SNP leadership outsider Ash Regan has teamed up with shamed economist Dr Tim Rideout to concoct a currency plan for a hypothetical independent Scotland. The 48-year-old outsider for the role officially launched her campaign on Friday with a series of car crash interviews with broadcast media.
She insisted a 50 per cent plus one vote for Scexit parties would be enough to start secession negotiations with the UK Government and claimed EVERY election would be in effect a ‘de facto’ referendum. Despite that, she tried to distance herself from Nicola Sturgeon‘s own de facto indyref plan.
It has now emerged she will outline her currency plans on Wednesday with Dr Rideout seemingly playing a role. He tweeted: “I attended the launch of the @AshReganSNP campaign today. I think the SNP membership and the Scottish Currency Group will love her currency policy when it is published next Wednesday. It will be just what is needed to get the Indy case moving forward.”
The academic was a member of the SNP’s policy development committee and runs a cross-party group about currency. He was previously suspended from the SNP for a racist post about Priti Patel MP. Posting on social media, he claimed the then-home secretary should be sent “back to Uganda” in a row over Ukrainian refugees.
Although born in the UK, Ms Patel is of Indian and Ugandan heritage. After an investigation, Dr Rideout was re-admitted to the party in September last year after agreeing to undergo anti-racism training. He said at the time: “I recognise my personal error in this case of a badly worded tweet, have learned lessons and have fully accepted the consequences. As someone who was expelled from South Africa for my anti-apartheid stance I have definitely been through worse.”
He later caused controversy after joking about letting a dog attack unionists. Reacting to his involvement in Ms Regan’s campaign, Sam Taylor of the pro-Union think tank These Islands said: “Perhaps the only way for Ash Regan to top yesterday’s farcical campaign launch would be to unveil Tim Rideout as an adviser. So obviously that’s exactly what she’s doing next Wednesday.”
It followed a bizarre day for Ms Regan’s team. In one interview with the BBC she insisted the UK Government and international community would simply “agree” to her claiming independence on the 50+1 basis. But she refused to accept her plan was the same as Nicola Sturgeon’s de facto indyref at the next general election because it would be every election.
Asked what happens when the UK Government refuses, she told one journalist she would “adapt” but was not willing to set out how that would happen at this stage.
She went on to set her stall out in a series of other interviews that were variously described as “car crash”, “bonkers” and “like someone who should never have made it past the cv-sifting stage busking it in the job interview”.
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