SNP feud threatens its Scottish independence hopes

The extraordinary breakdown of relations between Scotland’s former first minister Alex Salmond and his successor and one-time protégée Nicola Sturgeon has elements of Shakespearean drama. Salmond, acquitted on 13 charges of sexual offences last March, has alleged he is the victim of a “malicious and concerted attempt to damage my reputation and remove me from public life” by his former colleagues in the Scottish National party. His assertions are unproven, and Sturgeon and her associates vigorously reject them. Yet the affair has potentially serious implications for the party, for its leader and, in the near term, for its cherished cause of Scottish independence.

Beyond Salmond’s assertions lies a second issue: the conduct of two investigations — by an Irish QC and a Scottish parliament committee — into whether Sturgeon breached Scotland’s ministerial code, and how the Scottish government acted on sexual misconduct allegations against him. A written submission to the committee, in which Salmond alleged Sturgeon had misled parliament and breached the code, was published on the parliament’s website on Monday. The Crown Office, Scotland’s prosecution service, intervened with “grave concerns” over the submission being published — saying it could breach a court order intended to protect the anonymity of complainers against Salmond — after which Holyrood republished a redacted version. Salmond pulled out of appearing before the inquiry on Wednesday as a result.

As yet, the affair has had little effect on poll support for the SNP and for independence. Sturgeon denies she breached the code and says Salmond must present proof. Yet the possibility of her being found to have committed a breach, which could force her to resign, cannot for now be wholly excluded.

Even if that does not happen, continued infighting will cast the SNP in a bad light. It might serve to refocus attention on the party’s patchy record on health and education, recently obscured by perceptions that Sturgeon has handled the pandemic well.

That in itself might not undermine the independence cause in Holyrood elections in May. Even if the SNP vote splintered, Scotland’s proportional system means it together with other pro-independence forces might nonetheless achieve a majority at Holyrood. Sturgeon could still use that to demand a second independence referendum.

But the Salmond case is also casting a harsh light on Scottish institutions — on which the country would rely as an independent state. That should matter to all Scots. The parliament probe has so far done a dubious job of holding the Scottish government to account. Holyrood more broadly has appeared to be dictated to this week by the Crown Office, making it look weak and raising questions over the separation of powers. The Lord Advocate, James Wolffe QC, who leads the Crown Office and is also a member of Sturgeon’s cabinet, has faced questions over his role.

There can be no crowing over this by Westminster, whose ample dysfunction was exposed in the aftermath of the Brexit vote. But the independence case rests in large part on the argument that Scots, and Scottish institutions, could run their own affairs better.

Even pro-independence Scots should not allow their convictions to blind them to the SNP’s flaws after 13 years in power. The current battle demonstrates a need for the party to get its house in order and provide capable government. Many independence parties elsewhere have become so preoccupied with the struggle as to fall down on governing competence. The SNP should beware of repeating that error.