The Betrayer 522
So that’s it, then. That’s the grand plan.
We’re sorry, but we’d say the game’s a bogey, gang.
So that’s it, then. That’s the grand plan.
We’re sorry, but we’d say the game’s a bogey, gang.
We’re not experts in the field, but we think this is what an actual feminist looks like.
Something very significant (and welcome) happened in Scotland today that didn’t even make it into the headlines of the stories that reported it.
In fact, it barely got a line.
So here’s where we’re at.
Fat 20 grand pay rises for themselves, taking the salary of every minister and junior minister (which is almost half of SNP MSPs) over £100,000. Nice.
When times are quiet in Scottish politics, as they currently are, our favourite genre of story is “mainstream press belatedly catches up with Wings Over Scotland”. And so to this morning’s front page splash in the Sunday Mail.
The rumour mill has been grinding about Operation Branchform developments again in the last few days, although we’ve seen too many false dawns now to get overly excited about that. But the Mail’s story sounded awfully familiar.
We’re going to be really, REALLY generous and not quibble about the “us”.
Because it’s not even nearly the funniest thing here.
It’s funny how things suddenly become journalism, isn’t it?
We wonder what the secret is.
Until a few weeks ago Calum Steele was the chief of the Scottish Police Federation, so as due-credits go we particularly appreciate this one.
So let’s remind ourselves of a few things.
How it started, just one month ago:
And how it’s going:
But it’s quite a lot worse than it looks.
Firstly, some of you owe us money.
But much more importantly, why now?
Nicola Sturgeon told Scotland’s press this morning that despite her weariness, she could have managed a few more months or even a year as First Minister, which would at least have got her halfway to keeping her promise to serve a full term if she was elected in 2021.
Which just makes her timing all the harder to explain.
The SNP love to indignantly tell everyone how healthy the party’s finances are these days, especially in response to impertinent queries about the infamous “ring-fenced” £600,000 for a second indyref that everyone now knows isn’t going to happen.
(We still await an update from Police Scotland on what has now been an 18-month formal investigation into the matter, on top of the 18 months that had already elapsed since Wings first broke the story. We imagine they’re very busy investigating the runaway epidemic of misgenderings and feminists putting ribbons on stuff.)
It rakes in £2.5m a year from membership fees as well as millions from the UK government, and only has to pay for about 20 staff and a modest office in Edinburgh. So why is it having to borrow almost £108,000 from its own chief executive?
(Click pic to enlarge.)
Wings Over Scotland is a thing that exists.