“Instead of tackling the cost-of-living crisis, Westminster is consumed with this third-rate political soap opera.”
So said Humza Yousaf in a Tweet last week, just days after he had appointed his new spokesman, the redoubtable Kevin Pringle.
You’d think Kevin could have warned his boss that gloating over other parties’ political soap operas was what boxers call “leading with the chin”.
It already felt pretty ill-judged on Friday evening. Come Sunday afternoon with the arrest of Nicola Sturgeon, it had aged like milk.
It should of course go without saying that none of this is to say one way or another what the outcome of ongoing police investigations will be.
I suspect there is a long road to go down before we hear the tale in its entirety.
What we can say, however, is the events of the past few days should be a reminder for all politicians – all of us – to retain a degree of humility.
Be ye ever so high, the law is above you.
Crisis-hit SNP was far from perfect
Claiming the moral high ground can be an addictive thing.
The SNP swept into their dominance of Scottish politics in 2015 with a promise that they were fundamentally different from those who had gone before – fundamentally, morally, better.
We have seen how that has borne out in recent years.
The recent revelations of Angus Robertson’s salary top-up, the suspension and readmittance of Patrick Grady, Derek Mackay – to name a few, and to say nothing of the current investigations – do not necessarily suggest a party of moral perfection.
It is amazing the things you think you can get away with when you believe you are on the right side of history.
And it is amazing the things you can justify to yourself when you believe your opponents are not just opponents, but enemies.
Step onto social media for five minutes and you will see what those sitting in the “moral high ground” feel they can say about those they deem below them.
The same behaviours were present as far back as the roots of that 2015 landslide.
As Ian Blackford announced his plans to stand down last week I could only think of the memory of his campaign that year, in which the most outrageous slurs were thrown against Charles Kennedy.
No apology has ever been forthcoming.
Law of gravity applies to politics too
If it appears that I am indulging in exactly the self-same moralising, let me be clear: no party has a monopoly on hubris, on right or wrong, on the high ground or the low.
I am proud that my party led the fight against the Iraq War in 2003 versus a Labour Party high on hubris.
But that did not make the Liberal Democrats immune to our own flaws or missteps.
People are struggling just to get by & put food on the table. Instead of tackling the cost-of-living crisis, Westminster is consumed with this third-rate political soap opera.
The sooner Scotland becomes independent, and gets rid of unelected Tory Govts for good, the better.
— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) June 9, 2023
Whether it is the SNP or any other party, now is the time to remember that we are all human, for good and bad.
The best we can hope for is to strive to do the right thing, while recognising our own imperfections.
Thinking ourselves above others is dangerous, no matter who we are or who we are judging beneath us – morally or politically.
You can fill yourself to the brim with political hubris and moral superiority. But if you do not remember to keep yourself tethered to reality, a single pinprick can still burst your bubble.
What goes up must, eventually, come down.
The Rt. Hon. Alistair Carmichael is Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland.
