Former UK ambassador sentenced to eight months in jail over Salmond trial blog posts
Craig Murray sentenced for contempt of court after online articles risked identifying complainers - but will not go to prison straight away
11 May 2021 • 12:19pm
Former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray addresses Julian Assange supporters at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London
Credit: Julian Simmonds/ Julian Simmonds
A former diplomat who published information which could have identified four women who gave evidence against Alex Salmond has been given an eight month prison sentence.
Judge Lady Dorrian told Craig Murray, 62, that his actions struck at the “heart of the administration of justice.”
BBC News
By Glenn Campbell
image copyrightGetty Images
The only way for there to be a successful referendum on Scottish independence is if both sides agree.
That s how they did it in 2014 with the Edinburgh agreement and the alternatives are messy and risky for both sides.
If the current stand-off between Nicola Sturgeon and Boris Johnson cannot be resolved, the first minister intends - at some point - to pass a referendum bill at Holyrood.
She dares the UK government to challenge the legislation in court which it may feel obliged to do because it considers such a vote to be beyond devolved powers.
Queen Elizabeth makes first public appearance since Prince Philip s funeral
Entertainment
Queen Elizabeth expected to be attended by Prince Charles as she returns to public duties
LONDON: Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday makes her first public appearance since the funeral of her late husband, Prince Philip, to open a new session of parliament and present her newly victorious government s post-pandemic legislative agenda.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is riding high after the Conservatives triumph in last week s local and regional elections in England, but faces new questions over the UK s cohesion after pro-independence forces emerged on top in Scotland.
Johnson says his government, after overseeing a successful inoculation campaign against Covid-19, is intent on reopening the economy and determined that we look forward and get on with fulfilling the promises we have made to the British people .
Scottish National Party’s fourth election win threatens UK breakup
Nicola Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party (SNP) won this year’s elections to the Scottish parliament by a huge margin. The party polled 47.7 percent of the vote in individual constituencies, against the Conservatives with 21.9 percent and Labour with 21.6 percent. In the regional lists, the SNP won 40.3 percent against 23.5 percent for the Conservatives and 17.9 percent for Labour. The Greens polled only 1.3 percent in the constituencies but 8.1 percent on the lists.
Under the proportional representation system, these figures translate to 64 seats for the SNP, 31 for the Conservatives, 22 for Labour, eight for the Greens and four for the Liberal Democrats. With the formal or informal assistance of the Greens, the SNP will therefore be able to form a pro-independence majority in the 129-seat parliament.
NICOLA Sturgeon has told Andrew Marr she “wouldn’t rule out” bringing forward a referendum by spring next year. It comes as the outgoing head of the vaccine task force has said that by August this year there will be no Covid-19 circulating in the UK. The First Minister has said that she would only hold a constitutional vote once the Covid pandemic has passed. Clive Dix, vaccine task force chief, told the Telegraph that the country is on track to vaccinate all adults by the end of July. Asked by Marr if Scotland would hold a referendum by spring next year, based on predictions, that the pandemic was over, Sturgeon said: “That would certainly work for timescale of within the first half of the parliamentary term.