Welcome to the campervan campaign

With donations drying up the SNP insist they really need that campervan back from the fraud squad investigation

Humour as a coping mechanism is a fascinating aspect of human psychology and it appears the Scottish National Party have begun to see the funny side of Operation Branchform. But for a cash strapped party labouring beneath a protracted investigation it ought to be no laughing matter.

Eyebrows were raised when the SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn cracked jokes at the Perth conference saying his party should put a saltire on the campervan currently impounded by the fraud squad. Presumably practicing for a future stand-up career beyond elected politics he added football fans could drive it to the summer’s Euros.

Perhaps Mr Flynn is hoping some wise cracking can successfully get voters to cognitively reappraise the lumbering fiasco? Only problem is, the dreaded ‘f’ word (fraud) keeps getting mentioned in the column inches as the cop investigation continues. For a party recording falling membership numbers, at risk of losing half of their MPs (and therefore vital ‘short money’) the optics couldn’t be worse. Not least since the governing party recorded their biggest deficit in a non-parliamentary year on record prior to even entering this election year.

Maybe someone should tell the SNP Westminster leader that it's important to recognize that humour isn't always appropriate or helpful in every given situation…

Even if Operation Branchform were to end tomorrow (it won’t), the smell lingers unabated. For all the jokes about campervans, women’s razors gardening equipment and cutlery being seized by the fraud squad; it reminds voters that something rather odd had been taking place inside the SNP.

At the crux of the problem is that Humza Yousaf had little to say at the SNP mini-conference. For something billed as a ‘Campaign Council’ the SNP seemed to have so little to actually communicate vis-a-vis SNP policy, vision or relevance ahead of the General Election. Perhaps this is why behind the scenes operators at Perth opted to shine a light on the camper van story?

Carry on campaigning? Welcome to the SNP’s camper van campaign, where the braveheartian cries of ‘we want our campervan back!’ are raised to the heavens amid waved saltires and tartan clad shortbread tin variety patriotism.

STV’s Colin MacKay explained to the audience at home that

“I think it’s a safe bet that [Humza Yousaf] won’t be mentioning the camper van in his speech tomorrow but I’ve spoken to a number of senior figures in the SNP over the last few days and they want it back. Because it is almost a year since Police Scotland seized the hundred thousand pound vehicle as part of an investigation into SNP funds… But with an election this year, some senior figures in the SNP want the campervan back — either to use during the campaign or to sell, to help raise funds for that.”

Never mind the fraud squad probe, forget the official police inquiry into the missing £600k+ dosh, the SNP have an election to prep for and the money from flogging that impounded campervan could really come in handy it seems…

Listening to the embattled First Minister, sure enough he didn’t speak about that police investigation…but his chosen talking point proved just as unhelpful.

He had insisted that the only outcome “Westminster fears is an SNP victory”, but his decision to paint the looming election as an SNP fight to rid Scotland of Tories is as odd a choice of message as his party insiders refocusing public attention to the fraud squad investigation.

After all everyone realises that across swathes of Scotland the Tories aren’t in the running, but Labour very much are. And nobody has yet heard why Scottish voters shouldn’t vote Labour to get the Conservatives out at UK level.

With the General Election fast approaching, the opinion polling forecasting heaving nationalist losses and SNP finances in crisis…perhaps all the SNP will need will be a campervan to ferry their MPs down to Westminster?

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A few months ago I was on GB News to discuss the SNPs financial problems, I’ll repost it here as it provides useful context.