We’ve already discussed the contents of the videos released last week by the BBC containing interviews with Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Houston of Police Scotland and Crown Agent John Logue of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
But videos (especially lengthy ones) are always a bit of a pain to reference, and these are incredibly significant documents, so we thought it’d be quite useful to post the full transcripts too, with the text tidied up (taking out all the “um”s and “eh”s and so on) for ease of reading.
This is the interview with John Logue (Stuart Houston’s is here):
And below is what’s said in it. We’ve added a comment here and there, in red.
We’ve already discussed the contents of the videos released last week by the BBC containing interviews with Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Houston of Police Scotland and Crown Agent John Logue of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
But videos (especially lengthy ones) are always a bit of a pain to reference, and these are incredibly significant documents, so we thought it’d be quite useful to post the full transcripts too, with the text tidied up (taking out all the “um”s and “eh”s and so on) for ease of reading.
This is the interview with Stuart Houston (John Logue’s is here):
And below is what’s said in it. We’ve added a comment here and there, in red.
I’ve just recorded an episode of the BBC ScotCast podcast, which should “drop”, as we say in the media biz, around teatime tonight. It focused largely on issues around Operation Branchform, and the fact that only one of the two crimes it concerned has been resolved.
Time always flies when you’re having fun, so I ended up not being able to fit in half the stuff I wanted to say in the 40 minutes I chatted with Martin Geissler (which will likely shrink to fit into the 30-minute broadcast slot by the time they’ve edited all the most libellous bits out).
And one of those things was the bewildering fact that the investigation into the SNP’s finances went on for two years before the police stumbled into the second crime, and the only one that’s actually concluded – Peter Murrell’s embezzlement from the SNP. Because the first crime ought to have been all but done and dusted in 24 hours max.
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.
Jack Thomson on ACC Houston, We Have A Problem: “There are also huge questions re potential unrecorded income. This doesn’t seem to have been addressed. The Manchester auditors qualified…” Jul 1, 16:46
Alf Baird on The Fast Track: “We should not confuse nationalism with fascist-imperialism. The imperial state tendency has been to portray Nazism as ‘nationalism’, which it…” Jul 1, 16:17
Cynicus on Strike A Pose, There’s Nothing To It: “AlMac says: 1 July, 2026 at 12:41 pm “……the 75-minute video is starting to look attractive when faced with 8000…” Jul 1, 15:59
Insider on The Fast Track: “Alf, Since you’ve made a complete fool of yourself trying to quote Orwell….how about trying Einstein next ? “Nationalism is…” Jul 1, 15:52
robertkknight on ACC Houston, We Have A Problem: ““ACC Houston, We Have Eh Problem” surely? Waiting staff in restaurants must love him…” Jul 1, 15:40
Cynicus on ACC Houston, We Have A Problem: “Incidentally, Peter Bell lavishly praises the Rev. in his piece, “ Solid Fog”, a few days ago. He is excoriated…” Jul 1, 15:13
sarah on ACC Houston, We Have A Problem: “I meant to say that the title gave me a chuckle. I daresay they are enjoying it at Police Scotland…” Jul 1, 15:10
lothianlad on ACC Houston, We Have A Problem: “Honestly STU, Your dilligence must be making them really nervous. Well done for your persistance.” Jul 1, 15:00
Captain Caveman on The Fast Track: “@Alf “Orwell was around slightly before postcolonial theory had really developed” Good grief, first you’re name dropping Orwell left, right…” Jul 1, 14:59
Hatey McHateface on The Fast Track: “That narrative would be more compelling if we didn’t have the example of the EU referendum to dispel it. There…” Jul 1, 14:06
Hatey McHateface on The Fast Track: “Chronology tells us that colonialism developed millennia before Fascism. But we don’t let awkward facts get in the way of…” Jul 1, 13:57
Hatey McHateface on Strike A Pose, There’s Nothing To It: “Shakespearean tragedy! WTAF are you on about! It’s a comedy the likes of which not even The Bard could have…” Jul 1, 13:52
Cynicus on ACC Houston, We Have A Problem: “Thanks for doing that, Rev. Like Peter Bell, many of us prepare reading transcripts of testimony to video. The services…” Jul 1, 13:45
Peter McAvoy on Strike A Pose, There’s Nothing To It: “Is it just me or does the term crown agent sound like a medieval tyrants minion or dystopian fiction.” Jul 1, 13:40
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The Fast Track: “« The purpose of NEWSPEAK was not only to provide a medium of expression for the world-view and mental habits…” Jul 1, 13:34
Hatey McHateface on Strike A Pose, There’s Nothing To It: “First, a majority of the voters have to care. This is where I think all the barking up the colonialism…” Jul 1, 13:26
Alf Baird on The Fast Track: ““‘Notes on Nationalism’” The colonized native only becomes a nationalist ‘to free his people’ (Fanon). National liberation cannot come about…” Jul 1, 13:08
AlMac on Strike A Pose, There’s Nothing To It: “Yes thank you for that Mr Angry – it was intended as a humorous response to Wing’s Twitter suggestion that…” Jul 1, 13:06
Hatey McHateface on The Fast Track: “Orwell defo an improvement over all those third-world racists, such as Fanon, etc. We could even make a half-decent case…” Jul 1, 13:01
Alice Timmons on Strike A Pose, There’s Nothing To It: “Stuart, I sincerely hope you are taking VERY good care of both your health and personal safety. It unfortunately seems…” Jul 1, 12:57
AlMac on Strike A Pose, There’s Nothing To It: “That question mark was a smiley face when typed – I’m not asking if the transcription is TLDR. However the…” Jul 1, 12:41
Spartan 117 on Strike A Pose, There’s Nothing To It: “It’s a transcript of an interview. If you don’t have the intelligence to read the article, don’t bother commenting.” Jul 1, 12:38
Campbell Clansman on Strike A Pose, There’s Nothing To It: “They decided there was no provable case of fraud on the part of the SNP. Let’s face it: as long…” Jul 1, 12:26
