News reaches Wings this evening that Humza Yousaf has called an emergency meeting of the Scottish Cabinet at 10 o’clock tomorrow morning, just a couple of hours before FMQs. (This information has been confirmed directly to us by a source very close to a member of said Cabinet.)
An emergency Cabinet meeting is an extraordinarily rare event. As far as we’re able to establish there have only been two during the SNP’s time in power – when the budget failed to pass in 2009 and Alex Salmond’s administration had to decide whether or not to trigger a general election, and one the day after the Brexit vote to supposedly plan a second indyref (LOL). But in any case they’re extremely unusual.
The subject of the meeting has not been disclosed to us. It could, for example, concern imminent developments in Operation Branchform, or it could relate to the Bute House Agreement between the SNP and the Scottish Greens. The men in grey kilts may have come for the FM. Or Scotland could be about to declare war on Morocco or something. But we are told that the fact of the meeting taking place is a 100% certainty.
So no sleeping in tomorrow, readers. It’s probably going to be big.
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.
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.
More than three months have passed since Alex Salmond launched a lawsuit against the Scottish Government for its grotesquely botched handling of false allegations of sexual misconduct against him.
With Scottish politics currently in a completely moribund state, as the party of government disintegrates shambolically and the main opposition party keeps its mouth shut and its head down in an attempt to not destroy its newfound and extremely fragile status as a credible alternative, one might imagine that the political media would be desperate for the case to get under way and provide them with some juicy content.
So it’s slightly surprising that none of them has noticed the latest development.
As the long-running police probe into SNP finances continues, Wings received some slightly surprising news today in the form of an FOI response.
Based on reports from various trustworthy sources we’d expected to hear that the police side of the investigation was by this point winding down somewhat, with most matters of fact already established, detectives assigned to other duties and the ball now largely in the court of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS).
We make no apology for returning once again to the depressing subject of the Scottish Government’s proposed new law to ban “conversion practices”, because it provides such an illuminating microcosm of how far a once competent and widely-respected administration has fallen since 2015.
Emma Roddick, who is piloting the bill towards the statute books in much the same way that Mohamed Atta piloted American Airlines Flight 11 towards the World Trade Centre, is a 26-year-old who by her own admission suffers from a serious and debilitating mental illness that any sane country would regard as an insurmountable bar to political office.
The Scottish Government’s website about its controversial and extremely disturbing new “conversion practices” legislation assures citizens that the proposal was formed after consultation with an “Expert Advisory Group”.
But all of a sudden it doesn’t seem to want you to know who they were.
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.”
sarah on Off-topic: “I gave that slogan to Swinney during the general election when he visited a nearby heritage site that was central…” Mar 13, 23:24
sarah on The tint of rose: “@ Mia at 7.30 p.m. Very well explained, Mia – comprehensible to the meanest understanding, one would think.” Mar 13, 23:13
Xaracen on The tint of rose: “Hatey said; “We voted Remain by 62% on a turnout of 67.2%. By the inexorable laws of maths, we can…” Mar 13, 22:58
Tinto Chiel on Off-topic: “Stuart McHardy cuts through the crap re The Jacobites: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx7fJY1hr98 Remember history is usually written by the victors unless the…” Mar 13, 21:18
Hatey McHateface on The tint of rose: “Boo hoo, Mia gurnin aboot being “forced oot o the EU agin oor will” again. Hindsight is, of course, a…” Mar 13, 20:38
Mia on The tint of rose: ““I cannot see anything which would suggest that the treaty intended to retain two separate sovereign states with their respective…” Mar 13, 19:30
Hatey McHateface on Signal and noise: ““she hates the English with a venom” Are you sure? Has she tried to get them jailed on trumped-up sexual…” Mar 13, 18:52
Hatey McHateface on Signal and noise: “Good point, Lorn. Still, part of living your best trans life requires somebody to take a (hopefully sharp) knife to…” Mar 13, 18:47
agent x on Signal and noise: ““what are the odds on Sturgeon running for MP in the UK Parliament at the next opportunity?” Zero chance -…” Mar 13, 18:31
diabloandco on Signal and noise: “Oops! Sorry Rev!” Mar 13, 18:10
agent x on Signal and noise: “Eric Trump at Bute House with Swinney today.” Mar 13, 17:11
sarah on Signal and noise: “Nothing is happening politically – not for independence nor as competent government. Holyrood currently is a toxic puddle – gone…” Mar 13, 17:00
diabloandco on Signal and noise: “He had a more black and white view of diversity.” Mar 13, 16:26
diabloandco on Signal and noise: “He had a more black and white view of diversity.” Mar 13, 16:21
Xaracen on The tint of rose: “Aidan said: “in context of over 300 years of union governance, I think we have to see the fundamental principles…” Mar 13, 16:12
Sven on Signal and noise: “Charles (non R one) My money would still be on her looking for a post with the EU or UN.…” Mar 13, 15:55
TURABDIN on Signal and noise: “Signals & Noises in a land far, far away….. RWANDA, new «enriched» kid, thanx2UK, on the neo imperalist block… https://archive.is/k4YGa…” Mar 13, 15:24
John McGregor on Signal and noise: “Ave no priblem way men dressing as womem but as long as they have awe their bits they are MEN…” Mar 13, 15:04
Charles (not the R one) on Signal and noise: “Don’t forget this – the only reason the SNP is able to behave like this, is because so many Scottish…” Mar 13, 14:58
willie on Signal and noise: “Why should we worry about the country that Scotland has become. We allowed it to happen. Economic stagnation over the…” Mar 13, 13:37
Lorn on Signal and noise: “Well, Hatey, you are going to have to explain that one to the four (at the last count) ‘men’ who…” Mar 13, 12:54
Aidan on Signal and noise: “In another turn of events Sarah is partially right and Stuart is partially wrong. Designation as a non-self governing territory…” Mar 13, 12:29
Marie on Signal and noise: “I agree but we need to fight for Scotland’s historical legacy as an epicentre of enlightened thinking. Political parties that…” Mar 13, 11:13
diabloandco on Signal and noise: “I used to be proud of Scotland but now I see it as a land of misogyny, perverted beyond belief…” Mar 13, 09:43
Dave G on Signal and noise: ““Scotland’s top gender law specialist” as ITV dubs her is actually an English barrister (she has a Scottish father) who…” Mar 13, 09:30
TURABDIN on Signal and noise: “«all within the law, none outside the law, none against the law» pace Benito MUSSOLINI” Mar 13, 09:11
100%Yes on The evolution of fairness: “Sara, Your correct the UN Decolonisation of Scotland is a winner for so many reason. Its progress, when all we…” Mar 13, 08:59
Frank Gillougley on Signal and noise: “Maggie Chapman was born in the wrong body and she is also a time-traveller. She was born as Lavrenty Pavlovich…” Mar 13, 07:26
Hatey McHateface on Signal and noise: ““Don’t you want an independent Scotland to be the first islamic country in the EU?” I want the Islamic leader…” Mar 13, 07:10
Yoon Scum on Signal and noise: “We really need a party in Scotland which is 1 :- Actually sane 2:- ignores the indy issue as it…” Mar 13, 06:47