We’ve already discussed the contents of the videos released last week by the BBC containing interviews with Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Houston of Police Scotland and Crown Agent John Logue of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
But videos (especially lengthy ones) are always a bit of a pain to reference, and these are incredibly significant documents, so we thought it’d be quite useful to post the full transcripts too, with the text tidied up (taking out all the “um”s and “eh”s and so on) for ease of reading.
This is the interview with John Logue (Stuart Houston’s is here):
And below is what’s said in it. We’ve added a comment here and there, in red.
We’ve already discussed the contents of the videos released last week by the BBC containing interviews with Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Houston of Police Scotland and Crown Agent John Logue of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
But videos (especially lengthy ones) are always a bit of a pain to reference, and these are incredibly significant documents, so we thought it’d be quite useful to post the full transcripts too, with the text tidied up (taking out all the “um”s and “eh”s and so on) for ease of reading.
This is the interview with Stuart Houston (John Logue’s is here):
And below is what’s said in it. We’ve added a comment here and there, in red.
I’ve just recorded an episode of the BBC ScotCast podcast, which should “drop”, as we say in the media biz, around teatime tonight. It focused largely on issues around Operation Branchform, and the fact that only one of the two crimes it concerned has been resolved.
Time always flies when you’re having fun, so I ended up not being able to fit in half the stuff I wanted to say in the 40 minutes I chatted with Martin Geissler (which will likely shrink to fit into the 30-minute broadcast slot by the time they’ve edited all the most libellous bits out).
And one of those things was the bewildering fact that the investigation into the SNP’s finances went on for two years before the police stumbled into the second crime, and the only one that’s actually concluded – Peter Murrell’s embezzlement from the SNP. Because the first crime ought to have been all but done and dusted in 24 hours max.
Alert readers will have found it hard not to notice that Wings is currently focused on trying to solve one mystery above all others: why nobody has been prosecuted for a massive theft of hundreds of thousands of pounds, which took place in open sight, beyond any dispute, and is openly admitted by someone who was there at the time.
Until this week, nobody in the two organisations responsible for criminal prosecutions in the country – Police Scotland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (the Crown Office or COPFS for short) had issued any sort of explanation of why the original Operation Branchform investigation apparently fell by the wayside when it led police to discover a second crime: that of embezzlement against the SNP by its then-Chief Executive, Peter Murrell.
But this week, with very little fanfare, the BBC quietly put out two extended interviews with senior representatives of those organisations, seemingly the unused footage from their half-hour televised documentary “Peter Murrell: The Man With The Money”.
This is the letter the SNP sent donors to the ringfenced 2017 fundraiser.
The terms are right there in the first sentence, and repeated several more times. The money will be “ring fenced for a future referendum”. It’s to “build up a sizeable war chest to fight the campaign when the time comes”. It’s to “ensure we are not outspent in the referendum campaign”.
There is no ambiguity in the email. There’s no mention of the SNP anywhere except in Jim Henderson’s email address. No suggestion whatsoever that the money could be used by the SNP for anything but a referendum campaign.
These are the people whose job it was to stop the leadership of the SNP from stealing almost £700,000 of “ringfenced” fundraiser money from independence supporters, and who utterly failed at that job.
It was also their job to stop Peter Murrell stealing the best part of £500,000 from the SNP, in a separate but related crime, and they failed at that one too.
A small handful of them (marked with red asterisks, but see postscript below) tried their best to do their duties, and were blocked primarily by one powerful woman – Nicola Sturgeon – and a room full of cowards, weaklings and bullies, listed above.
But as Peter Murrell begins a five-years-and-three-months prison sentence – more than we were expecting, in truth – let’s not lose sight of the key fact that the theft of hundreds of thousands of pounds of independence supporters’ money by the SNP, which accidentally exposed Murrell’s entirely separate crime of theft FROM the SNP, has still not been answered for by anyone.
Be assured, readers, that Wings won’t rest until it is.
Our first letter was answered/dismissed by “Service Adviser 1989847”, so this reply to our second one, while it doesn’t say much, definitely feels like a step up.
Our KC has offered all possible assistance to the Cyber and Fraud Unit in relation to the matter, and we’ll keep you posted with any developments, readers.
We received two emails today, just a few minutes apart. There are a couple of notable things about them. The first came from Claire Somebody at the Crown Office.
The second one, even more thrillingly, came from Service Advisor 1989847 at Police Scotland, which we assume is some sort of advanced crime-fighting robot.
In one of those emails, readers, is a three-word phrase that raised our eyebrows just about right off our heads. Before we chat any more, see if it jumps out at you too.
Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service
25 Chambers Street
Edinburgh
EH1 1LA
4 June 2026
.
Dear Chief Constable and Crown Office,
RE: REQUEST FOR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION — ALLEGED
MISAPPROPRIATION OF RING-FENCED POLITICAL DONATIONS
I write to request that Police Scotland/COPFS open a criminal investigation into the alleged misappropriation of funds donated to the Scottish National Party (SNP) on the basis that those funds would be held and applied for a specific, designated purpose.
Bilbo on Faces In Sand: “@ Aidan If the production method to make English whisky is cheaper where savings are passed on and is just…” Oct 27, 21:19
Southernbystander on Faces In Sand: “Plenty of cheese in England Hatey, just saying.” Oct 27, 21:01
Bilbo on Faces In Sand: “100% Yes. I’m content with a just a few of can’s of lager myself 🙂” Oct 27, 20:55
Bilbo on Faces In Sand: “You do make me laugh Hatey. I can still feel the tremors of you banging your desk as you read…” Oct 27, 20:53
Aidan on Faces In Sand: “I will stick my neck out and say not a single job will be affected, Scottish whisky is unassailable” Oct 27, 20:45
Lorncal on Faces In Sand: “Northcode: you are going to be hugely disappointed if and when you go down that route and try to body…” Oct 27, 20:25
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: “So it has to be gloves off on our part. Make the English barsturts rue the day they ever dared…” Oct 27, 20:21
100%Yes on Faces In Sand: “I do love my Bailey’s 1tre at Asda £11.” Oct 27, 20:20
Alf Baird on Faces In Sand: “…e.g. all those ‘democratic mandates’ ignored by the colonizer.” Oct 27, 19:39
Bilbo on Faces In Sand: “Had to laugh at this. https://archive.is/Az6Nl English whisky GI approved with no Scotch impact assessment I say this in light…” Oct 27, 18:29
Oneliner on Faces In Sand: “Members of he Nazi hierarchy were not offered financial inducement for their signed approval. Members of the Scottish nobility of…” Oct 27, 17:42
Alf Baird on Faces In Sand: “International law concerning territorial alienation suggests there is no democracy for people in an annexed country.” Oct 27, 16:09
Minceheid on Faces In Sand: “Hatey McHateface says: 27 October, 2026 at 1:48 pm It could be that I’ve been fraudulently enjoying mental feebleness benefits…” Oct 27, 15:49
Northcode on Faces In Sand: “The Scottish independence movement has never operated at constitutional altitude because it focused on history, identity and party politics instead…” Oct 27, 14:41
Aidan on Faces In Sand: “I’m not sure there’s necessarily right in the context of Scotland Northcode – you are right that there is significant…” Oct 27, 14:13
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: “Sorry to hear that, MH. It could be that I’ve been fraudulently enjoying mental feebleness benefits that should have gone…” Oct 27, 13:48
Minceheid on Faces In Sand: “Hatey McHateface says: 25 October, 2026 at 6:23 pm Mental impairment is a badge of honour these days. It brings…” Oct 27, 13:15
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: “Some good ideas there, Northy, but the idea that the SNP wouldn’t fight like rats in a sack to be…” Oct 27, 13:12
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: “Wheesht, Alf! We dinna want tae tip aff the EU aboot hoo muckle they can rinse us fer when we…” Oct 27, 12:59
Northcode on Faces In Sand: “What Independence Actually Means(my compressed version) Independence is a modern constitutional process, not a feeling or a grievance. 1. Mandate…” Oct 27, 12:14
Captain Caveman on Faces In Sand: “The big problem from an “Indy Scot” perspective is the total dearth of political talent from its Political Class (of…” Oct 27, 11:29
Northcode on Faces In Sand: “Who Negotiates on Scotland’s Behalf After a Mandate? Once Scotland votes for independence, the negotiating team is not automatically the…” Oct 27, 10:51
Alf Baird on Faces In Sand: ““The ‘money’ aspect is huge” Deid richt tae, Scots plundered £150 billion+ a year an mair by a bankrupt England,…” Oct 27, 10:35
100%Yes on Faces In Sand: “Why would I join? When Alex Neil said his strategy is to get support for Independence to a constant 60%…” Oct 27, 10:07
Chas on Faces In Sand: “An accurate summation Northcode. The ancient history guff is for numpties. The MAJORITY of Scots have to want Independence following…” Oct 27, 10:01
Northcode on Faces In Sand: “No Scottish organisation has ever articulated the real, modern, internationally-rounded process that would govern independence negotiations. Not the Scottish Government,…” Oct 27, 09:14
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: “Good point, Xaracen. I guess the surrender signed by Germany in 1945 was voided by the allies coercion bringing them…” Oct 27, 08:24
William Smith on Faces In Sand: “The Irish weren’t immune to a bit if colonisation either – take Scotland, for example – the place is even…” Oct 27, 07:45
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: “Mony a guid idea said in jest, twathater. Sturgeon is still immensely popular in Scotland. An experienced and plausible player…” Oct 27, 07:20
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: “It’s the pitiless crushing gets me down. That, and the eternal promises of cheese which never materialises. I like cheese.” Oct 27, 07:09
