We unreservedly applaud the swiftness with which the office of the Official Report of the Scottish Parliament have delivered this answer, something which other bodies in Scotland could learn from.
The Observer, for example, blamed the stat on “neo-Nazis”.
But even if that were true, it wouldn’t of course disprove the claim. A stopped clock is right twice a day, and something isn’t intrinsically false just because a neo-Nazi says it. Hitler had some pretty messed-up ideas but the world didn’t become flat just because he said it was round.
In the light of the Cass Review findings, why do English children deserve evidence-based healthcare but Scottish ones don’t? Why is it okay to conduct untested, unproven medical experiments on Scottish children?
We do hope that someone in Scotland’s notoriously toothless media will ask the First Minister soon, and that he has a very convincing answer ready.
The Cass Review into gender medicine, which has been almost six long years in the making, was finally published this morning, and despite the fears of some – including us – that it was going to be watered down, it’s turned out to be an absolutely explosive document even on a quick skim. (It’s 388 pages long.)
The most damning aspect, though, is almost certainly this one:
Those quotes annihilate any concept of an “innocent good intentions” defence for the gender clinics. Because if you genuinely believe that you’re doing good, you don’t try to bury all the evidence.
So, it being Good Friday, we’re definitely not going to receive our legal opinion before Monday now, so Wings Over Scotland will be shutting down, at least temporarily, on Sunday evening. No posts will be visible on the site and our Twitter account will be either locked down or deactivated while we await advice on whether either can return.
In the meantime you can hear of any developments, or get in touch, on my personal account @RevStu or on @TheGhostOfWings, both of which have had, or are about to have, all their old tweets wiped.
We’re not going to overdramatise, because we hope this is only for a few days. We’re optimistic that the Scottish Government’s abysmal, sinister and totalitarian Hate Crime Act, opposed across every sector of Scottish society and even by the police charged with implementing it, will not put an end to 12 and a half years of political journalism.
Last week SNP MP Fulton MacGregor told Newsnight that the grotesque, draconian Hate Crime Act was necessary because “hate crime is a major problem across Scotland”, which “wreaks havoc on individuals, on communities and on families”.
If there have been stories of rampaging mobs terrorising gay people, of a wave of violence against Sikhs, or widespread arson campaigns against Italian chip shops, they’ve escaped our attention.
But of course, the onscreen discussion focused mostly on the group that the Scottish Government is obsessed with to the exclusion of all others – transgender people.
Welcome, readers, to what may be the final week of Wings Over Scotland.
We’ve been covering the Scottish Government’s horrific, draconian Hate Crime Act for almost four years now. But until this month, we hadn’t felt directly under threat by it. Wings is – sorry if this comes as a shock to anyone – based in Bath, in England, and we couldn’t see how the Scottish police could come after us.
Many things about the session are disturbing, not least the incredibly one-sided nature of both the witnesses and the committee, none of whom seem to have even a token interest in challenging the claims of the witnesses, however absurd or contentious (eg that praying for someone is basically a form of torture).
Hatey McHateface on The Con Merchant: “@ YL Sah! says: 4 July, 2025 at 4:39 am “glory hole frequenter” “boyfriend” “trying to pigeonhole me” You pigeonhole…” Jul 4, 07:31
Aidan on The Con Merchant: “@Dan – that is a fair point re immigration, that a competent independent administration could chose who to seek to…” Jul 4, 07:07
Aidan on The Con Merchant: “I think you misunderstand. I’m not engaging with whatever senseless rant you’ve posted on the internet in the wee hours…” Jul 4, 06:53
Young Lochinvar on The Con Merchant: “Is that it??!? Well that’s a great big resounding 0 out of 10 on the witty rejoinder and well thought…” Jul 4, 04:58
Young Lochinvar on The Con Merchant: “P3nisbreath McP3nisbreathface: Nope; WRONG! Never applied to them, they didn’t do night school and it was too far to travel…” Jul 4, 04:39
Young Lochinvar on Too Tight To Mention: “Now let’s be honest here “Factchecker”; Tam Dalziel was the doyen of the then Labour awkward squad who delighted (from…” Jul 4, 04:17
AndrewR on Too Tight To Mention: “God yes, the Lockerbie case was shocking.” Jul 3, 21:23
Hatey McHateface on The Con Merchant: “@Dan The UK doesn’t have control over immigration. That means that Scotland is really no different to England. And no.…” Jul 3, 19:56
Hatey McHateface on Too Tight To Mention: “Where’s the FUN in THAT?” Jul 3, 19:34
Dan on The Con Merchant: “@Aidan Scotland does not have control over immigration, so we currently have no way to ensure the type of immigrant…” Jul 3, 19:00
Andrew scott on Too Tight To Mention: “Better if posts are RELEVANT TO THE ISSUE THE REV PUTS UP” Jul 3, 18:59
Hatey McHateface on Too Tight To Mention: “I was rather peeved when the Lockerbie trial, run by the Scottish legal establishment, put the wrong man behind bars.…” Jul 3, 18:55
Hatey McHateface on The Con Merchant: “Can you tell us which university knocked back your application, YL Sah! My money’s on Edinburgh.” Jul 3, 18:44
Dave Hansell on Too Tight To Mention: “Something like this, perhaps? https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2020-05-22/thurrock-council-borrowed-1bn-from-taxpayers-to-bet-on-british-sunshine” Jul 3, 18:03
Anthem on Too Tight To Mention: “All true. But what are we going to do about it? These grifters have closed nearly every avenue to move…” Jul 3, 18:02
factchecker on Too Tight To Mention: “The EVEL procedure was an answer to the West Lothian Question, first identified by Scottish MP Tam Dalziell in 1977.…” Jul 3, 17:40
Captain Caveman on The Con Merchant: ““And which substantive point was that, exactly, CC?” That almost no one agrees with your analysis of the situation? It’s…” Jul 3, 17:19
James Cheyne on Too Tight To Mention: “Andrew Scott, Its simply a matter of scrolling on by if you are not interested in realising that Westminsters governance…” Jul 3, 16:29
100%Yes on Too Tight To Mention: “The big question is, how is the SNP still alive and kicking. I do not believe for a minute the…” Jul 3, 15:34
TURABDIN on Too Tight To Mention: “Indeed, «hiding»in plain sight and all perfectly normal in Yookay.. It seems the British state functions on the accommodating body…” Jul 3, 15:17
Xaracen on The Con Merchant: “And which substantive point was that, exactly, CC?” Jul 3, 15:02
Aidan on The Con Merchant: “Again we keep coming to this issue of the preservation of sovereignty. In the context you mean it, sovereignty means…” Jul 3, 14:52
Captain Caveman on The Con Merchant: “Semantics, at the end of the day. The substantive point still stands, whether or not you think you’ve answered Aiden’s…” Jul 3, 14:42
Xaracen on The Con Merchant: ““Ah, a classic case of hinging an entire argument off a single, extreme outlier argument” Maybe it escaped your attention,…” Jul 3, 14:31
Mark Beggan on Too Tight To Mention: “I think it’s about time we looked seriously at these Trade Union representatives. 1. They don’t understand the Law. 2.…” Jul 3, 14:26
Confused on The Con Merchant: “this is why I miss, such a lot : RED GEM WOMAN – coz she could sit here all afternoon…” Jul 3, 13:26
Confused on The Con Merchant: “Still rubbish, Main. Still not seeing any “the positive case for the Union”. Surely you don’t lack arguments. Do you…” Jul 3, 13:16
James on The Con Merchant: “Ooft. I think you nailed it there, Lochinvar. A GOTCHA.” Jul 3, 13:14
Confused on The Con Merchant: “Read books. It will do you good.” Jul 3, 13:14
Captain Caveman on The Con Merchant: ““Professor Robert Black KC, FRSA, FRSE, FFCS, ILTM ( Professor Emeritus of Scots Law at the University of Edinburgh), was…” Jul 3, 13:06