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Archive for the ‘corruption’


The Deep-Fried Banana Republic 167

Posted on March 20, 2025 by

It’s 18C today in Bath, readers, so after the dentist we went out to enjoy the sunshine for the afternoon. And you know what happens when we go out.

But really, what even is there to say?

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Bricked-up windows 98

Posted on February 11, 2025 by

Readers may have noticed recent speculation in the media (based on the wording of a press release) that Police Scotland had ended their investigations regarding Operation Branchform. As it happened we’d already submitted a Freedom Of Information request aimed at finding that out, and the response arrived this evening.

You can read it below.

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The Silent Revolution 550

Posted on January 23, 2025 by

Robin McAlpine published a very important piece yesterday, detailing how the SNP is about to become even more of a leadership dictatorship than it already is.

You can read the article to see why this is a change of enormous importance, and a catastrophic one for the independence movement. It will make it just under 17 times harder for any sitting SNP leader to be challenged for the leadership – let alone defeated – and effectively turns the party into a private oligarchy every bit as total and unaccountable as that of Reform (which is not a member-directed political party in the conventional sense, but a limited company personally owned by Nigel Farage, who holds a majority of the voting shares and can do whatever he pleases with it).

We’re annoyed at ourselves, because we got sent the document revealing the change a month ago, but we missed it. And now we’re going to show you why.

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Nicola’s Non-Truths 167

Posted on January 13, 2025 by

Peter Murrell really ought to have seen the writing on the wall a while ago.

But at least it’s in keeping with her track record.

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The Cost Of Truth 509

Posted on December 17, 2024 by

The Scottish Government just issued another response in the long-running Freedom Of Information battle with alert Wings reader Benjamin Harrop over its conspiracy to frame and imprison the late Alex Salmond on false charges. Here’s a genuine extract.

Yeah, definitely nothing to hide here.

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The Long Unravelling 399

Posted on November 18, 2024 by

You’ve got to admit, that’s a zinger.

Craig Whyte is a man who knows all about financial doom looming on the horizon of a once-powerful institution. But it doesn’t take an expert with lived experience to spot what’s coming down the line for the SNP.

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The Skeleton Dance 73

Posted on November 02, 2024 by

A Delicate Art 255

Posted on October 26, 2024 by

Redaction is a tricky business, and comes with numerous pitfalls even if you’re being careful, which not everyone is. If you’re involved in creating a document you know will have to be redacted, there are a variety of safeguarding approaches you can adopt.

When I worked on a videogames magazine called Amiga Power in the 1990s, we ran a fun comedy feature about censorship. But because the company that published the magazine had had some unfortunate mishaps in the field, we took extra care by typing all the “offensive” words as random-length strings of Xs when we wrote the article.

And it was lucky that we did, because as you can see in the feature’s strapline, the art department misaligned the red redaction bar on some of them, and if there’d been a sweary in there it would have been easily identified.

Another way to go is to simply slap down some black ink and hope for the best.

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A Danger To Women 52

Posted on September 23, 2024 by

As we write this article, Sandy Brindley (on the left of the picture below) is still in post as the CEO of Rape Crisis Scotland.

For as long as that remains the case, rape victims in Scotland will not be safe.

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Say What You See 142

Posted on September 20, 2024 by

Don’t say we don’t tell you, readers.

Because we do tell you.

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The Land Of Immunity 101

Posted on September 12, 2024 by

Astonishingly, there isn’t a single word of apology anywhere in this statement.

There isn’t a scintilla of contrition, not the tiniest glimmer of admission of culpability or responsibility. There isn’t even a weasel-worded expression of “regret”.

Rape Crisis Scotland is unfit for purpose, and its CEO must resign.

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Coming Yet 63

Posted on September 09, 2024 by

The dogged persistence of alert Wings contributor Benjamin Harrop with regard to the Hamilton inquiry has been truly heroic, and today it has borne fruit in dramatic style.

The 10-page adjudication from the Scottish Information Commissioner that you can download by clicking that image is a somewhat labyrinthine (but fascinating) read, but the upshot of it is that the Commissioner has now ordered the Scottish Government to release all of the legal advice it was given with regard to its refusal to publish the written evidence submitted to James Hamilton for his inquiry into the events around the alleged conspiracy to falsely convict Alex Salmond of sexual assaults.

(See, even that one-sentence summary was quite hard going.)

But why does that matter and what does it mean?

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    • Mia on The Gender Of Mountains: “A lot of smoke coming from the US new tariffs. Isn’t that rather convenient? Meanwhile, the deeds of the pathetic…Apr 4, 11:05
    • Sven on The Gender Of Mountains: “diabloand co @ 09.12. In 2023, the latest figures I’ve viewed; Machinery and Transport Equipment 19.9 Billion pounds. Fuel 18.7…Apr 4, 10:18
    • diabloandco on The Gender Of Mountains: “Could someone tell me what exactly we import from the USA other than Ford and Harley Davidsons? I need to…Apr 4, 09:12
    • Hatey McHateface on The Gender Of Mountains: “Seems that neither Sven nor Bob have anything sensible to say about the war in the east. No change there…Apr 3, 19:26
    • Robert Hughes on The Gender Of Mountains: “Of course Swinney would bend over to * accommodate * the utterly farcical ” Red Menace ” bollocks ; another…Apr 3, 16:25
    • Sven on The Gender Of Mountains: “Vivian O’Blivion @ 14.15. A senior source close to the First Minister has a brass neck to dare to even…Apr 3, 16:12
    • Aidan on The Long Future: “@Xaracen – there is no such thing as a binary state, states can either be unitary (like the U.K.) or…Apr 3, 15:02
    • Hatey McHateface on The Gender Of Mountains: ““there’ll be Ruskie tanks parked in front of Hollyrood if we’re no careful” That, my dear Vivian O’Blivion, is an…Apr 3, 14:59
    • Hatey McHateface on The Gender Of Mountains: ““gutless pro Trump Brit Yoon NAZI appeaser” Iain treats us to another lesson on “hearts and minds”. Just in case…Apr 3, 14:47
    • Young Lochinvar on The Gender Of Mountains: “The Khmer Vert should just pull the trigger of the metaphorical gun they are holding to their own “electability” heads…Apr 3, 14:20
    • Vivian O’Blivion on The Gender Of Mountains: “The Scotland Editor of The New Statesman, Chris Deerin is full of praise for Mayor Swinney of Brigadoom. “The SNP…Apr 3, 14:15
    • sarah on The Gender Of Mountains: “Yes – the ICCPR is an international obligation, however. For more information about the strength of the petition see Leah…Apr 3, 14:12
    • Dunx on The Gender Of Mountains: “The HRC And the ICCPR are different things.Apr 3, 12:54
    • MaryB on The Gender Of Mountains: “Thanks for that, Sarah.Apr 3, 12:16
    • Xaracen on The Long Future: “As for the “principle of respect for the territorial integrity of states”, that can only apply to unitary states. For…Apr 3, 11:48
    • sarah on The Gender Of Mountains: “Scotland Act 1998 clause 7 (2) Sub-paragraph (1) does NOT reserve – (a) observing and implementing international obligations, obligations under…Apr 3, 11:30
    • Xaracen on The Long Future: “Ah, so it’s not an important matter of principle at all, then. It’s just a shoddy excuse to keep certain…Apr 3, 11:28
    • Mark Beggan on The Gender Of Mountains: ““A gutless pro Trump British yoon Nazi appeaser” as opposed to an aborted pro Faggot inbred Lefty jizz stain.Apr 3, 10:24
    • Aidan on The Gender Of Mountains: “@Mary – you’re right, but the UNCRC was successfully challenged in the Supreme Court on the basis that it extended…Apr 3, 10:04
    • Sven on The Gender Of Mountains: “Iain More @ 08.15. I suspect that this will be in retaliation for the 82% Tariff which the Islands impose…Apr 3, 09:49
    • Southernbystander on The Gender Of Mountains: “Is there not a serious problem of throwing the baby out with the bath water with this endless invocation of…Apr 3, 09:44
    • MaryB on The Gender Of Mountains: “Aidan @ 6.23am Why don’t you Google UN Human Rights and ICCPR? The UK adopted the overall Human Rights Act,…Apr 3, 09:36
    • Iain More on The Gender Of Mountains: “Ok we get that you are a gutless pro Trump Brit Yoon NAZI appeaser. Thanks for letting is know.Apr 3, 09:22
    • Hatey McHateface on The Gender Of Mountains: “Why is this a gift for Scottish Indy, Iain? Is iScotland going to stand up to President Trump and the…Apr 3, 08:48
    • Iain More on The Gender Of Mountains: “41% Tariffs on Falkland Islands. What did they do to piss off Fuhrer Trump? I had no idea that the…Apr 3, 08:15
    • Aidan on The Gender Of Mountains: “Another cunning plan based on a whole heap of made up legal arguments which no court, anywhere, is going to…Apr 3, 06:23
    • Hatey McHateface on The Sacrifice: “@Zimba Regarding moral inconsistencies. I believe a meaningful debate between fair-minded individuals acting in good faith first needs some kind…Apr 2, 21:17
    • sarah on The Gender Of Mountains: “IMPORTANT: Leah Gunn Barrett attended the Public Petitions Committee at Holyrood today in order to see what would happen to…Apr 2, 19:40
    • agent x on The Gender Of Mountains: “Caroline Lucas says: “He helped transform the fortunes of the Scottish Green party – taking the party into government for…Apr 2, 18:13
    • Porty on The Long Future: “Have a wee look at her post and highlights of committee meeting today at Holyrood today, she’s a fighter, well…Apr 2, 18:08
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