ENOUGH. We need to unite and win independence. The last couple of days have been a rollercoaster for anyone involved in Scottish politics, and some come out of it looking better than others. But there’s one thing and one thing only that we in the Yes movement need to do now: unite.

A lot has been said on all sides and uniting may be harder for some than others, but we really need to. This corrosive drip-drip-drip of unsubstantiated, unproven wacky conspiracy theories, smear, innuendo and outright poison needs to stop.

Due process matters, and on Monday we saw the publication of the long-awaited Hamilton Report into alleged breaches of the Ministerial Code – finding that there were none.

Yesterday saw the publication of a different report, from the ad hoc Holyrood Committee into how the Government handled harassment complaints – finding that there were indeed a number of failures, but also finding that the best person to rule on the Ministerial Code was Hamilton, and he had already established there was no breach.

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Both reports now exist and I would urge folks to read them, they’re publicly available for all to see. And in large part make grim reading, so we should beware any triumphalism. The fact is that the Scottish Government mishandled harassment complaints in a way that let down the women involved, the taxpayer and indeed the accused. It happened on our watch and we need to make sure it never happens again. We have taken it seriously; Nicola Sturgeon spent more time in front of the Holyrood Committee than Tony Blair spent in front of the Chilcot Inquiry into the war in Iraq, nobody can seriously say this was not properly ventilated and the conclusions deserve to be considered seriously.

We also need to look seriously at the conduct of some involved in and around the whole sorry saga, and here I might sound less consensual. That the conclusion of the report and the details around one of the complainants were leaked to the press is reprehensible, and I hope there are consequences there too.

Around those two inquiries, a gruesome cottage industry sprang up of ill-informed comment, rumour and conspiracy theory. The tactic was always the same: assert a thing to be true, usually cherry-picking a tasty quote out of context, then

move on to another assertion when the first one was proven to be without foundation. There were, of course, serious questions to be asked and it is right that the SNP are scrutinised.

They’ve been answered. Stop it now.

That some blogs and some individuals have kept on with a series of ever more wacky horrible assertions does them no credit. That the interests and good faith of the women were treated so casually

was despicable. That there’s even been contempt of court rulings against some individuals should let us all judge their credibility for what it is. There’s been a series of unrelated issues amped up and conflated into the mix, equally without foundation.

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Throughout this remarkable period in Scottish politics, the SNP has been united and the polls have been encouraging, but jeezo – you wouldn’t think it to look at social media. This noisy self indulgence must end.

It only helps our opponents, and we have plenty of them. The Tories and hostile elements of the UK media lapped it all up, giving wall-to-wall coverage of the allegation, but not the refutation.

I was on Politics Live a few times in the last weeks and every time have been asked if Nicola should resign over the latest breathless revelation. Every time I’ve said we’re mid-way through an investigation, I’ll happily come back on the programme once the conclusions are known.

Suddenly they must have misplaced my number.

And all this while the people Scotland, out there in the disquieting and uncomfortable world we find ourselves in, are looking for hope, for competence and for vision. We have it in spades and I’m relishing the Holyrood campaign and the independence referendum thereafter.

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I don’t want to fight another Westminster election. Having been thrown out my first parliament, I’m working really hard to be thrown out my second, as are all my MP colleagues. In Stirling we have a cracking candidate in Evelyn Tweed, and a great team of folks working hard in unusual times.

We’ve had an influx of 145 new members (and counting!) and they’re all very welcome to put a hand to the wheel.

We have also, in full transparency, lost a couple of members too, and I regret that.

But I’m bored of wasting time refuting amped up conspiracy theories. I’m not willing any more to give credence to lies and smears.

If people want to spend their precious time on such matters then I suppose they’re welcome to, but the rest of us will move on.

We’ve an election to win and Scotland’s statehood to win back.