf
The election of Humza Yousaf as leader of the SNP has moved the dial in Scottish politics.
After a long period of dominance, the party's lead in the polls is shrinking and opponents are sensing a huge opportunity ahead of next year's general election.
It comes as police investigate the SNP’s finances, with Nicola Sturgeon's husband Peter Murrell - the party’s former chief executive - arrested as part of the probe.
Three major political players spoke to the Telegraph in this special video report.
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#Sturgeon #humzayousaf #snp
I live in Scotland I hope the SNP go never to be seen again
I hope the SNP go never to be seen again. As soon as the Union with England is dissolved there will be no need for a party to bring that about. Liberate Scotland.
Long live the union.
Glory to one of the last colonies in the world! Scotland! 🏴🏴🏴
@@sunnybnk 😂😂😂😂😂
"The SNP is in the biggest crisis in fifty years" - Mike Russell SNP president. A crisis of their own making.
What crisis. Their voting support grows every year. Gaslighting isn't going to sway independence support
I wish/hope it is the end of the catastrophic SNP.
Your hope is just a pipe dream.Scotland will be free of the terrible Union.Mark my words
And the end of the United Kingdoms Amen
@robertbirchall9718 the United Kingdom will never fall
@@Jimjam-lk4ud All things end, even the United Kingdom
I'm a Shetlander and we only vote Liberal Democrat to keep the SNP out. The Scottish Parliament and SNP in particular have been an unmitigated disaster for Shetland(they punish us for not voting for them) and I wish I could vote for someone to take us out of the Scottish Parliament. Infact, in all honesty if I could vote to go back to Norway I would.
With the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund so would I - and I'm English
Why not just scrap the Scottish parliament? It has been an expensive and unmitigated disaster!
I have only visited your beautiful islands twice for a few weeks each time , but I cycled toured and camped/ stayed in Bods , and I spoke to as many Shetlanders( not so much the incomers who tended to be front of house ) as I could , and your comment confirms my own impressions . I will be back ( But cut the wind for me please 😂)
It's a similar situation for Scotland being ran by London I suppose.. except we don't get the prime minister we vote for.
@@leskerr9446 in all honesty it's been excellent.
SNP FINISHED ❌️
SNP....finished...out of eight snp voters at my workplace...two clinging on ....other six are done with it ?
When I hear 'trans', I stop watching immediately.
People have no say with the SNP. Their main policy is "No Debate" - remember that
Typical of the left.
Sarwar what a joke talks so much nonsense god help Scotland if he's the best candidate they have got
I love him and what,s more,he really loves Scotland. Yes,I do know his history.
100%
Many of us working Scots, want a referendum on dissolving the assembly and returning to the much more efficient, economic Scottish Office system.
Absolutely!
that's the real thing, Devolution has failed and Westminster can reverse it, it's in the Act.
🙈🙉🙊
Non Scotsman in charge of SNP and people wonder why the party is going down. Love it
'A generation' is widely accepted as being twenty-five years. Most people tend not to generate offspring when they are ten.
Show me where it's written that a vote is only allowed every 25 years. The Good Friday Agreement allows a vote on Irish reunification every 7 years. Why are the "rules" different for Scotland?
There is no time limit on Scottish democracy
@@thegamingeconomist3831 show me where it's written, oh the SNP said it, Alex Salmond said it.
@@davidrenton I was asking where it was written in constitutional law. Don't bother looking, because it isn't. The "once in a generation opportunity" - note OPPORTUNITY as it was both written and spoken as, not a "once in a generation vote" as anti-independence campaigners claim - has no legal or political standing. It's a slogan, a soundbite describing an event which at the time was considered highly unusual - hence the usage. But Scots were promised that voting No would safeguard their EU membership. That was a lie. Regardless, after the 2014 referendum, ALL PARTIES, including the Conservatives, signed and agreed the Smith Commission Report which stated that there would be no barrier to a future vote on independence if the Scottish people wanted one. That was also a lie. "Once in a generation" is a pathetic political figleaf for denying Scotland democracy.
@@thegamingeconomist3831 the generation thing is not in law, but it's not westminster who said it, it was the SNP, it indicates a level of dishonesty within the SNP to push for IndyRef2 after what obviously is not a generation
Where's the money and where are the ferries?
Ferris where is the trillions of pounds the UK stole from Scotland
Ferris where is the trillions of pounds the UK stole from Scotland
@@mmcc5846 Watch the news and weep. Your dream of an independent Scotland is gone. Destroyed by the SNP.
@@clownofthetimes6727 Scotland is an independent nation in a trade treaty with England. The sooner That abusive relationship ends the better for Scotland and her people.
@@mmcc5846 Sounds serious. Please submit your audited evidence to the legal authorities. 🤔
The definition of a generation is 25 years. Always has been.
And Alasdair Darling said if the no vote wasn't 65%+ there would be another referendum within 10 years but the loyalist Britnat media keeps awfully quiet about that part. Apart from that, it's the people of Scotland who should get to say when they want another referendum...not the Scottish or English governments!
@@bam-skaterThe Scottish people clearly have the right to a referendum on whether or not they should be allowed a referendum on the necessity of a second referendum. It's the only way.
Hahha
@@simoncook8455 Too many cooks spoil the broth
@@bam-skater the Referendum was held in 2014, Alastair Darling wasn't in Government in 2014, so why would the Tories be beholden to what an ex minister said
What the people of the rest of the UK have to understand about 'once in a generation' in Scotland, is that the SNP have driven living standards so far down, that the SNP now think a generation is only a couple of years there(!)
Scottish Independence has nothing to do with rUK residents.
@@simoncook8455 If the rest of the UK had a voice on Scotland being independent it would have been let go, no doubt about that. 🤣
It was once in a lifetime, not a generation!
I disagree. Having moved from England to Scotland we were very pleasantly surprised by free prescriptions, easy access to medical care, free home care, even smaller things like free women's sanitary stuff in public loos. None of that exists in England.
@@donnakantaris2287 but it’s not free.. it’s paid for by excessive taxation. Why should those earning over £100k, for example, get free prescriptions? Not to mention Scotland has a 13% deficit so English tax payers are also subsidising.
The SNP are deluded. Is Alison living in a paradigm universe?
Scotland people do not want SNP to challenge gender bill. Also SNP are out at the next election that’s a certainty.
I’m disgusted! I’ll never vote for the SNP again, oh wait, I never did. Think Nic sold Humza a pup!
Always nice to see The Telegraph visiting Scotland.
What the hell were they doing in Shetland who only vote Lib Dem , smacks of they had no clue 😢
@@A2Z1Two3 Scotland doesn't vote fib dem. Around 4 constituencies vote fib dem.
I'm surprised they know where it is
Jail the lot of them, we need an election now.
just ask where is the money !!
Shetlanders are mostly of Nordic ethnicity, not Scottish.
Thankfully Yes!
Shetland is a Liberal stronghold, so curious place to go to gauge support for the SNP. Tory party are currently the second largest group in the Scottish Parliament, but I would have thought the Labour party would be the more likely to pick up the anti-establishment vote if the SNP are tarnished. My guess would be that neither unionism nor independence are the key issues at the moment with a cost of living crisis, widespread strikes.
No one is going to vote for the Stalinist Staemerites.
Shetland is part of Scotland.
No, it isn't SNP support has grown on the islands every election since 2014. LD support has dropped. The Shetlands will eventually back the SNP and independence just like everywhere else.
@@Mark-Haddow 'The Shetlands' don't exist. There are the Shetland islands or Just Shetland. We never say "The Shetlands' nor does it say that on any map. But yes the movement to dissolve the UK is growing in Shetland.
@@therealrobertbirchall no its not
🙏🤞🤞🤞education slipping dreadfully in world rankings , NHS held together by it’s valiant staff and a few sticking plasters . Missing incredibly expensive ferries and expensive mobile homes for boss’ mother in law ! Time for change in Scotland
Change where? I see no other party that offers any change, all I see are parties with even worse track records 😆🤷♂️
The Tories are certainly not an alternative look what they've done to England.
Can the SNP look themselves in the mirror and say they have done a good job - the NHS, drug capital of Europe - they have shown no greater competence than the Tories - its easy to be a party of protest - but the things they have got control of they have badly failed.
Reform uk for me 💯 🇬🇧
How exactly sending him to a windy hill in Shetland give him an insight into Scotland?? Last time I checked 80% of the pop lived in the central belt! And really the conservatives in Scotland? I'm a unionist and I know the only way out of the SNP is Labour unfortunately.
so interviewing 1 person in Glasgow is more valid than on the Isles. Isn't it refreshing that instead of just asking people in a city , they do ask people in further afield places
@@davidrenton Yes skirt around the real issue!
@@boabs-bees i don't see how asking a person in the central belt is anymore valid than elsewhere in Scotland. It's like saying why did the BBC interview someone in Cornwall, they should have interviewed someone in London and the SE as that's where the majority live. Isn't that in itself the problem
I have nothing to say about this other than I wish I knew what the track at the start is so I can listen to that banger separately.
All I hear is Humza Useless
Yes. It is.
All parties must so in Scotland🎉
What about the inept British government illegally people smuggling into Northern Ireland or allowing from last year to this year 60,000 illegal migrants all unidentified ? Surely your retirement age going up to 66 now plans to go to 67 or 53 years paying tax for next to nothing must be far more important
If the SNP can’t produce credible accounts it could struggle to function.
As if the Tory party can account for the 35 billion of tax payers money stolen by COVID profiteering.
As an accountant, and an ex Treasurer, if any money was raised for a special purpose it would be put in a separate account from the day to day business matters, so at the end of each year there would be two accounts, eg the Referendum Account and the SNP general account - that way the "special" account should only be used for its specific purpose. Do the SNP have AGM meetings when the accounts have to be approved and signed off as audited each year?
@Mary Theresa Hay I get that, but the entire purpose of the SNP is to campaign for the dissolution of the UK, so any funds they raise are being used to further that end. I am very disappointed that the SNP have not just dissolved the UK and made themselves obsolete, they have wasted mandate after mandate. If there is corruption it's the SNP not dissolving the UK the first time they had a majority in Westminster and Holyrood.
Yes, but Peter and Nicola were the only ones attending the meetings
@@marytheresahay9751 I'd very much doubt that. Sturgeon reportedly had tantrums at party meetings if questions around finances were ever raised. Murrell and Sturgeon obviously saw these matters as something only they could be trusted with.
I hope so.
Arrested? Really...
The SNP, Are Finished
Scotland has a growing Party worthy of Scottish votes for morals, truth, integrity, free speech and real education see their manifesto.
Which is ? what party would that be ?
@@martinnoyes8507 Thanks for reply…..The Party is The Scottish Family Party.
Need a couple of SNP MSPs to quit or defect to take down the majority.
An election will do
It will be a lot more than that
Yes
Douglas Ross is exactly right. Unionists do not have a comfortable majority in Scotland, and they must vote tactically if they are ever to break the SNP stranglehold in Holyrood, and prevent a possible anti-Union balance of power in Westminster.
The snp have a stranglehold ,the Scottish people voted for them ! Who would vote for Ross 😅😅
The snp Will rise like the Phoenix !!
They will go to lab,polls say lab pick up 30 seats.
There is no such political parties as the Scottish Conservatives Scottish Liberal Democrat’s or Scottish Labour. They are all UK National parties.
And Sturgeon was more than likely a UK asset.
What has happened to the Telegraph? It's very biased and not a proper newspaper any more
SNP DOES THIS NOW STAND FOR STEAL NICK AND PLUNDER
Heineken dont do politics but if it did the answer would be " probably "
I'm in favour of Scottish independence, although, what good is it when Scotland would prefer to rejoin the EU. That ain't independent!
Indeed. A total paradox.
Why wouldn’t Scotland join the EU, biggest trading block at our front doors, complete stupidity the situation the U.K. is in. All this because the naive bought a pack of lies 😂
April Scottish government Tory, Labour & Lib Dems goodbye :)
Humza is the best ally the Union has got, the man will drive away support from the SNP like nobodies business, can't believe the SNP where as stupid to put him in charge, it's like if they want to lose
Ok from the other side of the pond, but still can’t get a critical answer as to what crime this guy was supposed to have committed, or the SNP for that matter, arrested but not charged with anything, what’s going on?
Propaganda massive support for Nicola an the SNP the British govt is terrified on full attack mode the newspapers radio TV. folk up hereknow the truth ,watch the next election
The police are investigating breaches of campaign finance rules (including how £600K - $745K - donated to fund a future independence referendum campaign - was spent when there is no referendum and currently no prospect of a referendum for the foreseeable future - the last referendum was supposed to be "once in a generation" vote but the SNP started lobbying for another vote almost immediately, so far without any prospect of success). Given that Nicola Sturgeon doesn't strike me as the kind of person who wouldn't know every detail of what her husband was up to at every minute of the day, I suspect that her resignation a few weeks ago was because she'd got wind that something embarrassing was going to happen.
basically a witchhunt because theres a general election coming up, its the same bullshit the uk gov pulled in the run up to the indy vote back in 2014 and they pull the same tactics every general election, 600k has gone missing in the snp oh lets go ott with the police investigation and just ignore the billions the conservatives have "lost" over the past 4 years
@@malcolmrose3361 No where in the Edinburgh agreement was once in a generation agreed and signed upon, this is an easily accessible online for anyone to read, it’s surprising how very few have actually read it.
@@New-ye2fl The Scottish Government's 2013 white paper, Scotland's Future, which made the case for Scottish independence, also defined the referendum as a “once in a generation opportunity”. In the Q&A section of the document, The Scottish Government answers the question “If Scotland votes No, will there be another referendum on independence at a later date?” The Scottish Government's response was: “The Edinburgh Agreement states that a referendum must be held by the end of 2014. There is no arrangement in place for another referendum on independence. “It is the view of the current Scottish Government that a referendum is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. This means that only a majority vote for Yes in 2014 would give certainty that Scotland will be independent.” Before the 2014 vote, Nicola Sturgeon herself repeatedly called the referendum a “once in a lifetime” or “once in a generation” opportunity, such as in an interview with the BBC's Daily Politics, where she said: “The SNP have always said that in our view these kind of referendums are ‘once in a generation' events.”
Why go to Shetland? Not a historic part of Scotland, islands where many people have no time for Scotland at all, islands which voted heavily against Scottish independence and where many people want their independence FROM Scotland. Such people in Shetland look to the Faroes, with their autonomous constitution, and want something similar. Oh, and it's a stronghold of the LibDems, always has been since they were just the Liberals.
Oh wouldn't the Telegraph readers love that, but they may think again. Independence isn't won because of personalities and political parties. It will be won by the Scottish people, and if they really want it, they will get it.
Romanticised view, not based on reality
No chance. The nationalists will vote SNP no matter what. Independence at any and all cost.
The nationalists are blind. Because anyone with eyesight can see that the SNP are the complete opposite of what a nationalist is
Cabbages
@@williampotato1221 yes they are
Can't fix stupid.
What they going to do with with that independence? If its with the purpose of joining the EU, then that is NOT EVER going to happen, maybe an associations agreement like the Norwegians, but that's going to be the extent of it. Spain will never agree to letting Scotland be an EU member, its a non starter. And there are other countries like France and Italy that also have regions with strong independence desires.
......how does a nationalist party produce a muslim primeminister
The elephant in the room we are not allowed to speak about. 🏴
Independence is the future.
No it was the past. It failed back then.
@@wattage2007 Cope. It's happening.
@@camilasmithson5410 Hahahahaa! It’s never happening, now the Snatzis corruption has been found out 😂😂🤣
The future is independence 🏴
Dilusional wishes by the anglosaxon pestilence gang in london 😂
Look who has jumped on the battle van.
Your Scottish Lords got corrupt took more land of their own people, just like they are now, but with donations! Your Scottish independence dream is very much just that, a deluded dream.
"Independence Day" YES! Goodbye Union Scotland & England goodbye! :)
The Special Needs Party. God help Scotland with this shower in charge.
English / Scot’s on here
I’m Scottish and have always been a Labour and then SNP supporter. After being abandoned by Labour and now embarrassed by the SNP I will be voting any right wing party including possibly the Conservatives.
Big brain energy there mate 👍😆
@@New-ye2fl I’m just sick of what theyve done.
@@muttlee9195 so let’s vote for a party that’s done even worse for the country, fantastic idea.
@@New-ye2fl can’t do any worse
@@New-ye2fl I’m just lost as to who to vote for.
Good luck, england practicaly runs westminster if Scotland, wales & northern ireland all voted for something england would still hold the power due to having extremey more MPs
Just liek the French and Germans run the EU, but the SNP don;t seem to have a problem with that.
SNP 'run' the health service, education and policing up here. They're not doing a very good job of that are they?
@@wattage2007 They’re doing a terrible job. The fact the auditors have resigned says everything about the SNP. Amazed people vote for such a bigoted, incompetent & corrupt party.
@@kevind6956 Lot of stupid people up here. That alone is reason enough to not have independence.
@@kevind6956 Still better than the rest 😂
Spend more money on dodgy ferries, gender laws,anti English speech writers ...that is the SNP agaenda
This could be the end of the road for SNP..
Typical British Unionist rants whether SNP is in trouble or not they have been electorially successful big questions for Scotland is do they want to be part of an Imperialist past long gone or part of a progressive Europe join us ROI and have some pride in your countrys future the oil money went to fill the coffers of the city of London unlike Norway associate member free trade agreements with EU 🇪🇺 little englanders have no future except their delusional of empire and exceptionalism PS leave comments no censorship!
Politics!!! When I watch them it feels like watching a boring movie with the worst comedian in it ….
That women must have the biggest pair of blinkers on ever made
😂 Dross saying they can gain seats despite his bosses saying no to his " back labour to scupper SNP" stance, how does it feel Doogie!???
Lol! No, this is just the beginning.
I’m just glad and thankful that the SNP have been exposed for who and what they undeniably are. A load of incompetent, dishonest, lying, cheating, hopeless nonsense.
Do the people of Scotland realize what an Independent Scotland would look like, indeed have they even thought that through, does anyone know their History and why there was an "Act of Union", in the first place? There is not much more going on now in Scotland than there was at the start of the Eighteenth Century, so just how do the Scottish Nationalists intend to fund their Caledonian Utopia? There actually should be a Referendum in the other parts of the Kingdom on whether Scotland should be allowed to remain in the U.K. and also within Scotland itself if they separated with less than a super majority there would be very hard feelings especially when austerity started to bite.
As a Scot living under these clowns, I can foresee what it would look like. Begging to the EU, cap in hand to be fast-tracked into the union, giving away everything of value and agreeing to anything the EU demanded. In the following years they'd blame the EU in the same way they blame Westminster for their incompetence just now.
Taxes, like every other country on the planet pal, it’s not hard to work out that part. It yeah, it’s all hypothetical atm, no one can really give those answers.
The beginning of the end was when a Muslim was elected leader.
🏴
Hope so snszis
Yet..... membership of the SNP has taken a sudden rise.
Box office comedy gold the comments here from typical Tory graph supporters SNP or not there is no credible way forward other than independence for Scotland
Ireland 53% 2016, YES! Scotland 62%, NO? "de facto" referendum, 2017, goodbye Union Scotland & England! :)
Support for Independence has effectively dropped since Brexit
@@davidrenton lol, NO! 78% me 2023,. BREXIT - Blue passport lol :)
What load of rubbish snp have ruined Scotland but England would be so much better without them but Scotland would be lost
The way it's going the quickest way for Scotland to gain independence is to include the English in the referendum. We are heartily sick of whingeing Scots. Precede it by cutting off all financial support.
Its all the Tories fault !!!!!!!!!
As long as Britain is outside the EU and customs Union. The SNP will remain in power and Scottish Independence is a certainly. Only rejoining the EU can stem the push for Independence.
exact opposite, Brexit ensures the union,. Pre Brexit, there was little change in Scotland in the UK or not, as both where in the EU. Now it's a real choice, and the further time goes on, then it becomes more a known quantity. All Westminster has to is play for time, (to be fair if they called IndyRef2 now, the Union would win) but as time goes on, support for Indy will inevitably drop.
@@davidrentonOnce the gene of Independence is out of the bottle its impossible to put it back. Just look across to Ireland and tomorrow. The start of of the Easter Rising over 100 years ago .The reason why the previous Independence vote failed was because an independent Scotland would have to apply to join as a new country. England could and would object. Now not only is the political obstacle of England out of the way the economic argument for not rejoining is being felt in every sector of society. Scots look across to Northern Ireland and see the economic benefits of membership and non of the loss in trade or lifestyle.. Northern Ireland is the best performing region and will continue to be for a considerable amount of time.
@@thomasreilly6362 i doubt in that case England would have objected, we are a very fair country, Liberalism was born in England. Westminster gave Scotland a fair open vote, unlike say Spain would do. Would the EU if it had the power allow members to have such a vote, i doubt it. What economic benefits, the UK is doing better in 2023 than the vast majority of the EU. Ireland is bad example , it's an economy propped up a few Multinationals that distort it's economics and provide very little in revenue to Ireland, most going back to the US. Scotland can't replicate that anyway as there only so many of these companies to go around, and they are in Ireland, so why would they move from a EU Ireland to a EU Scotland, not worth the trouble. out of interest my ancestry is Irish catholic, English and Scottish
@@thomasreilly6362 actually most inta country Independence movements failed, look at Quebec, which was a far more cohesive movement in the 60's than the SNP is now. Where is that movement now, gone pretty much, it only took really 20 years to end it.
@@davidrenton PS the EU is a trading association with rules the countries within it are sovereignty states.
The Tories have been through worse scandals, almost on a weekly basis, and survived. The SNP will be fine.
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