Yesterday, in the Constitutional Affairs committee, Wishart flirted with Rees-Mogg:
‘Could I obviously warmly welcome him to this place. He’s the fifth leader I’ve had, in my fourth year, but I would have to say that he is by far the most exotic.’
Note the sense of belonging comfortably in ‘this place’, in Wishart’s words. Rees-Mogg may seem exotic but we know he is really a cold reactionary politician who despises the left-of-centre democratic values of the SNP. He was rewarded by laughter and reciprocal warmth from the Tory front bench:
A delighted Rees-Mogg was then enabled to witter on about the parliament’s long history going back to 1265 and to refer to Wishart as ‘the honourable gentleman is a very good parliamentary historian.’ Wishart loved it:
Contrast this with Ian Blackford’s combative style in welcoming the Prime Minister as the ‘last prime minister of the United Kingdom’ before going on to warn him not to try to take Scotland out of the EU:
We’ve seen Blackford, many times before, earn the cold contemptuous death stare from former PM May. That is as it should be.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m00071jj/thursday-in-parliament-25072019
Has Wishart, charmed by Rees-Mogg’s humour, forgotten that he is dealing with a man who despises both Wishart and all of his people? See:
A cold reactionary lies behind the Jacob Rees-Mogg act
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/22/jacob-rees-mogg-cold-reactionary
We did not send our MPs there, to flirt with the likes of Rees-Mogg.
There were earlier signs that Wishart likes playing the part of erudite and witty honourable gentleman a bit too much, in his earlier astonishing bid (aborted) to become the Speaker!
The BBC reported:
His announcement prompted criticism from some independence supporters online, who told Mr Wishart that SNP members should be at Westminster to “settle up, not settle down”.
But his party leader, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, defended the move, saying: “For as long as the SNP is in the House of Commons, we should be trying to make it work as well as we can, and undo some of the barriers that are in the way – we’ve seen all too powerfully in the Brexit debate how Scotland’s voice is not being heard.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-48118739
Talking-up Scotland 
Settling down did no good for the Independence of Ireland.
Gentlemanly ways is what Westminster uses to fudge and survive.
Only when the metaphorical gun is placed to its head does it ever react.
Unless is taking the piss of them or us.
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Nicola better have a cunning plan and soon.
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At the end of the count of the 2015 General Election, I reminded our newly elected M.P, who, with our help, had overturned a Labour majority of over 15,000, that technically he was now a member of the Westminster Establishment, and not to get drawn into their clutches, or play their game.
I’m pleased to say that he has remained as combative as ever, and is doing his best to draw peoples attention to the worst excesses of what is now an even more extreme right-wing Government, who have not the slightly interest in the wellbeing of Scotland, except of course to asset-strip and plunder our resources.
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Ask him to have a word with wishart?
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There is more than one way to skin a cat. (I have never actually skinned a cat and do not know if there is, indeed a range of ways, but I’ll take the cliche monger’s word for it.)
In the murky world of diplomacy, countries have always had to have a range of players to put into action to probe at different aspects of the opponents’ defences. While I would much prefer to be done with Westminster, we, nevertheless have to deal with it at present. It has arcane, even corrupt, ways and it has a range of people in it from the cynically nasty (like Mr Rees Mogg and Mr Johnson) to idealists (such as Caroline Lucas). So, it is can be useful to be able to explore these areas to find ways of advancing the case.
It is important to apply, ‘the principle of charity’ when looking at behaviours and attitudes, because sometimes there is value in them. I am not saying that there is in this incident and history is littered with people who have been seduced by being in proximity to power. Let us ca’canny before we foment internal blood-letting.
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Fair point. I can be a bit Old testament.
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I told Wishart on Twitter, from which I am now banned, that he had gone native and has no intention of working to leave that place. He loves the lime light, the theatre, the magnificence of his status, the expenses, the salary, Westminster is designed to seduce people like Wishart and he has embraced it gleefully. Where else will he get £8k + per month for doing SFA and revelling in Londons social scene.
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Thanks. Got a copy of your comment to him?
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Clearly some people do not do sarcasm or recognise p**staking when it is staring them in the face. When Mr Wishart announced he was putting himself forward as a possible successor to Speaker Bercow I thought it was a brilliant piece of p**staking on the part of Mr Wishart. I should imagine the reaction in certain quarters of the Westminster Establishment was a sight to behold.
Similarly, reading what he said to Mr Rees-Mogg dropped sarcasm.
I really cannot understand how anyone can interpret it, or the Speakership issue, as ‘getting too comfortable’ in Westminster. More like he was sending up Westminster and it’s weird conventions something rotten
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You sure? He seemed serious to me and Nicola supporting him confirms it? He was sarcastic to Rees-Mogg but sarcasm is not what he deserves – contempt?
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FWIW, Wishart blocked me on twitter for telling him I thought he was better when he was twittering (banalities) on about the Israeli hosted eurovision. Thought that was a bit odd.
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