A WEEK is a long time in politics, and a month even longer than that.
Two months then is like a lifetime, which will probably explain why Douglas Ross is struggling to remember everything he was saying at the beginning of March.
On March 3, Nicola Sturgeon was due to give evidence in front of the Holyrood committee into the handling of harassment complaints.
The 8-hour session that followed could truly be described as a media circus, with photographers lining up outside the First Minister’s front door first thing in the morning.
On March 18, news leaked that that committee had found Nicola Sturgeon to have misled parliament by five votes to four. However, they did not say she had done so “knowingly”, which would have been a clear breach of the ministerial code.
READ MORE: SNP sound alarm over Tories 'shredding' evidence of Boris Johnson scandals
On March 22, an independent investigation conducted by Irish legal expert James Hamilton found that Sturgeon had not breached the ministerial code. The First Minister hailed this conclusion as “comprehensive, evidence-based and unequivocal”.
There was a lot going on in those weeks in Scottish politics, and a lot of pages of reports to be read.
Unless you’re Douglas Ross of course, who needed no such thing.
He said on March 2, before Sturgeon had even given evidence, that there was “no longer any doubt [she] ... broke the ministerial code on numerous counts”.
Him, and his partner in ermine, Ruth Davidson, were both gleefully calling for Sturgeon’s head, saying she would step down if she “had a shred of integrity”.
Douglas Ross said: "No first minister can be allowed to mislead the Scottish people and continue in office, especially when they have tried to cover up the truth and abused the power of their office in the process.
"The weight of the evidence is overwhelming. Nicola Sturgeon must resign."
Now, he’s had a sudden change of heart.
Instead of Sturgeon in the media's headlights, it’s his big boss in London, Boris Johnson.
But it turns out that when Ross said “no first minister can be allowed to mislead the Scottish people” he meant just that. If a prime minister in London were to do so Ross would have a very different opinion.
Asked if Boris Johnson should resign if he is found to have broken rules around conduct in office, Ross today told the BBC: “I think it’s right that there are inquiries and investigations at the moment.
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“We have to look at the questions they are raising, the answers that are given, and the reports that come out.”
Ross is a stickler for reports all of a sudden.
He wasn’t in March, when even after Hamilton’s findings were published he told ConservativeHome that the idea Sturgeon was in the clear was “shameless SNP spin”.
The Scottish Tory leader’s hypocrisy hasn’t gone unnoticed on Twitter:
What he really meant to say ‘done in the style of Atomic Kitten of course’ is 👇 pic.twitter.com/fRVzOJ62y0
— James Dornan SNP (@glasgowcathcart) April 29, 2021
This the same @Douglas4Moray who called a vote of No Confidence in the FM whilst the investigations were on going? https://t.co/oGczHSGboM
— Andy (@AndyMcCrimmon) April 29, 2021
https://t.co/xxZlz5qzVT pic.twitter.com/PBmJeyMYbL
— Leemills #BothVotesSNP (@yes_leemills) April 29, 2021
There’s a shocker. Douglas Ross calling for the resignation of the FM before any inquiries finalised at that point. Wants to give the PM benefit of the doubt though. Pathetic. https://t.co/cOi3NmCpQS
— Leo McGarry (@crossgatescynic) April 29, 2021
It’s clear @Douglas4Moray is an absolute hypocrite!! Nicola was found not to have broken the code but the evidence is clearly mounting against @BorisJohnson and everyone can see it #BorisOut #BorisTheLiar https://t.co/U7D7XAneeW
— 🏴Colin #bothvotesSNP🏴 (@indydooker) April 29, 2021
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