Sickened

The revelations from the Alex Salmond inquiry have become something of a deluge in the last few days, and frankly have left me sickened. It's really starting to look like there really was a conspiracy to stitch him up, and further that people right at the top of the SNP were heavily involved.

Which is horrifying, for a few reasons. The first, and most important, outcome of all of this is that we really need to find out the actual truth of this urgently, and find out exactly where the trails lead. It remains just about possible, though almost incredible now, that there's nothing to see here. But the hope of that is rapidly shrinking - the lack of transparency about it all leaves me extremely concerned.

If the outcome of all of this is indeed damning, then those involved have to go, whoever they may be. If they do not, and especially if this whole thing is dragged out, then the consequences could be disastrous.

But the unltimate reason I find this so sickening is this: if there was indeed a conspiracy led by key SNP people and they don't clear them out urgently, then the net effect of that is that the SNP government will have to be replaced.

But the only alternative to an SNP government is some sort of alliance of the Unionist parties, and those parties frankly don't have two brain cells between them to rub together. Damningly, it is a unique selling point of the SNP that they are the only party that are able to offer remotely capable governance (even if even that is just barely). Putting any one of the Unionist parties in charge, never mind a fractious alliance of more than one of them, would be profoundly irresponsible.

But it's worse even than that. Because I'm now of the opinion that Scotland must become independent as soon as possible, and that it is indeed a matter of life and death. Because the only thing protecting us from the UK government's malicious evil is their lethal incompetence.

But only an SNP majority even has a chance of delivering an independence referendum. Albeit an extremely small chance - frankly, I think Nicola Sturgeon has largely given up on that dream.

As I said, it's sickening. We must have an SNP majority, and may well also be in a position where we have to kick out that same SNP government, to replace it with an alternative that we know will be a disaster.

There is a very real possibility that my vote in May will be my last ever vote.