For former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon, the crisis that engulfed her Scottish National party after she stepped down in March was already beyond her “worst nightmares”. On Sunday, the nightmare got a whole lot worse.
Sturgeon’s arrest by police investigating SNP finances is a hammer blow not only to the reputation of one of Scotland’s most influential politicians of recent decades, but also to her party’s hopes of sustaining its national dominance and furthering its cause of independence from the UK.
Gerry Hassan, a professor at Glasgow Caledonian University who has written on the SNP, said the arrest was a “watershed moment” for the SNP.