美国国家公共电台 NPR--Scotland's former leader was arrested by police over governing party's finances

Scotland's former leader was arrested by police over governing party's finances

Transcript¹

Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was arrested and then later released in connection with an investigation² into the Scottish National Party's finances.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Nicola Sturgeon, the former leader of Scotland, was arrested over the weekend. She says the experience was, quote, "deeply distressing³." Scotland is part of the U.K. but has its own legislature. Until a few months ago, Sturgeon was its leader as the head of a party that favored full independence. But her party is under investigation for what it did with pro-independence campaign donations.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Reporter Willem Marx is following all this. Hey there.

WILLEM MARX, BYLINE⁴: Hey, Steve.

INSKEEP: How did the arrest work?

MARX: Well, in terms of the actual arrest, we know that she agreed ahead of time with Scottish police to be interviewed and was then arrested and questioned after she arrived for that interview. It's part of this two-year investigation into the finances of the Scottish National Party, focused on almost $1 million worth of donations by party activists⁵ that had been essentially⁶ earmarked for future pro-independence campaigning. And there are questions about what exactly happened to that money. Three people had been signing off on the party's accounts - the former CEO, who happens to be Sturgeon's husband, who stepped down from that role before his own arrest earlier this year; the party's treasurer⁷, who was also arrested, then released earlier this year before resigning from that post; and now Sturgeon herself, who, let's not forget, dominated Scottish politics for the best part of a decade, with some eight years as the country's first minister.

INSKEEP: I think I understand this a little better. She said she was stunned⁸ by the arrest. And you're telling me that she did voluntarily go to the police station but may not have expected to be arrested while she was there for an interview? Is that right?

MARX: Absolutely right. Yeah.

INSKEEP: OK. So what does this arrest, particularly on these suspicions, mean for independence efforts in Scotland?

MARX: Well, you know, the party has already faced a huge amount of pressure, both from supporters and political opponents, even before this happened. Sturgeon's decision to step down as leader earlier this year sparked a leadership contest that was pretty divisive. The ongoing⁹ investigations¹⁰ completely overshadowed her successor Humza Yousaf's efforts to reunify the party. And in fact, there are now members of the SNP itself demanding that Sturgeon be suspended from the party. She's still a sitting member of the Scottish Parliament, insisted that her release - she'd return to work soon after that.

Part of the problem underlying¹¹ all this is the challenging financial position for the party. The funds at question in this inquiry¹² were for any future pro-independence referendum. The widely held expectation had been the party would continue pushing for this, even though legal avenues to make that happen have been pretty much exhausted¹³. But these events around the party's top leaders or former top leaders may well make it very hard for the SNP to raise funds from supporters in the future.

INSKEEP: OK. Bring us up to date on another UK leader. Sturgeon, you said, is still in the Scottish Parliament, but then there's the broader U.K. Parliament, which no longer includes Boris Johnson. The former prime minister resigned. Why?

MARX: Well, he seems to have made that decision, Steve, ahead of a committee report into misleading statements he made to Parliament about Downing Street lockdown parties, you may remember, during the pandemic.

INSKEEP: Sure.

MARX: That could have sparked a recall election that could have lost him his parliamentary seat, and he seems to have jumped before he was pushed. It seems also to have sparked the resignation of at least two other members of the Conservative Party, meaning there are now three parliamentary seats that need to be contested in local by-elections in the weeks ahead. His successor Rishi Sunak's already seen an erosion to the vast parliamentary majority that Johnson helped win for them at the last general election. And with his party trailing quite a way behind the main Labour opposition¹⁴, it could mean he loses those newly available seats and the narrative¹⁵ ahead of conservative defeat at the next election is further cemented, Steve.

INSKEEP: Willem Marx, thanks so much.

MARX: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 distressing   

a.使人痛苦的

参考例句：

• All who saw the distressing scene revolted against it. 所有看到这种悲惨景象的人都对此感到难过。
• It is distressing to see food being wasted like this. 这样浪费粮食令人痛心。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

7 treasurer   

n.司库，财务主管

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith was succeeded by Mrs.Jones as treasurer.琼斯夫人继史密斯先生任会计。
• The treasurer was arrested for trying to manipulate the company's financial records.财务主管由于试图窜改公司财政帐目而被拘留。

8 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

9 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

10 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

11 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

12 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

13 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

14 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

15 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。