Alert readers will have found it hard not to notice that Wings is currently focused on trying to solve one mystery above all others: why nobody has been prosecuted for a massive theft of hundreds of thousands of pounds, which took place in open sight, beyond any dispute, and is openly admitted by someone who was there at the time.
Until this week, nobody in the two organisations responsible for criminal prosecutions in the country – Police Scotland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (the Crown Office or COPFS for short) had issued any sort of explanation of why the original Operation Branchform investigation apparently fell by the wayside when it led police to discover a second crime: that of embezzlement against the SNP by its then-Chief Executive, Peter Murrell.
But this week, with very little fanfare, the BBC quietly put out two extended interviews with senior representatives of those organisations, seemingly the unused footage from their half-hour televised documentary “Peter Murrell: The Man With The Money”.
This is the letter the SNP sent donors to the ringfenced 2017 fundraiser.
The terms are right there in the first sentence, and repeated several more times. The money will be “ring fenced for a future referendum”. It’s to “build up a sizeable war chest to fight the campaign when the time comes”. It’s to “ensure we are not outspent in the referendum campaign”.
There is no ambiguity in the email. There’s no mention of the SNP anywhere except in Jim Henderson’s email address. No suggestion whatsoever that the money could be used by the SNP for anything but a referendum campaign.
These are the people whose job it was to stop the leadership of the SNP from stealing almost £700,000 of “ringfenced” fundraiser money from independence supporters, and who utterly failed at that job.
It was also their job to stop Peter Murrell stealing the best part of £500,000 from the SNP, in a separate but related crime, and they failed at that one too.
A small handful of them (marked with red asterisks, but see postscript below) tried their best to do their duties, and were blocked primarily by one powerful woman – Nicola Sturgeon – and a room full of cowards, weaklings and bullies, listed above.
But as Peter Murrell begins a five-years-and-three-months prison sentence – more than we were expecting, in truth – let’s not lose sight of the key fact that the theft of hundreds of thousands of pounds of independence supporters’ money by the SNP, which accidentally exposed Murrell’s entirely separate crime of theft FROM the SNP, has still not been answered for by anyone.
Be assured, readers, that Wings won’t rest until it is.
Our first letter was answered/dismissed by “Service Adviser 1989847”, so this reply to our second one, while it doesn’t say much, definitely feels like a step up.
Our KC has offered all possible assistance to the Cyber and Fraud Unit in relation to the matter, and we’ll keep you posted with any developments, readers.
Luigi on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: ““So why was NS not prosecuted?” A more plausible answer may have been “Because I was instructed by my masters,…” Jun 28, 17:40
Lee Floyd on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “I’ve said many times before. This site is unquestionably the finest investgative journalism provision anywhere in the UK. If only…” Jun 28, 16:41
robertkknight on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/taking-action/simple-procedure/guide-to-simple-procedure/ You don’t need a fraud case to cause the SNP some fully justified inconvenience… Be certain you have proof…” Jun 28, 15:28
Alasdair Roy on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “However unpopular it may be with my fellow followers on this site I cannot see a prosecution on the missing…” Jun 28, 14:50
Stuart Swanston on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “The Crown Agent used many more grammatically correct complex sentences to say as little as the Deputy Chief Constable. That’s…” Jun 28, 14:19
Alf Baird on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: ““the British State is controlling Scotland” Indeed so, and as you imply, colonial institutions are a central feature of control…” Jun 28, 13:43
aLurker on Off-topic: “Hi Sarah. I’m a rare visitor to WoS these days, but great to see youse still alive and kicking. I…” Jun 28, 13:35
sam on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “https://www.fraudadvisorypanel.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Fraud-in-Scotland-4th-ed-July2020.pdf “Common law fraud Common law fraud is the common‘catch all’ for most fraud prosecutions in Scotland. Fraud is committed…” Jun 28, 12:41
Lorncal on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “Yes, H McH: actions have consequences – so often not foreseen. Sometimes, it is actually better to let sleeping dogs…” Jun 28, 12:23
Lorncal on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “Yes, well put, except that there is no legal basis for holding a political party to account for spending funds,…” Jun 28, 12:12
Jay on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “For avoidance of misunderstanding: laughter mentioned at 9:19 was thanks to Northcode for comment at 7:50, Saturday, worthy of honorary…” Jun 28, 11:56
Bilbo on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “That’s a valid point if you’re not living in a flat but given the amount of days we actually get…” Jun 28, 10:55
Knuckle_Heid on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: ““What we have here is Police Scotland and the Crown Office both failing to act in the public interest” Absolutely…” Jun 28, 10:34
TURABDIN on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “SCOTLAND…. freed from the opiate of the masses, «sport», a top ranker for corruption along with the porn and drug…” Jun 28, 10:15
Minceheid on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “Well, the power efficiency of aircon devices has improved quite a lot in recent years. Given that high temperatures are…” Jun 28, 10:08
Bilbo on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “Due to the ‘internal market’ there doesn’t need to be any state sponsored individuals seeking havoc. The senior positions in…” Jun 28, 10:04
Bilbo on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “I don’t follow football and have never been interested in Scotland football games but I had watched the antics of…” Jun 28, 09:56
Captain Caveman on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “Wow. Just wow! Surely the finest, absolute textbook example of self projection, Northy; indeed, as good as you’ll ever see…” Jun 28, 09:53
Bilbo on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “Thanks for the link Sam. Even the media are calling out the absurdity of it when the admit in the…” Jun 28, 09:52
Graham Macready on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “Reading the above it is almost incomprehensible to see the level of incompetence and buck-passing from these organisations. If this…” Jun 28, 09:49
Captain Caveman on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “Heh! Well, 8:30am is just a *tad* early, even for me. Mind you, there’s always a Bloody Mary, with plenty…” Jun 28, 09:01
Bilbo on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “You really do need to be keeping off the drink CC.” Jun 28, 08:43
sam on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “Is this what you mean? https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/2026/06/10/penicuik-dcnn-1644-why-should-i-make-the-data-available-to-you-when-your-aim-is-to-try-to-find-something-wrong-with-it/#more-85669” Jun 28, 08:31
Hatey McHateface on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “I’ve always seen climate change, in the UK at least, as being nature’s way of preparing the country to better…” Jun 28, 08:30
Captain Caveman on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: ““Climate change hysteria” you say? “Net zero”…? Well, that’s lefties for you. The sentiments behind your post are akin to…” Jun 28, 08:19
Hatey McHateface on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “But not those who write about it on a public forum accessed by millions? That seems to be the gamble…” Jun 28, 08:17
Hatey McHateface on The Promise: “@ Lorncal says: 27 June, 2026 at 12:17 pm “there is no cut-and-dried answer” Precisely. The forced juxtaposition of Highlands…” Jun 28, 08:04
Bilbo on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “I see that we’re getting some good weather for a change and the climate based hysteria has started up again…” Jun 28, 07:56
Hatey McHateface on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “Loving your use of hyphens there, Northy. You could never have equaled that writing in Scots. Plus, of course, nae…” Jun 28, 07:43
