EVERY Scottish national newspaper’s front page featured former first Nicola Sturgeon's emotional contribution to the UK Covid Inquiry on Wednesday.
“Crying shame,” cried the Scottish Sun, while the Scottish Daily Mail claimed the former SNP leader had been subjected to a “humbling” grilling and seen her “reputation shattered”.
The Scottish Daily Express went for the imaginative headline, “Sturgeon’s ‘crocodile tears’ at Covid Indy grilling’, making sure to squeeze independence in there, while the i newspaper claimed: “Political giant humbled at Covid inquiry”.
READ MORE: UK Covid Inquiry only follows 'DownWithTheSNP' on Twitter
It was not unexpected – after all the BBC’s James Cook penned a piece ahead of her appearance stating that Sturgeon’s “reputation was on the line”.
The Jouker wonders why when Boris Johnson made his shameless show at the Covid Inquiry and tried to spin the evidence session in his favour, the former Tory prime minister was not subjected to similar theorising about his reputation ...
The press really couldn’t hide their relish at Sturgeon being put under the microscope, despite the fact there was no “gotcha” moment that they were chomping at the bit for.
“When her house of cards fell, it really fell.”
— The News Agents (@TheNewsAgents) January 31, 2024
Nicola Sturgeon’s “extraordinary” fall from politics and "the anchor Humza Yousaf has around his neck" as a result.
Listen on @GlobalPlayerhttps://t.co/SdyBDl7qyY@maitlis | @lewis_goodall pic.twitter.com/qsPW5Z87zn
Instead the focus was on Sturgeon tearing up, rather than any substance of the evidence that she gave to the inquiry.
The newspapers weren’t the only ones to feature some seriously questionable takes on the marathon session either.
Veteran right-wing broadcaster Andrew Neil branded her the “Richard Nixon of Scottish politics”, claiming she was “humbled and discredited”.
Lewis Goodall, on the Newsagents podcast, claimed that Sturgeon had an “extraordinary fall” from the top and again claimed her reputation had been damaged.
READ MORE: Alister Jack dismisses Nicola Sturgeon's emotional Covid evidence
Former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie, famously always a charmer, managed to insult wider Scotland with his take.
"Nicola Sturgeon cried at the Covid inquiry today. Suspect they were Jockodile tears," he tweeted.
Whatever Sturgeon had said at the inquiry, it’s undoubtedly what the Unionist media would have claimed either way. They are desperate to see her reputation shattered, and with it the support for independence. (Never mind the latest poll putting Yes four points ahead of the Union).
And that isn’t even getting into the scenes on social media – where minutes after Sturgeon arrived keyboard warriors were searching for the registration of the car that she arrived in (she wasn’t driving) and pointing out it had no MOT.
Police cars like the one in question are of course exempt from MOTs, but that didn't stop the wild conspiracies.
With Alister Jack admitting to the Covid Inquiry this morning that he hadn’t just deleted some WhatsApp messages, he’d “deleted them all”, the Jouker can’t wait to see the newspaper headlines tomorrow after months of coverage of Scottish ministers messaging and who retained what.
We won’t hold our breath for equal treatment.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel