We received two emails today, just a few minutes apart. There are a couple of notable things about them. The first came from Claire Somebody at the Crown Office.
The second one, even more thrillingly, came from Service Advisor 1989847 at Police Scotland, which we assume is some sort of advanced crime-fighting robot.
In one of those emails, readers, is a three-word phrase that raised our eyebrows just about right off our heads. Before we chat any more, see if it jumps out at you too.
Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service
25 Chambers Street
Edinburgh
EH1 1LA
4 June 2026
.
Dear Chief Constable and Crown Office,
RE: REQUEST FOR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION — ALLEGED
MISAPPROPRIATION OF RING-FENCED POLITICAL DONATIONS
I write to request that Police Scotland/COPFS open a criminal investigation into the alleged misappropriation of funds donated to the Scottish National Party (SNP) on the basis that those funds would be held and applied for a specific, designated purpose.
If you subscribe to the theory that it’s better to fight 100 duck-sized horses than a single horse-sized duck, the SNP is knocking it out of the park today.
Because the papers just can’t make their minds up about the biggest story with which to attack John Swinney’s beleaguered party.
You’ve had a few pretty gruelling pieces to get through in the last week or so, readers, so here’s something a little more light-hearted.
It’s from an episode of Broadcasting Scotland on 27 November 2020, a month after we confirmed our big story about the SNP accounts and the missing fundraiser money. In it, snug-toed SNP MP Pete Wishart opines that there really is nothing to worry about, and we should all just put our trust in the party.
We’ll leave you to judge whose opinion stood the test of time.
On Sunday, Nicola Sturgeon told Laura Kuenssberg that the SNP’s accounts “went up and down” as her excuse for not noticing that hundreds of thousands of pounds had suddenly vanished from them overnight.
Several things leap out immediately from that clip.
One, there absolutely very much WAS “something glaringly suspicious in the accounts that I should have seen” – the party she led had raised almost £700,000 in two “ring-fenced” fundraisers that wasn’t there any more, which ought to have made its leader at least mildly curious.
And two, attempting to fob responsibility off onto the independent auditors simply won’t wash. It’s not their job to determine whether the SNP has kept its political promises or not, their job is simply to match up money coming in against money going out and produce a set of numbers to show what it all adds up to. It makes no odds to them if it was spent on a party conference, a fancy motorhome or a 50-foot golden statue of Danny La Rue. All they can see is numbers.
But even leaving those things aside, if we’re going to learn anything about how The Great Indyref Swindle got to this calamitous point unchecked we need to examine just how hard Nicola Sturgeon had to look the other way to fail to see what was going on literally under her nose and literally in her own back yard.
Douglas on Wider Than A Mile: “Swinney rivals Trump for BS but it will not stop the truth train that is coming down the line.” Jun 10, 17:03
Sean Duffy on Wider Than A Mile: “Ah! But how can we be sure what the SNP spent the money on? Bearing in mind that Swinney was…” Jun 10, 16:38
cirsium on The Ever-Changing Lie: “Brandeis was not talking about soap. “Brandeis made his famous statement that “sunlight is said to be the best of…” Jun 10, 15:52
Young Lochinvar on Wider Than A Mile: “Heard on the radio Val McDermid (sounding like a wee boy) advertising her latest novel. What she failed to explain…” Jun 10, 15:44
cirsium on The Ever-Changing Lie: ““Brandeis made his famous statement that “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants” in a 1913 Harper’s Weekly…” Jun 10, 15:34
Hatey McHateface on Wider Than A Mile: “I’m with J B Drummond. Until Grenfell is sorted, Indy can wait. Not forgetting the boy who got killed by…” Jun 10, 15:29
Maxxmacc on Wider Than A Mile: “A story: “Can you take this file over to B Wing immediately”, barked the officer. B Wing, he thought, that’s…” Jun 10, 15:21
Hatey McHateface on The Ever-Changing Lie: “Great comment, Jay. Have you read the article at the top of the page? Would you agree that has 77th…” Jun 10, 15:19
Hatey McHateface on The Ever-Changing Lie: ““oaths bind only when the authority remains worthy of obedience” Looks like Northy has worked out for himself the self-justification…” Jun 10, 15:15
Hatey McHateface on The Ever-Changing Lie: “Wally Walrus wakes! Actually, it’s another 5-letter word that preserves the alliteration. You keep your flapping flippers above the table,…” Jun 10, 15:06
cirsium on The Ever-Changing Lie: “Well said Willie. For an example of the “resource raiders” in action, watch the documentary embedded in Grousebeater’s site https://grousebeater.wordpress.com/2026/05/17/the-fall-of-the-clyde/” Jun 10, 15:01
Northcode on The Ever-Changing Lie: “Discovering that the English crown’s claim to be the lawful ruler of Scotland is a lie immediately invalidates any oath…” Jun 10, 14:45
sam on The Ever-Changing Lie: “The net national debt of Ireland at the end of 2025 was 22% of GDP and expected to rise to…” Jun 10, 14:21
Lothianlad on Wider Than A Mile: “Yep, i know plenty if SNP diehards who wouod go to war fir the SNP against indeoendence! Though in truth…” Jun 10, 14:21
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Wider Than A Mile: “I don’t think the SNP is the top layer of the onion.” Jun 10, 14:12
Jay on The Ever-Changing Lie: “Several dumping comments on Wings fit exactly in the framework which you mention, Fearghas. Useful to have the advertisement as…” Jun 10, 13:48
Confused on Wider Than A Mile: “Do you have any information or a view on the possible/likelihood of : Murrell fiddling the leadership election for Humza…” Jun 10, 13:47
Alf Baird on The Ever-Changing Lie: ““the “coloniser’s values”” ‘Values’ are essentially what is deemed to be significant to a culture/people. The coloniser’s values are therefore…” Jun 10, 13:45
Jay on The Ever-Changing Lie: “Willie, thank you for your perspective and clear vision.” Jun 10, 13:41
Ian on Wider Than A Mile: “Depending on your view, you would either laugh or cry at the thought of the 2015 – ? SNP being…” Jun 10, 13:32
Mark Beggan on Wider Than A Mile: ““Who are we? We’re the SNP”!” Jun 10, 13:30
Mark Beggan on The Ever-Changing Lie: “Look what I found! ‘The British Army recruits and Officer Cadets swear an oath of allegiance to the King, which…” Jun 10, 12:55
Mark Beggan on The Ever-Changing Lie: “Correct me if I’m wrong Northy but didn’t you claim to have taken an oath to the crown?” Jun 10, 12:52
Aidan on The Ever-Changing Lie: “What, compared to all the intellectual and insightful things you post James? You are in NO position to criticise anyone.” Jun 10, 12:50
Mark Beggan on The Ever-Changing Lie: “That must be why thousands of Irish have come to Scotland Hatey. Things are so good they leave. Scotland is…” Jun 10, 12:45
James on The Ever-Changing Lie: ““Beggan”. The Site Prick. “Chas.” Adrian. “Captain caveman”. 77th recruitment drive hasn’t gone too well so far, eh? Smart-arsed half-educated…” Jun 10, 12:43
ABruce on The Ever-Changing Lie: “Well said Willie. I couldn’t agree more.” Jun 10, 12:40
Hatey McHateface on The Ever-Changing Lie: “Overtime rates have trebled since 2017. So it’s now quite difficult to get on the weekend rota.” Jun 10, 12:30