Something very odd happened when the Sandie Peggie employment tribunal delivered its judgment – and it wasn’t just the made-up quotes and mangled law.
Call it institutional bias, ideological capture, or just the law doing its job, but what Employment Judge Sandy Kemp’s tribunal delivered was the most one-sided outcome since Butch and Sundance decided to come out shooting.
One must assume from reading the Sandie Peggie judgment that the tribunal was more concerned with discouraging further litigation than with giving full and fearless effect to the Equality Act.
At the heart of this case lies a straightforward question: does a biologically male employee have a legal right to undress in a female-only changing room? For Women Scotland answered that question at the Supreme Court: women-only spaces are for biological women.
Yet instead of applying that binding precedent, the tribunal awarded Sandie Peggie a technical win based primarily on procedural failings and delay, while simultaneously undermining the legitimacy of her core complaint. The effect is a ruling that says: “You were treated badly, but only because you reacted to a situation we pretend has no legal significance.”
The motion completely ignored both the findings of the Cass Review and the Supreme Court judgment in For Women Scotland, but not a single MSP spoke in opposition to it. (Jenni Minto, the Minister For Public Health And Women’s Health, actually broke down in tears at the end because she wasn’t managing to get children’s futures permanently destroyed with sufficient urgency, mainly because the UK Parliament took legislation out of Holyrood’s hands to protect them.)
To be honest, we’re mainly putting these here so you don’t have to keep looking at that picture of Alan Cumming.
But they also show what you can achieve, whether in football or politics, if you actually attack rather than being content to endlessly shuttle it all sideways and backwards until you get beaten without even taking a shot.
Perhaps the key graphic from last night’s by-election in Caerphilly is this one (green means Plaid Cymru in the context of Wales):
In the end, Plaid won pretty comfortably in what had been predicted to be a very tight contest between them and Reform, with a majority of almost 4,000. But Plaid aren’t going to be the next government of the UK, so what’s the real story?
Last month, when half a football team of armed police ambushed and arrested comedy writer Graham Linehan at Heathrow Airport for a couple of tweets, we said this:
Today, even more swiftly than we thought, this happened:
We should point out right at the start that a reader donated £12 back in the summer specifically to send us to Nicola Sturgeon’s book event in Bath last night.
So on the surface level this is just flat-out hilarious.
Firstly because, as we showed you yesterday, the “significant proportion of Scotland’s population” which appears to have been won back to the SNP since John Swinney became its leader is… 1%.
We were going to write something today for the anniversary of Alex Salmond’s tragic death, but then we read Kevin McKenna’s piece in today’s Herald On Sunday and we can’t improve on it, so go and have a read of that before you do anything else.
Alex always believed in looking forward, not back, so we doubt he’d be overly fussed at the pathetic “tribute” paid to him at the SNP conference this morning. What would undoubtedly have exercised him a lot more would have been the wretched current state of the party he loved and built from almost nothing into the dominant force in Scottish politics.
And nothing typifies that wretched state better than the craven and gutless capitulation of a speech given by Tommy Sheppard yesterday, opposing the rebel amendments to John Swinney’s non-strategy on independence.
It said a lot more than he thought it did, but none of it good.
Rob on The View From Row Z: “We had a chance to change things just a few weeks ago, the largest party is still the SNP and…” Jun 1, 21:00
Ian Smith on The View From Row Z: “Murrell was given legal aid because all his assets were frozen.” Jun 1, 20:55
gm on The View From Row Z: “I take it back, it appears to be perfectly normal for a KC to defend someone on legal aid. The…” Jun 1, 20:20
agentx on The View From Row Z: “Well your coalface acquaintance with decades of experience at the coal face of Scottish Criminal Justice, knows sfa. Murrell pleaded…” Jun 1, 20:08
Alf Baird on The View From Row Z: ““The mists are parting – it’s all becoming clear” Indeed, Uk***ne’s national elite opted to sacrifice their people and nation…” Jun 1, 19:49
Hatey McHateface on The View From Row Z: ““She is, of course, a nobody in England” Only, she’s not, just as she’s not a nobody in Scotland either.…” Jun 1, 19:23
gm on The View From Row Z: “I have no idea how it came about, what the rules are or whether it is the luck of the…” Jun 1, 19:22
Hatey McHateface on The View From Row Z: “Believe this or not. An acquaintance of mine, someone with decades of experience at the coal face of Scottish Criminal…” Jun 1, 19:13
Hatey McHateface on The View From Row Z: “I think I’m starting to see it, Alf. The mists are parting – it’s all becoming clear. Despite the complete…” Jun 1, 18:43
Hatey McHateface on The View From Row Z: “You leave your helmet alone, Wally W. If there was any justice in this world, you’d have long since gone…” Jun 1, 18:31
agentx on The View From Row Z: “Who exactly granted legal aid for Murrell when all we have been told is that he was rich enough to…” Jun 1, 17:49
agentx on The View From Row Z: “sorry – that “?” character should have been a tick. (Don’t know why it was not recognises as such)” Jun 1, 17:26
agentx on The View From Row Z: “He is incorrectly called a solicitor – he is in fact a senior counsel at the Scottish Criminal Bar. (Barrister)” Jun 1, 17:24
J Robertson on The View From Row Z: “Absolutely Ian . I would have hoped Kuenssberg would have called her out on her abject failure to discharge her…” Jun 1, 17:08
agentx on The View From Row Z: “Don’t forget Murrell is back in court tomorrow 2 Jun: “for a “narrative hearing” because the legal teams on both…” Jun 1, 16:49
Young Lochinvar on The View From Row Z: “Check out on YouTube; Nicola Sturgeons woes meets Gordon Browns cave. :-). 🙂” Jun 1, 16:46
Young Lochinvar on The View From Row Z: “Just read the most recent revelation in the Murrell Collection; 100+ toilet rolls bought just before Tricky Nicky (during early…” Jun 1, 16:18
Confused on The View From Row Z: “I think Peter Murrell always was a “patsy”, a “useful idiot”, first up, a convenient “beard” to hide that nikki…” Jun 1, 15:47
James on The View From Row Z: “Aye, Northy is a Pict….. And you’re a….”prick”. Wear your helmet with pride.” Jun 1, 15:17
Colin Alexander on The View From Row Z: “It may not (?) be a criminal offence for the SNP to spend indyref “ringfenced” money on other things. Criminal…” Jun 1, 15:05
agentx on The View From Row Z: ““You know how it is. You wake up and look out the bedroom window. You see a brand new Jaguar…” Jun 1, 14:59
Owen Mullions on The View From Row Z: “https://youtube.com/shorts/dorL_ib1_sc?si=XuCGCs2Y79v8b8Cy” Jun 1, 14:23
Alf Baird on The View From Row Z: ““they’re a bunch of crooks, spivs and chancers” Yes, as Fanon reminds us, a co-opted national party elite ‘behaves like…” Jun 1, 14:22
Luigi on The View From Row Z: “Och, don’t be too harsh on them. They are grieving, still in the denial phase. In their wee ginger bubble,…” Jun 1, 14:20
Dick Wall on The View From Row Z: ““Scotland owes him a debt”says The Daily Sceptic. I agree wholeheartedly. It is always instructive to ask yourself “Do you…” Jun 1, 14:18
Cringe on The View From Row Z: “55 minute version here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0np7qln” Jun 1, 13:53
Hatey McHateface on The View From Row Z: “Where you see “co-opted by colonialism”, Alf, I see “unfitted, morally and intellectually, to run an Independent Scotland”. Occam’s Razor…” Jun 1, 13:32
