Scotsman leader comment: SNP's culture of aggressive secrecy must be flushed out

The problem with the SNP's lies about its membership numbers is that they emerge during a leadership campaign which effectively decides on the next First Minister of Scotland.

Nicola Sturgeon and her husband Peter Murrell in 2017

It is of consequence that we can't trust the party of leadership on such a simple matter. Curious people will ask: if we can't trust them on this, what else are they hiding?

There have been plenty of contortions and contradictions from this Government in recent years, over issues a little harder to pin down than simple numbers. They've been muddied sufficiently by obfuscation to be dismissed as disagreement over policy, rather than matters of honesty.

And, of course, a significant minority of the voting public were always willing to forgive most slips because the greater goal - independence - was always only just around the corner.

This has been the process by which Scotland has found itself in a hole: where vast numbers of drug deaths, a yawning attainment gap between rich and poor children, stalling economy and an NHS in crisis are - at best - apologised for, or at worst blamed on Westminster, human tragedy used as fresh chips for already laden shoulders.

But whether the SNP has more than 100,000 members, or only a little more than 70,000, is a straightforward issue of substance: falling numbers suggest apathy or worse over policy, or a failing party machine.

Mike Russell, the SNP's interim chief executive, told the BBC yesterday he didn't know about the declining membership, despite being SNP President. They were only reported annually, he said. Yet the steep decline had been clear the previous year. Any conscientious membership organisation, you might think, would have been keeping a close eye on such a key metric.

Apparently not. Instead, Mr Russell, only last week, described those wanting to know about membership numbers, and voicing concerns about the electoral process, as aiding the party's "enemies". Yesterday, he took to airwaves to admit to "a tremendous mess". It turns out the enemies had a point.

Scotland can only hope whichever candidate wins this sorry contest, and whoever replaces Mr Russell as party Chief Executive, has a little more epistemic curiosity, and that they immediately set to work to flush out a culture of aggressive secrecy which has infected much of Scottish government, but which clearly has its roots at the heart of the ruling party.