There must be an old saying about giving up on something before you’ve even started, but I can’t remember what it is.
Maybe throwing in the towel too early?
If Storm Darragh blew my roof off I wouldn’t expect the top builder in town to say there was little he could do – before he even turned up.
So when John Swinney agreed to meet the family of murdered Highland banker Alistair Wilson he put a dampener on it straight away by adding a significant caveat.
The first minister warned in advance that there wasn’t much he could do because he didn’t want to complicate a live police investigation into the unsolved horrific execution of Mr Wilson on his doorstep in Nairn two decades ago.
A reinvestigation, that is, after the first one was dismissed as incompetent by his distraught relatives.
Swinney only committed himself to “listen to their anguish” face-to-face.
He meant well, but I suspect relatives might reasonably expect more from the most powerful man in Scotland.
Especially as their pent-up anger and pain has spilled out so publicly over what they see as a botched-up investigation by Police Scotland.
Things were so bad with detectives that they accused chief constable Jo Farrell of being “callous” after she apparently refused to meet them.
They say the force has given up.
The Murdered Nairn banker’s family is entitled to hope for something tangible
I don’t think for a second that we would expect Swinney to don the uniform of NYPD Commissioner Frank Regan (Tom Selleck) from Blue Bloods on television.
To investigate personally over the heads of Scotland’s cops thereby jeopardising their “live inquiry”, even though it’s anyone’s guess as to where that is now after coming off the rails.
Neither do we expect the first minister to present himself as some kind of amateur counsellor by simply switching to listening mode when a no-nonsense troubleshooter is required on this occasion.
Surely the family – and the public, who have a legitimate interest in this awful crime on the grounds of questioning police standards – are entitled to hope for something more tangible from the meeting.
Many will be bewildered as to why Swinney was tip-toeing on eggshells; after all, a complete reinvestigation is now expected to last years not months.
What are we looking at? Possibly the best part of three decades before investigations are complete.
By then the Alistair Wilson investigation won’t be a cold-case review, but more in deep freeze.
Of course we don’t want politicians meddling routinely in such delicate and complex crime investigations without justification.
There are important protocols separating politicians and civil servants – until the lines cross.
In cases like this case where things have gone far beyond normal protocols to make it a matter of intense public concern.
The most powerful man in Scotland has every right to ask pertinent questions of law enforcement bosses on behalf of the country he leads.
Otherwise, what’s the point of him being in office?
Many will despair at the sight of him holding his hands up and saying feebly in advance that there is little he can do.
Surely in such an extraordinary case he should be knocking down doors and seeking answers?
Does Swinney seriously expect us to believe he’s powerless?
Is he seriously expecting us to believe he is powerless to do anything?
I don’t know all of the ins and outs of how the family feel about this; I’m just forming an opinion from a distance like everyone else.
I’m sure the relatives will find some solace in this meeting even with such apparent low expectations, and thank Swinney for his interest.
As it elevates their campaign for justice to a new level of pressure and keeps it in the public eye.
In some respects, they are striking a blow for ordinary communities throughout the north and north-east who would dearly love to talk to the first minister about policing in their areas – or lack of it.
One of my grandsons plays for a team of nine-year-olds in Aberdeen; it’s wonderful to see the team spirit and sportsmanship it builds.
But yobs on motorbikes keep churning up the pitches for fun – the very antipathy of that spirit.
We’d love police to catch them in the act, but what are the chances these days?
Police Scotland has retreated from investigating “minor crime” following a pilot scheme in the north-east.
One suspects the threshold for minor crimes in our communities will continue to creep upwards, but for whose benefit? The police or the public?
The Wilson case is on another level, of course, but his family have done a public service by having the clout to show why the police must be made accountable in all our interests.
They accused Police Scotland of “kicking the can” down the road, hoping the case just fades away.
Notwithstanding Swinney’s limited aspirations let’s hope it keeps coming back like a boomerang.
David Knight is the long-serving former deputy editor of The Press and Journal
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