After yesterday’s disturbing article about the indoctrination of Scottish schoolchildren into transgender ideology via the Scottish Government’s proposed new “conversion practices” legislation, Wings was contacted by a number of current Scottish teachers telling us we had no idea how far it had already gone.
The message below was by no means untypical:
“This stuff around the UNCRC has been a concern for a while. Some of the articles seem to be being interpreted in ways they were never intended. It has become a vehicle for activist teachers to push their own agendas, all the while hiding behind ‘children’s rights’.
Getting certified is being pushed heavily in every school. Headteachers seem to be under a lot of pressure (coming from Scottish Government) to get it all implemented. We’re currently working towards silver.”
It’s from a 2018 BBC3 documentary called Becoming A Trans Man – Leo. The 15-year-old child in the video plays with a Rubik’s Cube as Wolton, who was 31 at the time, enthusiastically grooms her into transitioning into a “man”, advocating chest binders, a double mastectomy and the irreversible mutilation of her genitalia (“Lower surgery – you want that”) that will, Wolton confirms, lead to her permanent sterilisation, as well as the destruction of her future adult sexual function.
The BBC presents it as a heartwarming tale of friendship.
The Herald has the barest skeleton of a report, while you have to turn to page 14 of the Daily Record for a similar piece that conveys the basic facts with nothing at all about the significance of the ruling, and STV News – embarrassingly – just runs an agency release despite having the estimable Colin Mackay and Bernard Ponsonby on its staff. (They also had nothing on air last night.) Maybe they were busy.
The Scottish Sun is by far the best of the print media on the subject. It first ran a extensive but very strangely-timed article that included reporting of actual events at the hearing but NOT the verdict, even though the court delivered its judgement mere moments after hearing the counsels’ submissions.
(The piece finishes “The appeal at the Court of Session is expected to last one day, with a written judgement taking weeks or months”.)
It followed up a couple of hours later with another substantial story including the reactions of the Scottish Government and the Scottish Information Commissioner (the opposing parties at the hearing). But the only actual analysis was done by the BBC.
To the surprise of most of those watching, including ourselves, the Court Of Session delivered its judgement immediately at the end of today’s hearing, after only the most cursory of conflabs between the three august panel members.
The short version is that the Scottish Government lost, and must now comply with Wings reader Benjamin Harrop‘s FOI request regarding evidence that was supplied to independent adviser James Hamilton during his inquiry into the unlawful investigation of false allegations against Alex Salmond.
The Scottish Government will make history tomorrow. For the first time ever since the advent of devolution 24 years ago, it will take the Scottish Information Commissioner to the Court Of Session to prevent disclosure of information.
On the bench will be the full firepower of the inner council of the Scottish judiciary. The Lord President himself, Lord Carloway, will be presiding (and presumably lording) over the hearing. Joining him on the bench will be a former Lord Advocate, Lord Boyd, and a former Solicitor General, Lord Pentland – pictured below, and of whom readers will last have heard here.
To use the legal parlance, that’s a big-boy lineup.
To present their case, the Government are fielding not one but two King’s Counsel – James Mure KC and Paul Reid KC.
This top legal talent does not come cheap and nor does a Court Of Session hearing. So what is this vital information that the Scottish Government – which as recently as May this year pledged to “ensure that we are the most transparent Government on these islands” – is trying so desperately to hide from the Scottish public, at the Scottish public’s very considerable expense?
(Including but not limited to International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia; International Pronouns Day; International Transgender Day Of Visibility; Transgender Awareness Week and of course the whole of “Pride Month”, which is now an almost entirely trans-focused event).
Citizens of Scotland and the UK were solemnly instructed to “remember the many trans people whose lives have been tragically cut short by violence”, although weirdly none of the politicians issuing the orders actually named any.
However, since we’re endlessly being told that trans people are the most marginalised, oppressed and vulnerable members of our society, and that an actual “trans genocide” is currently in progress, we expect there have been loads.
It’s funny, but even when you think about politics all day for a living, there are some thoughts that just never pop into your head, and then someone says them a decade later and you think “Oh yeah, of course, it’s obvious”.
Iain Macwhirter is almost certainly right about that in today’s Times. We all focus on how it would have saved Scotland from Brexit, which of course it would, but the truth is that it would have saved the rest of the country too, because the shock would have been so seismic that politicians would have been terrified to put power in the hands of the people again for many, many years.
And of course maybe you love Brexit, or maybe you just think it would have been wrong for the rest of the country to have been denied a vote on it, or maybe you think Nigel Farage would have stormed to victory and become Prime Minister as a result or something. But those are all separate arguments. What’s beyond any reasonable doubt is that for good or ill, that’s how it would have panned out.
So as time goes on, remember who’s responsible not just for Scotland still being in the UK, but also for the UK being out of Europe and for Nicola Sturgeon having been First Minister for the last eight years and our country being run into the ground by a bunch of crooked, hapless, gender-obsessed imbeciles.
Thanks again, No voters. Great victory you won there.
Zilch continues to happen in Scottish politics, so to pass a bleak November afternoon we’re going to do something we haven’t done on Wings for years: talk about football.
Try not to panic, because it’s really about the Scottish media – just like it used to be back in the good old days when they, rather than the SNP, were the main obstacles to Scottish independence. But there’s going to be quite a bit of football involved along the way, so if you can’t bear it, just go and stare out of the window and wait for Spring.
With the shock defection of Ash Regan from the SNP to Alba last week, followed by councillor Chris Cullen, Alex Salmond’s party now has representation at every level of Scottish politics – Westminster, Holyrood and local.
But it still awaits a mass breakthrough, either in politicians crossing the floor or in the polls. In the meantime the SNP is plunging to new lows, recording just 32% in two polls last week, one of which saw them trailing six points behind Scottish Labour.
It seems reasonable to assume that the SNP’s fall is going to continue, with lots more bad news looming in its future – Operation Branchform, the likely humiliating loss of the Section 35 challenge in the wake of Lady Dorrian’s judgement this week, the ongoing ferries and trams inquiries and now the already-damaging COVID inquiry.
So the future of the political side of the independence movement appears to be very much up for grabs and open to debate. With that in mind, Wings sat down by Zoom with Ash Regan to quiz her about where she saw it going.
We held back from writing about yesterday’s judgment from Lady Dorrian in the Court Of Session in the hope that if we stared at it for long enough we could get it to make some kind of sense. But it does not. On the face of it, the country’s second-most-senior judge is simply a drooling imbecile.
Because that submission is not the least bit difficult to follow.
Mark Beggan on The Unstoppable Lie Machine: “The down side of being a Wings reader is that you find yourself shouting at the English media reporting on…” Jul 14, 00:20
Young Lochinvar on Step One: “AI DUN @ 7.11 Well AI DUN, that’s just great eh? C’mon fess up, you clearly have a personal interest…” Jul 14, 00:19
Hatey McHateface on The Unstoppable Lie Machine: “And on that day, everybody’s drawers will be around their ankles.” Jul 14, 00:08
ben madigan on The Unstoppable Lie Machine: “I mean Scotsmen and women, wake up!!! What are we expected to believe – an individual who has been arrested…” Jul 13, 23:58
Insider on The Unstoppable Lie Machine: “Question… Does Alf Baird really post his repetitive mince himself ? Or does he have a bot churning out irrelevant…” Jul 13, 23:23
willie on The Unstoppable Lie Machine: “When it’s all laid out like Rev Stu has done it becomes so very clear what a barefaced liar Nicola…” Jul 13, 23:20
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Step One: “QUESTION XLI. « The sovereignty is originally and radically in the people,»” Jul 13, 22:56
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Step One: “SAMUEL RUTHERFORD: LEX REX. Summary prelude for QUESTION XLIII — « WHETHER THE KING OF SCOTLAND BE AN ABSOLUTE PRINCE,…” Jul 13, 22:36
Alf Baird on The Unstoppable Lie Machine: ““The former First Minister…is nothing but a stain on Scotland’s history.” Indeed Rev, however the fact remains that “a colonized…” Jul 13, 22:16
Mark Beggan on The Unstoppable Lie Machine: “Anwar is a rat in a suit defending the pig in knickers.” Jul 13, 21:50
Old John on The Unstoppable Lie Machine: “Anwar has been a radge wee man for most of his adult life. Ever since he got a bit of…” Jul 13, 21:34
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Step One: “SAMUEL RUTHERFORD (1600-1661) Highly influential anti-monarchist Scottish constitutional thinker. « Presbyterian minister and St Andrews Professor, Samuel Rutherford in his…” Jul 13, 21:29
Fro on The Unstoppable Lie Machine: “Isn’t there expression meant to be “gold-standard”. “Gold-plated’ suggests it looks authentic and real at first glance but is virtually…” Jul 13, 20:35
Ex President Xiden on The Unstoppable Lie Machine: “Every terrorist who gave a no comment interview can now be said to have fully cooperated with the police. At…” Jul 13, 20:27
Hatey McHateface on Step One: “@Andy You are doing that Guardian BTL thing of assuming that the EU cries itself to sleep every night because…” Jul 13, 20:21
Innocent bystander on The Unstoppable Lie Machine: “It is a joy to behold, that sharp common sense coupled with dogged persistance applied like an old fasioned poultice…” Jul 13, 20:15
Aidan on Step One: “@Andy – I think that’s broadly the point that a lot of posters are making, not that it can’t be…” Jul 13, 20:14
Alf Baird on Step One: “The use of a ‘local government franchise’ for a people who are also subject to extensive ‘demographic manipulation’ is clearly…” Jul 13, 20:09
Hatey McHateface on Step One: ““Indigenous Scot means ‘someone who agrees with me'” Bingo, Rob! Franchise discussions are a repeating theme on here. They usually…” Jul 13, 20:07
Hatey McHateface on Step One: “Odd, Northy. Most reasoning readers will conclude that the owner of a blog site is right. Posters BTL are wrong.…” Jul 13, 19:55
Andy Ellis on Step One: “@ Aidan 6.57pm I don’t underestimate the potential challenges posed by independence. The point is rather convincing more “soft No”…” Jul 13, 19:43
Blackhack on The Unstoppable Lie Machine: “Now if that was me, and I had nothing to hide I’d be demanding that the “police interview” was published.…” Jul 13, 19:43
Hatey McHateface on Step One: “Dinna fash. They’re still firing missiles every chance they get. Still leaching off and stealing from the women and kids…” Jul 13, 19:43
Tartan Tory on The Unstoppable Lie Machine: “I genuinely commit a crime virtually every day. Whether it’s exceeding a speed limit, peeing in the woods when caught…” Jul 13, 19:42
John Cleary on The Unstoppable Lie Machine: “Ah the good old “exonerated”. That’s what I used to bring down Jeffrey Archer all those years ago. Are you…” Jul 13, 19:41
