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?
Just under four years ago the world was hit by a pandemic that spread like wildfire and caused misery wherever it reached. It’ll be remembered by almost everyone who lived through it, especially those who worked to protect society’s most vulnerable.
We’ve all heard about its effect on our NHS, but less so on those working within social care. As the COVID inquiries on both sides of the border continue to reveal more and more troubling information, Wings readers should hear the story of what it was like to work in social care in Scotland during the COVID pandemic.
(Including but not limited to International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia; International Pronouns Day; International Transgender Day Of Visibility; Transgender Awareness Week and of course the whole of “Pride Month”, which is now an almost entirely trans-focused event).
Citizens of Scotland and the UK were solemnly instructed to “remember the many trans people whose lives have been tragically cut short by violence”, although weirdly none of the politicians issuing the orders actually named any.
However, since we’re endlessly being told that trans people are the most marginalised, oppressed and vulnerable members of our society, and that an actual “trans genocide” is currently in progress, we expect there have been loads.
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.
The Scottish National Party, in legal character, is what’s known as an unincorporated association. (The same form of entity as Wings, local colour fans.)
Readers may have been baffled by a news story yesterday, in which an event where two men insulted each other in the street (“Deviant!”, “Bigot!”) has led to one of them, but not the other, being arrested and charged with an unspecified crime by police.
In particular, many people on social media have contrasted the situation with one from a month ago, when a large male transactivist violently assaulted a feminist woman at a “Women Won’t Wheesht” meeting in Aberdeen but merely received a recorded warning rather than being arrested and charged.
So we’re very grateful to Roddy Dunlop KC, the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates (the “trade” body of Scotland’s senior barristers), for posting an extremely informative, and disturbing, summary of the relevant laws on Twitter this morning.
And it’s almost easy to dismiss it as meaningless. You can report to the police that aliens dug up your prize petunias and they’ll record it and give it a reference number and promise to investigate, before concluding that it was actually the neighbour’s cat.
But there’s one word in the 500-word piece that makes it much more interesting.
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.
Young Lochinvar on Marvola The Memory Woman: “BTW Meant to add; the English lost the Hundred Years’ War (as well) and were finally booted completely out of…” May 30, 01:52
Young Lochinvar on Marvola The Memory Woman: “On this day in history, 1431. Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans, La Pucelle, her that led the French…” May 30, 00:46
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Marvola The Memory Woman: “POLICE SCOTLAND SLAMMED FOR SPENDING THOUSANDS ON PRO-TRANS ADVICE PANEL Police Scotland is under fire for spending over £7,200 on…” May 29, 22:48
Geri on Marvola The Memory Woman: “She looks like she’s a permanent resident of the kitchen these days. Especially around the fridge area. Aye, I know.…” May 29, 22:16
Hatey McHateface on Marvola The Memory Woman: ““Everything that has emerged concerning the Murrell/Sturgeon affair is consistent with the explanatory framework provided by the political theory mentioned…” May 29, 22:11
agentx on Marvola The Memory Woman: “Incredible that she employs an expensive solicitor and then ignores the “no comment” advice.” May 29, 21:54
Confused on Marvola The Memory Woman: “poor little Nikki – “I don’t wanna … talk about it … ” – and yet she won’t stop talking…” May 29, 21:53
paul on Marvola The Memory Woman: “I disagree. There is a good deal of good in hounding her (her passion partner has gone) as every time…” May 29, 21:40
Jay on Marvola The Memory Woman: “Do tell us Chas, are you one of those sane, educated persons to whom you refer (in response to Alf)?…” May 29, 21:00
agentx on Marvola The Memory Woman: ““In the period leading up to the launch of the police inquiry senior people in the SNP including the former…” May 29, 20:20
bobo bunny on Marvola The Memory Woman: “if its a matrimonial home, I dont think it can be sold, until they are legally divorced” May 29, 20:06
agentx on Marvola The Memory Woman: ““Nicola Sturgeon said a coffee machine would be her luxury item when she appeared on Desert Island Discs. Scotland’s former…” May 29, 19:48
Frank Gillougley on Marvola The Memory Woman: “She said that she had been ‘deceived, misled, lied to and betrayed’ Well, whatdya know? That’s not irony bypass, thats…” May 29, 19:43
agentx on Marvola The Memory Woman: “Well I’ve just seen No Further Comment Sturgeon on BBC news, ITV news and Channel 4 news making further comments.…” May 29, 19:34
Hatey McHateface on Marvola The Memory Woman: “It’s reasonable to assume she may have thrown the odd steam iron in his direction from time to time.” May 29, 19:06
Sue Varley on Marvola The Memory Woman: “She certainly used to go in the kitchen – remember the photo of her showing off her expensive coffee machine…” May 29, 19:04
Ex President Xiden on Marvola The Memory Woman: “I think it’s most appropriate that Nicola is currently on a tour of story telling festivals.” May 29, 18:54
agentx on Marvola The Memory Woman: ““Nicola Sturgeon has said she wishes she had not kept Peter Murrell on as SNP chief executive when she became…” May 29, 18:35
agentx on Marvola The Memory Woman: “Starmer will be PM “in the next few weeks”. If Burnham is elected at the by election nothing will happen…” May 29, 18:30
Young Lochinvar on Marvola The Memory Woman: “Duty rumour doing the rounds is that all the gear sneaky Pete “acquired” with others money will not be returned…” May 29, 18:17
Hatey McHateface on Marvola The Memory Woman: “Call that news, x? I’ll tell you what would be news. If The National could accurately predict who the PM…” May 29, 18:07
Hatey McHateface on Marvola The Memory Woman: “Might be “resting” somewhere. I’ve heard that does happen.” May 29, 18:01
Hatey McHateface on Marvola The Memory Woman: ““The term ‘scot-free’ has bugger aw tae dae wi the Scots” Well now. Let’s just wait until the partan-faced lady…” May 29, 17:57
GM on Marvola The Memory Woman: “Agree 100% We need all the facts out there. Court the only place it can be done. Graeme White’s comments…” May 29, 17:49
J Robertson on Marvola The Memory Woman: “He probably “bought” and wrapped his own Xmas and birthday pressies” May 29, 17:44
Stephen on Marvola The Memory Woman: “100% and Scotland would have been a much better place if he had not resigned on September 19th 2014” May 29, 17:35
Stephen on Marvola The Memory Woman: “The problem Nicola still does not recognise is that when you tell a lie you then have to tell 10…” May 29, 17:32
Luigi on Marvola The Memory Woman: “Can the then SNP leadership be sued for negligence for failing to protect donations? There must be some way for…” May 29, 17:28
GM on Marvola The Memory Woman: “What’s he got to be in a huff aboot? This is the finest of times to get the videos out…” May 29, 17:18
