The head of Yes Scotland has admitted that a social media post mocking allegations of a “missing £1.5 million” was put out without his knowledge or approval.
Chief executive Blair Jenkins confirmed he had not signed off on the post, which appeared to make light of questions surrounding the pro-independence campaign’s finances. The admission raises fresh questions about who is running the show at Yes Scotland and how decisions are being made at the top of the organisation.
The post in question took a dismissive tone toward claims that £1.5 million in donations could not be properly accounted for within the campaign. Rather than addressing the financial questions head on, whoever published it chose to mock the story instead, a move that has since backfired and drawn even more attention to the issue.
Jenkins distancing himself from the post suggests there may be a disconnect between senior leadership and whoever manages the campaign’s online presence. For a campaign that is trying to win over undecided Scots ahead of the independence referendum, the last thing Yes Scotland needs is the impression of internal chaos or a lack of proper oversight.
The missing £1.5 million claim has been circulating for some time, with critics of the independence campaign pressing for a clearer breakdown of where significant sums of donated money have gone. Yes Scotland has consistently pushed back on the characterisation that any money is unaccounted for, but the row refuses to go away.
Publishing a mocking response to those questions, without the knowledge of the chief executive, has done little to help matters. If anything, it has handed opponents of independence another line of attack and raised the temperature around what was already a sensitive topic.
The incident puts Blair Jenkins in an awkward spot. As chief executive, he is ultimately responsible for what goes out under the Yes Scotland name, yet here he is having to explain that something was posted without his say so. It is the kind of story that feeds a narrative about the campaign lacking the discipline and professionalism needed to win a national vote.
Scotland’s independence referendum is one of the most significant political events in the country’s history, and both sides are under intense scrutiny over how they conduct themselves, how they handle money, and how they communicate with the public. A rogue social media post might seem like a small thing, but in the context of ongoing questions about campaign finances, it lands badly.
For ordinary Scots who have donated to the Yes campaign believing in the cause, news that large sums are being questioned and that the organisation’s own chief executive cannot keep tabs on what is being posted online is unlikely to inspire confidence.
Yes Scotland will be hoping this blows over quickly, but with the referendum debate intensifying, every misstep is likely to be picked apart by opponents and the media alike. Jenkins will need to get a firmer grip on operations if the campaign is to move past this kind of distraction and focus on making the case for independence.