Why the current political scam in Scotland seems so desi

The latest revelation in the ongoing saga of the long-time First Couple of the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) would sound distinctly desi to many Indians. As part of the probe into SNP’s finances, investigators have “seized” (a very familiar word in India) a £110,000 motor home from the premises of Margaret Murrell, mother of the party’s former boss Peter Murrell and mother-in-law of Nicola Sturgeon who recently stepped down as Scotland’s First Minister. This brings a new twist to the police probe into the “missing” £600,000 raised in 2017 to fund SNP’s campaign for a second independence referendum. There was no referendum campaign, yet by 2019 there was just £97,000 in SNP’s account though the top brass (including Murrell, who helmed the fundraiser) insisted at the time that the money could be availed “at a moment’s notice”. But SNP’s treasurer resigned in 2021 citing lack of transparency on finances. A probe was then inevitable. More so as Murrell loaned £107,000 it seems, to the party in June 2021 to get over “cash flow problems” and was repaid half by October. And now this luxury van has surfaced — which actually belongs to the SNP but was parked at Murrell’s mother’s house! The party, by the way, depends on small contributions by individual donors rather than big backers. This retail mode of fundraising will sound familiar to many Indians. Last week it also emerged that SNP’s auditors had quit as far back as last October but the famed British media, which takes an unholy interest in India’s ruling party and its leaders, did not have even an inkling of it. Or indeed of other fishy things Sturgeon and Murrell may have been up to. At least India’s media still has ‘beat’ reporters with sources in political parties who give them “scoops”. Maybe the British media only has sources in Indian political parties now. That there might be something fishy in a party led by a Sturgeon whose spouse is a Murrell (with a Salmond as a previous head) is almost predestined. Yet no one in Scotland appeared to think anything was amiss till the stink wafted into official nostrils. Fair is foul and foul is fair, as the three witches said in a Bard’s imagined Scotland long, long ago. Now investigators sniffing around the SNP’s finances since 2021 may burst into the same Shakespearean chorus. On the current Scottish goings on, the first thought an Indian would have is, “And they smirk about India’s nepotism and skulduggery?” And then there would be very justified disbelief. The SNP’s auditors quit in October 2022 and no one knew about it? Not even the outgoing First Minister’s favourite? Humza Yousaf claims he got to know only after he succeeded Sturgeon as FM. Why would his mentor and her spouse not tell him? We Indians are a cynical lot… Indeed, the SNP appears to be quite desi, given the husband-wife double act at the helm of that party and government — family raj — for years. Parallels to the Lalu Prasad-Rabri Devi and Benazir Bhutto-Asif Zardari political sagas are inescapable, especially since Murrell has now been arrested — allegedly over financial fiddles. Even rumours that his arrest was deliberately delayed till his wife could install her protégé has a distinctly subcontinental ring. Murrell had been SNP’s chief for over a decade and Sturgeon a top minister in Alex Salmond’s government when they married. Thus, there is no denying their political smarts and closeness. So Indians would find it hard to believe she (as head of the Scottish government) had no idea that the police were investigating her party’s finances — as well as her husband. Are normally canny Scot politicians now as clueless as the general British media on such matters? Politics in that part of the world is increasingly South Asian now. In fact, if US President Joe Biden had been compos mentis, he might have realised the British PM and the Irish Taoiseach have south Asian roots. So instead of citing his Irishness, he could have told them that a possible ancestor, Christopher Biden, lived in Madras from 1839 to 1858. With all three eligible for OCI cards, future Good Friday Agreement hiccups could be sorted out in India. Back in Westminster, the Conservatives have a wide south Asian representation, with several ministers and MPs past and present tracing their roots to India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, as is the case with the Labour Party. But in Scotland — the centre of this very desi-style imbroglio — the political fortunes of Pakistani-origin politicians are clearly rising, with Yousaf as First Minister and Scottish Labour Party’s leader Anas Sarwar as his main opponent. There is a particularly South Asian flavour to Sarwar’s political legacy. His father, Mohammed Sarwar was not only MP for Glasgow Central from 1997 (defeating Sturgeon!) to 2010, he was also Governor of Pakistan’s Punjab (2013-15 and 2018-22), first from the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and then from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf! Anas “succeeded” to his father’s seat in 2010 but lost in 2015 to SNP’s Alison Thewliss who still holds that seat. Sarwar is now a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Glasgow region. But the late Bashir Ahmad of SNP (Yousaf’s initial boss and mentor) was the first “Pakistani-Scot” MSP (Glasgow 2007-09). And the SNP also has Pakistani-origin Kaukab Stewart as MSP for Glasgow Kelvin now. For company on the opposition benches in Edinburgh, though, Sarwar has SLP colleague Foysol Hussain Choudhury, the Bangladesh-born MSP for Lothian region. There are some “Indian-Scots” in the Holyrood arena too, of course, notably Pam Gosal, the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party’s MSP for West Scotland who hit the headlines when she wore a tartan saree to take oath in 2021 and also recited the Mool Mantar. And there is also her party colleague Dr Sandesh Prakash Gulhane, MSP for the Glasgow region also since 2021, the first Hindu and first man of Indian descent elected to sit in Holyrood. At Westminster, SNP’s Anum Qaisar (an SLP defector) now represents Airdrie and Shotts as the second Muslim woman MP from Scotland. But the one whose politics will resonate most with Indians is Scotland’s first Muslim woman MP, Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh. A lawyer and TV presenter, she has been in all three major Scottish parties (though she won in 2015 on an SNP ticket) and even in Salmond’s Alba Party. Also, she has acted in Pakistani TV serials. Despite the preponderance of Pakistani-Scots in important political posts, it must be noted that the couple in this fishy soup are not South Asian. But this SNP saga sounds all too familiar to Indian ears, especially with Yousaf now (m)uttering the Scottish equivalent of the Indian politician’s refrain, “Let the law take its own course”. Like Indian political scams, it is unlikely the probe into this Scottish ghotala will ever be conclusive. But it will make for a great tamasha. The author is a freelance writer. Views expressed are personal. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.