Month: August 2023

Scotland’s former first minister said she would “reveal the person behind the politics” in the book, which is due to be released in 2025.

Pan Macmillan has purchased the rights to the book, which it promised would be “deeply personal and revealing”.

Ms Sturgeon’s memoir will be released in hardback, eBook and audio formats.

She said: “I have loved my life in politics, but ever since I was a child I have harboured an ambition to write.

“I am thrilled to be working with Pan MacMillan, a globally-renowned publisher with proud Scottish roots.”

Ms Sturgeon said the prospect of writing the book was exciting and daunting.

It will cover an era in British and Scottish Politics which included the 2014 Scottish independence referendum and the Brexit vote.

Ms Sturgeon added: “I aim to chronicle key events of the past three decades and take the reader behind the scenes to describe how it felt to be ‘in the room’, who else was there, the relationships involved and how decisions were arrived at.”

Ms Sturgeon was Scotland’s longest-serving first minister.

She took over as leader of the Scottish National Party after the 2014 referendum and remained in charge until February this year.

The memoir promises to reveal Ms Sturgeon’s rise from being a “shy child from a working-class family in Ayrshire to the steps of Bute House”.

Pan MacMillan is part of the MacMillan Publishers International group, which was founded in the 1800s by Scottish brothers, Daniel and Alexander MacMillan.

The publisher acquired the rights to the book in an auction among nine different publishers. It has not been revealed how much was paid.

Mike Harpley, Pan MacMillan’s non-fiction publishing director, said he was looking forward to working with Ms Sturgeon who he described as a “lover of literature”.

He said: “It is no surprise that the extracts she has already written are notable for their wit, honesty and excellent writing.”

Nicola Sturgeon has always been known for her love of books, so it is no shock that she is already penning one of her own.

And given her prominent position across a tumultuous decade in politics, it is little surprise that there was fierce competition between publishers for the rights.

That tumult means there may be plenty of competition atop the bestseller charts – Boris Johnson and Liz Truss are both reportedly set to follow Matt Hancock and a host of other recent leaders in putting their account down on paper.

And that underlines that there can be a political motive behind these books: Reputation management.

Ms Sturgeon’s exit from the political frontlines has come amid major questions over her independence strategy, and a police investigation of her party’s finances. Meanwhile her successor Humza Yousaf has pressed pause on some of her remaining policy pledges at Holyrood.

The former first minister will hope the dust has settled somewhat by the time her tome comes out in 2025.

But in any case she will be keen to put her side across in her own words – to use what platform she still has to set out her legacy.

Nearly 60,000 transactions, including spending on VIP airport services, worth £14.2m were made on the procurement cards over a three-year period.

Mr Yousaf said it was “fair to ask the questions” about the spending and has asked his officials to review procedures.

It comes as further details of the spending on the cards is revealed.

Bowling, pottery lessons and yoga classes were among the “away days” for civil servants paid for on Scottish government procurement cards.

Team building events described as away days in the list of spending cost a total of £32,995 between September 2019 and August last year.

The Scottish government said it proactively publishes information about spending to improve openness and transparency – and the review was to provide “additional assurance”.

The Scottish government issues its senior staff with credit-card style electronic purchasing cards for buying goods and services up to a value of £5,000 per transaction.

A summary of purchases over £500 is officially published, but Scottish Labour obtained a full breakdown detailing all values between September 2019 and August last year.

The spending included nearly £10,000 on giving former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, and her staff, fast-track security and access to lounges at UK and European airports.

It also included a payment of £4,182 on 8 September 2019 for hospitality and hotel accommodation at the five-star Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire.

Speaking at an Edinburgh Fringe event with comedian Matt Forde, Mr Yousaf was asked about the procurement card spending.

According to the Daily Record newspaper, he said: “It’s fair to ask the questions that people are asking about. Was this item spent? Why was it spent? Why was it bought by the civil service?

“I will ask the permanent secretary to just review, ‘do we have the right procedures in place when it comes to spend’.”

The first minister added: “I noticed one of the headlines around security through airports and so on and so forth, which again is fair for people to ask a question.

“We absolutely have to be mindful of every penny and every pound that we spend, but we’ve also got to be mindful of people’s security.”

The vast majority of the 58,000 entries were for everyday purchases needed by civil servants but more than 3,000 entries in the list of purchases have no description against them.

Dozens of transactions had entries with purchases for what are described as “away days”.

This included a £375 bill at Brewhemia in Edinburgh – one of Scotland’s largest pubs – in September 2019, as well as trips to upmarket bowling alleys.

There are also entries for team building events in Escape Rooms, where a group of people are locked in a room and have to solve a series of puzzles to get out, and crazy golf venues.

A £1,693 “away day discussion” at the Seamill Hydro hotel in Ayrshire last year is also listed.

Hiring part of Edinburgh Zoo in 2019 cost civil servants just over £2,000, while the same year there is a separate £345 payment was made to a craft pottery firm for an event.

One further away day activity in 2019 saw civil servants purchase ping pong balls, chocolate mice, play dough and paper planes.

Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “It is deeply concerning that such a large amount of money is being spent on away days at a time when families across Scotland are struggling to make ends meet.

“No one would dispute that away days can be useful and a normal part of working practice, but eyebrows will be raised at the locations – including a jolly to Edinburgh Zoo.”

The Scottish government said: “Spending through electronic purchasing cards is used to support government officials during their usual course of work such as on training, catering, room hire and one-off supplies.

“The cards are not for personal expenditure and there are robust authorisation and regular auditing arrangements are in place to monitor their use.”

Delivery driver Mohamed Bendriss, 27, suffered a cardiac arrest amid rioting in Marseille on the night of 1 July.

The officers, who are from an elite riot control unit, were placed under investigation after an autopsy revealed Mr Bendriss may have died after being hit by a weapon used by police.

His family said he was an innocent bystander, AFP news agency reported.

Violent disorder broke out across France after 17-year-old Nahel M was shot and killed by a police officer during a traffic stop in the Nanterre suburb of Paris on 27 June.

Hundreds were injured and arrested during clashes between police and crowds in several locations, including the southern port city of Marseille.

French prosecutors said a post-mortem investigation revealed marks on Mr Bendriss’ chest which suggested he had been struck by a so-called flash-ball, or LBD, AFP reports.

The controversial weapons – which fire an exploding rubber or foam pellet – are dubbed “less than lethal,” but campaigners have long said they should be banned and have linked them to serious injuries.

It is thought the married father-of-one may have suffered a heart attack while riding his scooter after being hit by a flash-ball.

In a statement issued to French media, a lawyer representing his pregnant wife said he had not been involved in any violence.

Mr Bendriss’ death would be the first confirmed fatality on the French mainland to have resulted from this summer’s disorder.

In French Guiana, a region of France on the north-east cost of South America, a 54-year-old was reportedly killed on 29 June after the Nahel M protests spread there. Authorities said they were killed by a stray bullet fired by rioters, Le Monde reported.

Marseille’s police force has already been under scrutiny over its conduct during the national unrest after another man suffered life-changing injuries, also allegedly caused by a flash-ball.

A 22-year-old North African immigrant identified as Hedi was forced to have part of his skull amputated and lost the use of an eye.

Prosecutors said he was shot in the head with a flash-ball by police on 21 July.

Four officers are under investigation over the incident, including a 35-year-old identified as Christophe, who has denied deliberately injuring the man.

In an unusual move, he has been remanded in custody pending a trial, which has led to widespread controversy across France’s police forces.

There is frustration at the role of a European court in stopping flights for asylum seekers taking off last year.

The minister told the BBC the UK was “probably” being punished for Brexit.

The government has said the UK will remain in the ECHR.

“The government has been clear that it will abide by its international treaty obligations,” a spokesperson said.

“As we’ve set out previously – we believe our Stop the Boats Bill will deliver the changes necessary to reduce the incentives for people to risk their lives through illegal crossings while remaining party to the ECHR.”

But the comments by senior figures in government are likely to reignite a debate in the Conservative Party about the ECHR – which splits opinion among Tory MPs.

The ECHR was established in 1950 by a number of countries including the UK.

The treaty, which sets out the rights and freedoms people are entitled to in the 47 signatory countries, is overseen by the European Court of Human Rights.

It is separate to the European Union – so the UK remained part of both after Brexit.

Ministers are desperate to show they can deliver on tackling illegal migration to the UK before an election – likely next year.

But so far the Rwanda scheme, which would see the UK send some asylum seekers to the east African country, has not got off the ground and the timetable is slipping.

The first flights were stopped by a European judge in a last minute intervention last year – despite being cleared by UK courts.

Since then, the scheme has become bogged down in legal action.

The UK’s Court of Appeal ruled against the plan last month, to the surprise of the Home Office.

There will now be an appeal in the Supreme Court in the autumn, but senior ministers are privately unsure about whether they can overturn the ruling.

They fear that even if the government does win, it could take many months for deportations to begin because individual legal challenges will take place too.

Alternative plans are being considered, but they would also face legal challenges and take time to deliver.

That is likely to lead to further debate about whether the UK needs to take further action to ensure the policy is delivered.

Legislation passed in recent weeks will put a legal obligation on the government to remove people who have entered the country illegally.

But without comprehensive returns agreements – and with the Rwanda policy stuck in the courts – it is unclear when ministers will trigger the implementation of that responsibility.

The government also now has the power to ignore certain ECHR interim injunctions relating to border security.

But some Conservative MPs wanted the government to go further and remove itself from other ECHR obligations.

A cabinet minister said events could make it “inevitable” the Conservatives end up backing leaving the ECHR.

Some backbenchers have said the Conservatives should campaign to leave at the next election regardless of what happens with the Rwanda scheme.

Jonathan Gullis said: “Time and again we see the quasi-legislative European Court of Human Rights continue to undermine the government’s plan to stop the boats.”

He added the electorate should be given a choice over ECHR withdrawal at the next election.

But a former cabinet minister – strongly opposed to withdrawal – described the idea as “knee jerk nonsense”.

They said those who backed quitting were a “minority” and there would be significant opposition in cabinet.