To: Humza Yousaf (Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care), Shirley-Anne Somerville (Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills) and Clare Haughey (Minister for Children and Young People)
28 April 2022
Dear Mr Yousaf, Ms Somerville and Ms Haughey,
Cass Interim Report: Independent review of gender identity services for children and young people – Implications for Scotland
In slightly over a month from now, Nicola Sturgeon will overtake Alex Salmond as the longest-serving First Minister of Scotland. It seemed a reasonable time to take stock.
It’s very nearly six years since the Sunday Herald headline above from 1 May 2016. (Remember the Sunday Herald, readers? It feels like another lifetime, doesn’t it?)
April/early May is very often the period leading up to an election, which is when the SNP traditionally ramp up the carrot-dangling about independence to secure the votes of the faithful for yet another “cast-iron mandate”, so it’s not a bad barometer. Let’s see how far we’ve come.
I am living for the day when someone in the Scottish media finds some courage from somewhere and asks Nicola Sturgeon, because she’s going to blink so fast her face might catch fire. But that phone will just keep on ringing until someone answers.
The trans-sex-role-stereotype movement has put what would have been concealed and kept behind closed doors on centre stage. This is why normal, decent men look aghast at other men’s behaviour while many women sigh with an ‘oh, this again’.
The woke bloke contempt for women is clear and abusive behaviours are on full display. Reading through Lundy Bancroft’s pivotal work “Why Does He Do That? Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men”, the full cast of characters is present on Twitter, in the news and in our political parties and institutions.
The above quote is part of the heartfelt plea of a mother of a disabled daughter. We know that women and girls are vulnerable to male sexual violence, we know that men commit 98% of sex offences and we know that disabled children are three to four times more likely to experience abuse.
We’ve observed that over the last few days a number of Unionists, led by tuba-honking dunderhead Blair McDougall (the man who turned a 30-point No lead into a 10-point one, who lost Labour 5000 votes when he stood in East Renfrewshire in 2017 on the basis of being the guy who saved the UK – trailing in an embarrassing 3rd in a seat where Jim Murphy had once won over 50% of the vote – and who is probably more responsible than any other individual for the utter destruction of Scottish Labour as a political force), have revived the ancient “Better Together” scare story about pensions in an independent Scotland.
We’ve had no takers from any Nicola Sturgeon loyalists for this yet, so let’s narrow our focus a bit and see if we can get some joy from the payroll vote.
The quote pictured below is an absolutely unequivocal statement, with no qualifiers or conditions, made during and with full knowledge of a major peak in the COVID-19 pandemic. The halfway point of the current Scottish Parliament is 9 November 2023.
So: I bet Pete Wishart £5,000 that he’s a liar.
I have the money, and on the £100K-a-year-plus-expenses wage he’s been stealing for most of the last 20 years (and let’s not forget the juicy £50,000-a-year Westminster pension he’s built up over two decades of totally failing to deliver the only thing he’s ever been elected to do), we damn sure know that HE has the money.
My bet is simply that there will NOT be a second indyref on or before that date.
Please, everyone reading this with a Twitter account, tweet this to Pete Wishart until he takes five seconds off from attacking real independence campaigners and gives us all his answer, and let’s see if he’s prepared to put a tiny little fraction of his money where his endlessly bloviating mouth is.
I’ve just remembered that I meant to leave this pinned to the front page when I shut Wings down as a blog, so here it is. It’s just a short one.
I am willing to bet anyone in the UK any amount of money of their choosing that there will NOT be a second independence referendum in Scotland while Nicola Sturgeon is First Minister.
If you still believe she’ll deliver one, now’s your chance to demonstrate your faith in public AND get yourself some free cash. (It’s a matter of public record that I’ve never failed to pay up on a losing wager.)
So come on, SNP loyalists and true believers, let’s see you. Put your name and the amount you want to bet in the comments below* and let’s find out how much you really trust her. This is an entirely genuine, serious offer and remains open to anyone** until such times as Nicola Sturgeon stands down as First Minister, even if that’s 20 years from now. Any amount you like. I’m waiting keenly for your responses.
.
*PLEASE DO NOT COMMENT EXCEPT TO TAKE THE BET.
**WAGERS FROM GERRY “THE WELCHER” HASSAN NOT ACCEPTED.
Craig Murray is due to be released from HMP Edinburgh a week tomorrow, having served half of an eight-month sentence for contempt of court via “jigsaw identification”. Our latest poll data from Panelbase, surveying 2000 Scottish voters last week, reveals that just a quarter of Scots think that such an offence merits imprisonment.
Readers may find the figures for male and female respondents of note. The full data tables can be downloaded here.
So, in accordance with the wishes of the readership (and despite rather peculiar claims on some sites that all polls in Scotland are now commissioned by Unionists), Wings has its first polling data for you in its present form, relayed without comment.
In association with Panelbase, this month we surveyed 2000 Scottish voters (double the normal sample size) on a couple of subjects. The first question was this:
“Barring unforeseen events, next year Nicola Sturgeon will overtake Alex Salmond as Scotland’s longest-serving First Minister. She took office in November 2014, in a Scotland which was evenly split on the constitution. (Average support for independence in polling was at 50%, compared to the current 48%.)
Which of the following, if any, do you personally regard as her greatest achievement in office?”
Minceheid on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Hatey McHateface says: 23 September, 2026 at 8:06 pm Check out the big brain on Minceheid! Ach, that’s what all…” Sep 24, 08:39
Hatey McHateface on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Might be “worth a read” if it explains why the 45 million or so currently being bombed every night will…” Sep 24, 08:33
Spartan 117 on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “There’s a Ru**ian state tactic known as “maskirovka” (I think I spelled that correctly) which is basically the art of…” Sep 24, 08:18
Aidan on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “When you say “alternative perspective” what you mean is he is repeating Ru**ian state propaganda lines on behalf of the…” Sep 24, 08:00
Luigi on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “NS appears to be completely captured and owned by the British state. I don’t know what leverage the security services…” Sep 24, 07:52
Spartan 117 on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “It’s my own belief that warmongering politicians should be locked in a room with their adversaries and left to sort…” Sep 24, 07:39
willie on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “It is a brutally sad fact of life but one of the Scottish Government is a bloated inefficient administration. The…” Sep 23, 21:26
Ex President Xiden on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “I would personally warm to ‘war game’ sending these politicians to the front lines themselves and we could watch the…” Sep 23, 20:56
Hatey McHateface on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “The world will buy them from the Covids. It’s worth repeating that the imbalance in trade between the EU and…” Sep 23, 20:22
Hatey McHateface on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Check out the big brain on Minceheid! If I lend you my sock puppets starter set, any chance you could…” Sep 23, 20:06
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: ““Strengthening international law through greater cooperation between the HRC and the UN GA” Video from Yesterday’s UN Geneva Event (22nd…” Sep 23, 20:03
Mark Beggan on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “(a very apt analogy). That’s for the readers to decide. Yes that’s a pretty good analogy.” Sep 23, 19:59
Minceheid on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Hatey McHateface says: 23 September, 2026 at 7:12 pm What do you think is going on in Ir@n right now?…” Sep 23, 19:48
Spartan 117 on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Stop being lazy/deliberately obtuse and READ THE FUCKING ARTICLES. Twat.” Sep 23, 19:34
Spartan 117 on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: ““The plan for the reorganisation of local councils is needless and an excuse for the reduction of services,staff and budgets…” Sep 23, 19:18
Hatey McHateface on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Man, Spartan, I’m gonna have to learn Gaelic, maybe Esperanto, perhaps “learn your alphabet with Sock Puppets”. Not one of…” Sep 23, 19:12
Spartan 117 on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “A Tory and a Snip, quite a peculiar pairing. Unless you take the view that the establishment parties of Red/Blue/Orange/Green…” Sep 23, 19:09
Spartan 117 on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Socialists like keeping the poor *poor*. A substantive chunk of them are druggies themselves (c.f. drug swabs at the House…” Sep 23, 19:06
Mark Beggan on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “How will the world survive without ceramic pots and doggy jackets?” Sep 23, 19:05
Willie on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “A neglected third world statelet. As the late Ricky Fulton would say…..Naw, of course not!! Scotland may have some of…” Sep 23, 18:33
Tommy B on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Huh https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/scottish-news/crown-wants-natalie-mcgarrys-tory-29625480.amp” Sep 23, 18:18
Mark Beggan on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “And puts the fear of God into others. Trump Derangement Syndrome.” Sep 23, 17:56
Spartan 117 on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Sigh. Ok Hatey, here you go, you asked. Just a few headlines from the past four days:- “Unprecedented threat’ of…” Sep 23, 17:50
Peter McAvoy on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “The Scottish Parliament should remain with its present amount of members. Would anybody who supports a team in any sport…” Sep 23, 17:42
Spartan 117 on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Ah, a very typical article from TeH GrAuNiAd. Hysteria sans context. Bearing in mind this is all “mibbes aye, mibbes…” Sep 23, 17:10
Spartan 117 on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Trump might be an arse but he does wind up all the right people. A bit like Michael O’Leary.” Sep 23, 17:02
Spartan 117 on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Yes James in other words “It’s a scam that doesn’t actually serve anything other than the Cooncil pension pot, we…” Sep 23, 17:01
agentx on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: ““Double parliaments, double taxation bills for Scotland, this scam will apply to any devolved area I presume,” ———————————————— No -…” Sep 23, 15:53
lothianlad on His Majesty’s Loyal Sabre: “Even the sight of her ( sturgeon) makes me sick!!” Sep 23, 14:50