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?
The average prison term for rape in Scotland is just under seven years. So we really don’t want to think about what Andrew “Amy George” Miller did to the poor young girl he abducted to get 20. (Indeed, strictly speaking 28.)
Miller wasn’t charged with rape, the 11-year-old was described as “safe and well” when the police found her and she was missing for just over one day. Miller also entered a guilty plea. So our blood runs cold at the thought of what must have happened in those 27 hours to nevertheless attract such a huge sentence, and we hope never to know.
As alert readers will have noticed, Wings has been perusing the SNP’s Governance And Transparency Review over the last couple of days, a document which tentatively attempts to discern just how big a mess the party’s previous leadership has left it in.
The paper has now also reached the mainstream media.
Wings already touched on that particular aspect of the party’s mismanagement back in August, but in the light of the report now formally acknowledging the problem it’s worth taking a moment to establish just how astonishingly bad it is.
These are strange and grim times for the Scottish independence movement, but we never thought it’d ever get so strange that we’d be quoting Effie Deans.
Since pretty much day one, Wings has said that the only honest and honourable way to campaign against independence would be for Unionists to say Scotland isn’t a country, but a mere region of the UK. But they lack the courage to admit what their true beliefs are, and so they fall back on fear and lies disguised as concern, all cloaked in “proud Scot” protestations.
While that might be a miserable way to conduct yourself, it’s understandable, because the moment that you acknowledge Scotland as being a country, all the debating lines against independence crumble to ashes. They’re powerless in the face of the principle that countries should choose their own governments, for good or ill, because that’s what democracy is, and few people are willing to stand openly against democracy.
And what Effie Deans’ concession of this site’s cornerstone argument reveals is that Unionists finally feel safe against any threat of independence in the foreseeable future, and with good reason.
Yesterday we took an extensive tour of all the red flags in the SNP’s 2022 accounts, which show a party in very deep financial trouble. But there was one part we left out because it deserves a post of its own.
It starkly exposes how a party chose to hold an event for around 800 members in a venue with a capacity of 15,000 and then went to a lot of effort to disguise how empty the space was, rather than, for example, just hiring somewhere of an appropriate size (and cost) in the first place.
(Look how far into the hall the stage has been placed, leaving half the arena vacant, to then be hidden behind a giant screen and curtains and banners in order to give a false impression of how full it is.)
But what’s more symbolic is that there are almost no people in it.
Hatey McHateface on Two Men Unalike: “Sure, Alf, but only a few more weeks until we can all vote for this to be swept into the…” Mar 1, 16:00
Hatey McHateface on Two Men Unalike: “Dinna ye tak ony lip frae God, Northy. It’s ye that tells Him, nae the ither wuy roond.” Mar 1, 15:43
Alf Baird on Two Men Unalike: “As well as public bodies, universities etc and the NHS being “the most trans-captured organisations in the entire UK” it…” Mar 1, 15:41
Hatey McHateface on Two Men Unalike: “James, ye need tae read fit happened tae Onan. Nae day like the Sabbath fir opening the Guid Book. If…” Mar 1, 15:39
Hatey McHateface on Two Men Unalike: “One step back, Mark. I’m first.” Mar 1, 15:30
Hatey McHateface on Two Men Unalike: “Any boady mind “Hello, I’m Julian and this is my friend Sandy”? Innocent times they were.” Mar 1, 15:27
Young Lochinvar on Two Men Unalike: “J Good point!” Mar 1, 15:10
Confused on Two Men Unalike: “M&S Food Hall last night, getting some of those spicy breaded chicken things. Past the checkout, the news stand -…” Mar 1, 13:59
Sven on Two Men Unalike: “I see your “Toodle-oo the noo, the noo agin, agin…fir noo” and raise you one; “Hello, Farewell, Hello”. Kürt Vonnegut.” Mar 1, 13:58
Northcode on Two Men Unalike: “I meant to say this tae afore I go, go, Go. “You are either with God, or against him.” A…” Mar 1, 13:30
Cynicus on Two Men Unalike: ““Nae Hair On’t Yestreen I wed a lady fair, And ye wad believe me, On her cunt there grows nae…” Mar 1, 13:21
Northcode on Two Men Unalike: “Oh, I forgot to post this… so here it is now. Toodle-oo the noo, agin. “The task is to explore…” Mar 1, 13:11
Aidan on Two Men Unalike: “No wonder Geri is so salty this morning, given how badly her side is loosing.” Mar 1, 12:35
TURABDIN on Two Men Unalike: “Remember too that the star of the Ukrainian arms industry is the drone. Drones supplied to any takers including the…” Mar 1, 12:31
The Flying Iron of Doom on The Tactics Of Suicide: “Andy Ellis says: 1 March, 2026 at 8:40 am Of course I believe I’m a cut above the usual suspects…” Mar 1, 12:24
Northcode on Two Men Unalike: “Well, that was a pointless, time-wasting bundle of fun. But there are too many extremely rude and childish anti-Scots racist…” Mar 1, 12:17
Andy Ellis on Two Men Unalike: “Uncle Vlad must be feeling a tad nervous now. He’s rapidly running out of besties isn’t he? His supply of…” Mar 1, 12:13
Northcode on Two Men Unalike: ““I’m sure however the erudite and modest Mr Baird would decline the offer of such ostentation…” Maybe you’re right, Willie……” Mar 1, 11:53
Mark Beggan on Two Men Unalike: “North needs a hug. Any volunteers?” Mar 1, 11:48
TURABDIN on Two Men Unalike: “THE GRAND AYATULLAH is dead….but there will thousands along in a minute. Fancy the job Don? Think of all those…” Mar 1, 11:44
Northcode on Two Men Unalike: “The colonialists… they funny today. Not in any deliberate way, ye unnerstaund.. they don’t possess the wit fir that level…” Mar 1, 11:36
Mark Beggan on Two Men Unalike: “Once you liberate yourself from teenage masterbating sessions with fat plukey post colonial analy retentive burnt out socialists. Then the…” Mar 1, 11:33
Andy Ellis on Two Men Unalike: “@Mark Beggan If we see a lot of the keffiyeh wearing classes minus some fingers I guess we’ll know why,…” Mar 1, 11:26
Willie on Two Men Unalike: “I smiled at your comment about putting up a statue to Alf Baird. I’m sure however the erudite and modest…” Mar 1, 11:04
