The money being offered to Scottish Labour by the Easdale brothers, as exclusively revealed in The Herald, has the right strings attached to it. But Andy Maciver argues that buyers’ remorse is almost inevitable as long as Scottish Labour is tied to Westminster

Last weekend’s exclusive story in The Herald, revealing that James and Sandy Easdale had decided to bankroll Anas Sarwar and Scottish Labour’s campaign for the May elections to the Scottish Parliament, has caused a stir this week in Scottish politics.

The billionaire bus brothers spilled the beans to Kevin McKenna in great detail, releasing all of the frustrations which have led them to their first financial intervention in the political arena.

What they said, in truth, was exactly what I hear most days in my professional interactions with the Scottish business community, and in my personal life. The post-Salmond SNP lost its focus and wasted a decade - check. The SNP has become frivolous with its focus on policy areas such as gender ideology - check. We don’t get much back for the taxes we pay - check. We’d be happy enough with an independent Scotland if we thought it would be well run - check. We’re gutted Kate Forbes is leaving because she seems to be the only one who gets it - check.

All of this has validity and is worth exploring and, make absolutely no mistake, there will be many people in the SNP who will have read the list of alleged failures and found themselves in reluctant agreement. John Swinney is extremely able, but he can’t click his fingers and reverse the challenging legacy he inherited.

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