Nicola Sturgeon says she fully understands why many people find it hard to believe she doesn’t know about the Scottish National Party in her home life outside, but insists on it.
Talking about politics in the Guardian Weekly UK Podcast, the former Scottish minister said that he complained at the time that he was looking for the police that he was looking for before, it is not possible that the suspected things are not good.
Sturgeon announced her departure in February 2023. In April Murrell was arrested, with police searching the Glasgow headquarters in Edinburgh. Officers also seized a motorhome parked outside Murrell’s mother’s home in Fife.
Murrell, a long-serving SNP executive, was later arrested in connection with the alleged breach and has yet to enter a plea. Last year, police said Stormgeon was gone.
Asked if he knew why so many people, including SNP supporters, found it hard to believe he was free of any potentially bad mistakes, Stravergeon replied: “I do, absolutely.”
He continued: “When I’m outside watching the events of the day… After I stand up, I also find it hard to believe that I’m not thinking.
“I knew there was going to be an investigation, obviously, back to the point where I was standing. I think my views on the investigation are more about when it’s going to happen.”
At the time she announced her decision to resign, Sturgeon said, “I am more relaxed than I have been in years, because I know the future decision, I look forward to the future”.
He continued: “I know that people struggle that politicians are people, but the idea that if I don’t act, that I can’t stop, I don’t know at all.”
Also in the interview, Sturgeon argued that the revival of SCOP in Scotland and Plaid Cymru in Wales, as well as the resurgence of the UK, means that the UK is witnessing the slow collapse of the union.
The possible advent of a Reform government in Westminster, she said, could exacerbate tensions uncovered by Brexit, in which “there are different views or different political directions of travel between the four UK nations, then all too often it’s what England chooses that ends up dominating Wales, Scotland and to a lesser extent, but still to some extent, Northern Ireland.”
It’s not a sustainable position for long, he said. “In the next 10, 20 years, I think we’re going to see a complete reshaping of the nations of the UK. I think, an independent Scotland, a more autonomous Wales, maybe an independent Wales [and a] again in Ireland. “
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Sturgeon also defended her bill to simplify the gender recognition process, which Rishi Sunak’s government has blocked from going to the Supreme Court in April.
“I know there are a lot of people who love me for saying I’m wrong about gender identity,” she said.
“I’m not going to say that, because I don’t believe that’s the case. I’m a feminist – always have been, always have been.
“I’ve championed women’s rights as long as I’ve been in politics, and I’ll do it as long as my body breathes, but I’ll never breathe it for the rights of strong minorities.