Cabinet Secretary Fergus Ewing has been accused of breaching Parliamentary rules by ‘flogging’ access to Holyrood in a silent auction organised by the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA).
Lot #59 in the SGA’s annual auction, donated by Fergus Ewing MSP, is squeezed in between a week’s holiday in a cottage in Strathbraan (a well-known raptor persecution hot-spot) and an offer of a smock and half a pig. Here’s what Fergus Ewing is offering (closing date 7th May 2021):
Amusingly, one of the people who has questioned whether the Minister’s actions are appropriate is Edward Mountain MSP, a Conservative candidate who will be challenging Fergus Ewing for the Inverness and Nairn constituency in the May election.
Along with Fergus Ewing, Ed Mountain is also a long-time supporter of the SGA, and is even a “proud” SGA member (see here).
It isn’t clear who went to the press about this (although as an SGA member, Ed Mountain would certainly have had access to the silent auction lots because the auction booklet was included in the mail out of the SGA’s most recent quarterly rag) but today the Scottish Daily Mail was running a story on it:
‘That tour has not taken place’, says the SNP spokesman. No, because the auction doesn’t close until 7th May!
To be honest, there are much bigger fish to fry than this but the reason I’m blogging about it is because the SGA has been wailing quite a lot recently about how it has been ‘overlooked’ by the Scottish Parliament. In my opinion this is completely untrue – the SGA has just as much access to politicians as any other organisation, illustrated quite well by the players in this latest tale.
I plan to blog a bit more about that shortly.
Raptor Persecution UK 
Hopefully his days of influence are at an end.
He’s my MSP, although I didn’t vote for him last time and won’t be next month. Disappointed to read that Edward Mountain is also a SGA supporter as he was my preference (as I’m a Unionist), may have to reconsider. Obviously Andy Wightman will get my vote on the regional list.
With a faur wind that red-faced loon won’t be Cabinet Secretary of anything after early May. And Mountain definitely won’t.
Please God.
and heres something else for us to worry about..in case you were thinking of voting for George Galloways band of misfits… “has studied the All 4 Unity manifesto and all the George Galloway fantasies about a Government of National Unity. It’s not to be called a government (back to the “Executive”), and the nation not to be united but instead is to be split up into revived “British” sub-Kingdoms of Dalriada, Gododdin and, err, Alba etc, if that’s the way a referendum goes – all of which would make it the strangest GNU of all time!
But the most striking thing about the manifesto is that all this nonsense is blended together uncomfortably with a fixed policy framework to lock grouse and deer shooting estates in place – presumably written by country estate owner and “leader” Jamie Blackett. The “rural” whinge of the gamekeepers pops up again and again. They won’t get better from the Tories!!
Overall, the peculiar mix of the Galloway ego-trip and the “huntin, shootin and fishin” Balmorality stuff makes for a seriously, weirdly schizophrenic document.” from a knowledgeable friends Facebook posting…
Whatever his faults I’d rather have Galloway at Holyrood than Ewing.
Not only can one win a couple of nights in a persecution hotspot, or enjoy some “exclusive” parliamentary whisky, but joints can be smoked if required…. ;-) Is there no end to what these people will come up with?
conflict or interests…..
You see, the problem with many of the politicos who seek our votes is that they are as pure as the driven slush.
I’m trying to hold my nose and vote for Fergus on 6th May. It was a big ask anyway but this makes it even harder.
Tartan Tories; surely there needs to be some sort of acknowledgment that constitutional change can not happen when the country is merely split 50/50 as per Brexit; some form of proper majority ie 60/40 has to be secured ? The last “majority” Referendum 2016 secured what exactly ? What is the difference between the SNP and the Tories here ? Things can get worse/fall apart ? Chinua Achebe.
There is a very very naughty cartoon by Martin Rowson in the Guardian.
Concerning Grouse, Angels and Philip Mountbatten.