A Murder on Every Page – Nicola Sturgeon Discusses Novel Ideas at Wigtown Festival
Scotland’s former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told a packed Wigtown Book Festival audience about the start she has made on a “counterfactual” political thriller.
During last night’s event, where she was discussing her new memoir Frankly, Sturgeon also hit out at Nigel Farage’s Reform party and the response from progressives and the left.
Asked by journalist Gavin Esler, who chaired the event, whether voters are disillusioned with the established parties she said: “People are alienated from traditional politics.
"Those problems are not imagined. They're real. And no politician worth their salt should pretend that if people are being tempted by Farage, it makes them bad people.
“But Farage is selling snake oil, and he's looking for scapegoats. Farage’s analysis is that it's all immigrants that are causing the problems. But the idea that the UK's problems are down to immigration is just nonsense.
“Most migrants who come to the UK come to work or to study. The reason irregular illegal immigration has gone up is Brexit.
“The problems the UK are suffering right now largely stem from the financial crisis exacerbated by Brexit. Who was the chief proponent of Brexit? Yes, I am talking about you, Mr. Farage.”
Instead, Sturgeon argued that politicians should focus on tackling issues like child poverty and “the yawning gap between the richest and the poorest”.
She added: “So, for goodness sake, can politicians of the left and progressive politicians find a backbone, start taking on the nonsense Farage is spouting and come up with better solutions to the problems people are experiencing.”
Sturgeon specifically criticised PM Sir Keir Starmer’s response to Reform.
She said: “If I've got a real gripe, and I'm sure I've got more than one, with Keir Starmer right now it is that instead of offering better alternatives and better solutions than Farage, he seems to legitimise Farage by effectively saying ‘yeah, yeah, immigration is the problem’.”
Sturgeon singled out the issue of identity cards (saying there’s a debate to be had but she’s instinctively against them) as an idea that plays into the hands of those who blame immigration for the UK’s problems.
Asked if she planned to write a murder mystery Sturgeon said she has a project in its early stages and has discussed the idea of a novel with her friend the Scottish crime writer Val McDermid.
She said: “I am going to give it a go. And I've kind of started, and let's just say it's in the realms of a political thriller. It's a bit of a counterfactual political thriller.
“I did think when I first started, though, that the problem I might have – given the long years I've spent in politics – is there are probably too many people I want to kill. So, you might have a murder literally on every page.”
Over the coming week there will be an abundance of other well-known names appearing at the annual festival in Scotland’s National Book Town including comedian Helen Lederer, former news anchor, ex-Nato Secretary General George Robertson, Damian Barr, plus Greg Hemphill and Julie Wilson Nimmo of Still Game and Balamory.