No winners here

Alex Salmond’s appeal for crowdfunding is, to put it mildly, an interesting development in his quest to put forward his case. I only hope that anyone willing to contribute understands the legalities.

The point of the judicial review sought by Mr Salmond would be not to determine whether he is innocent or guilty of misconduct. It would be to determine solely the fairness of the procedure followed by the Scottish Government in investigating the complaints. This procedure was put in place under the auspices of Nicola Sturgeon at the end of last year. The outcome of a judicial review into it – regardless of the findings – must therefore be bad news for the SNP. Egg will be left on the face either of a former SNP First Minister or of the current one. Given that contributors to Mr Salmond’s fund will surely be dyed-in-the-wool SNP supporters you have to conclude they are in a no-win situation.

Ms Sturgeon has stated she will defend the SNP government’s position “vigorously”. Supposing she wins the day and the issue of Mr Salmond’s