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.
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.
But we’ve subsequently noticed a number of attempts by various people to muddy the story by talking about a “draft” warrant request, implying that there was no improper delay. So we checked up, and thought you might like to know how the process works.
The SNP has of course denied them, but they also denied our recent leak from the party’s draft manifesto and we know for sure that that was real. The trouble with lying all the time is that nobody believes you even if you occasionally tell the the truth.
Of course, there would be an easy way to prove the numbers were a fake – release the real ones, which is in any case the most fundamental element of transparency in a democratic election. And whatever they are could hardly be any more embarrassing than the rumours, which have candidates topping the list (and likely to get seats) on a shocking 2.4% of the vote.
We thought readers might like a look at the draft SNP manifesto introduction (written, we hear, by Mike Russell) that’s currently being passed around branches for comment.
Alert readers will undoubtedly have noticed a number of, to put it mildly, explosive-sounding developments this evening regarding the ongoing inquiries into the Scottish Government’s misconduct over false allegations against Alex Salmond.
Several reports have quoted extracts from the former First Minister’s submission to James Hamilton, who’s investigating the current First Minister over possible breaches of the Ministerial Code relating to the investigation of the allegations.
The submission – delivered on Mr Salmond’s birthday – has been widely leaked to the media but only selectively reported, and like others Wings has obtained a full copy.
We are advised that its contents do not contain anything which breaches or potentially breaches Lady Dorrian’s court order protecting the identities of the complainers against Mr Salmond, and as such there are no barriers to us publishing the entire document in the public interest, because its contents make some extremely grave and disturbing allegations against the current First Minister.
One of them, of course, is who leaked the story to Davie Clegg of the Daily Record in August of that year, when the whole thing should have been confidential and passing it to the press was an unambiguously malicious and criminal act.
Over the last year or so, this site’s commentary on matters surrounding the attempted imprisonment of Alex Salmond over false allegations of sexual abuse has attracted a considerable amount of ire from a section of the readership, demanding “proof” of the involvement of the current First Minister.
Such proof has been impossible to provide for legal reasons. But it’s always been the case that the truth could only be suppressed for so long, and events in recent days have brought the first chinks of light through the wall of smoke and mirrors the Scottish Government has been attempting to surround the matter with.
So in our very lightest and softest shoes, let’s tiptoe through what is both a labyrinth and a minefield and see if we can make some of it a little easier to understand.
agent x on The Endless Evil Of Everyone Else: “Harold Wilson (Labour) closed 253 pits as against Margaret Thatcher (Conservative) 115, more than twice as many. However because there…” Aug 13, 23:08
Lorn on The Endless Evil Of Everyone Else: “When I said New Labour were Tories by any other name, that is what they were but in a mirror…” Aug 13, 23:02
Alf Baird on The Endless Evil Of Everyone Else: ““UNIONISM is more than political, it is an exceptionalist worldview, more gut instinct than brain.” Yes, that might also be…” Aug 13, 21:51
Hatey McHateface on The Endless Evil Of Everyone Else: ““the chances of England succumbing to a tyrannical dictatorship are virtually nil” They may not yet be high, but to…” Aug 13, 20:56
agent x on The Endless Evil Of Everyone Else: ““Nicola Sturgeon knew she would lose independence court case – but still spent £250k of public cash on proving this”…” Aug 13, 20:50
Hatey McHateface on The Endless Evil Of Everyone Else: “French is the language of diplomacy – the Lingua Franca in fact. The reason is that it permits ideas to…” Aug 13, 20:45
Nae Need! on The Endless Evil Of Everyone Else: “Spot on Sally for the first 3 paras. Personally, I don’t believe a word of her PERSONAL account. She’s a…” Aug 13, 20:41
Southernbystander on The Endless Evil Of Everyone Else: “I have lived here all my life and I can tell you England is not collapsing. Of course I understand…” Aug 13, 20:35
Hatey McHateface on The Endless Evil Of Everyone Else: “@ James says: 13 August, 2025 at 6:42 pm You’ll need both hands free to check this out, but the…” Aug 13, 20:35
Southernbystander on The Endless Evil Of Everyone Else: “I can assure you the chances of England succumbing to a tyrannical dictatorship are virtually nil. Where do you get…” Aug 13, 20:31
Nae Need! on The Endless Evil Of Everyone Else: “Dan says: 13 August, 2025 at 7:44 pm Hmm, as stated several times already, I’m fairly sure that’s a different…” Aug 13, 20:28
Nae Need! on The Endless Evil Of Everyone Else: “Dan says: 13 August, 2025 at 7:44 pm Hmm, as stated several times already, I’m fairly sure that’s a different…” Aug 13, 20:27
Southernbystander on The Endless Evil Of Everyone Else: “I think Beckett wrote most if his work in French, then translated it into English. I think he liked to…” Aug 13, 20:27
Nae Need! on The Endless Evil Of Everyone Else: “Hatey McHateface says: 12 August, 2025 at 10:38 pm Perhaps more true to the actual, lived reality: Frankly, My Queer,…” Aug 13, 20:23
Dan on The Endless Evil Of Everyone Else: “Hmm, as stated several times already, I’m fairly sure that’s a different Liz Lloyd. https://archive.is/RaImG” Aug 13, 19:44
Andy Wiltshire on The Endless Evil Of Everyone Else: “Perhaps the little blue men who live in Fearghas’ radiator all speak French.” Aug 13, 19:31
George Ferguson on The Endless Evil Of Everyone Else: “@Dan Thank you for enquiry previously into my health. I am doing great, a brilliant operation done by the SNHS.…” Aug 13, 19:31
Nae Need! on The Endless Evil Of Everyone Else: “Indeed. LL working for Starmer? I didn’t know that. Makes sense. She’s a good fit.” Aug 13, 19:17
TURABDIN on The Endless Evil Of Everyone Else: “should have read…BESIDES it is for Scotland to reclaim her sovereignty rather than for England to relinquish it, however unwillingly.” Aug 13, 19:15
Nae Need! on The Endless Evil Of Everyone Else: “Interesting. I don’t think they are yet divorced, but I can guarantee you they WILL be, with plenty of time…” Aug 13, 19:12
agent x on The Endless Evil Of Everyone Else: “Was there a reason to give a French translation as opposed to Mandarin Chinese, Swahili or evens Scots?” Aug 13, 19:08
Nae Need! on The Endless Evil Of Everyone Else: “Indeed. And government disrupting society, in this way, can in some instances be called treason.” Aug 13, 19:08
Nae Need! on The Endless Evil Of Everyone Else: “That’s it. From now on it shall be called ‘The Book of Lies’. No more apt a description yet exists.” Aug 13, 19:03
Nae Need! on The Endless Evil Of Everyone Else: “Straight answers . . . you only get a straight answer from a narcissist when it’s a categorical denial of…” Aug 13, 18:53