As the six-year fight for justice for Alex Salmond continues, we thought you might like to see this clip from this morning’s Mike Graham Show, interviewing Paul McManus, the businessman and drummer in Glasgow rock band Gun who’s stepped up to fund the Salmond family’s case against the Scottish Government despite disagreeing with much of what Alex stood for politically.
This clip was broadcast on ITV News Wales this week.
It’s a staggeringly obvious mess for a whole raft of reasons – a number of completely spurious, illogical and unsupported claims are accepted as facts without any sort of challenge or balancing voice (which has been standard practice on ITV News for a while now across almost any contentious political topic) – but it led us to somewhere magnitudes of crazier still.
The first and most important thing to note about yesterday’s judgment in the Sandie Peggie tribunal is that it’s a very big victory. The tribunal found that Sandie Peggie was gravely and heinously harassed by her employer through no fault of her own, and she’ll be entitled to substantial compensation as a result.
It also ruled, repeatedly and unequivocally, that Dr “Beth” Upton (who’s referred to in the judgment as “the second respondent”) is a man.
The motion completely ignored both the findings of the Cass Review and the Supreme Court judgment in For Women Scotland, but not a single MSP spoke in opposition to it. (Jenni Minto, the Minister For Public Health And Women’s Health, actually broke down in tears at the end because she wasn’t managing to get children’s futures permanently destroyed with sufficient urgency, mainly because the UK Parliament took legislation out of Holyrood’s hands to protect them.)
It’s really very hard to overstate what mendacious, duplicitous shite this is.
It did its job, though. As expected, the SNP conference comprehensively voted down the rebel amendments to Swinney’s motion on independence “strategy” and backed his grand plan of winning a majority, begging Keir Starmer for a second referendum – just like Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf had done before him with Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak – and then scuttling obediently away with his tail between his legs when Starmer told him to get lost.
It’d be quite hard to find an image that more completely summed up the wretched state of the SNP in 2025 than this one. Look at that tiny handful of miserable faces, sitting dejectedly around a near-empty function room. It’s so bleak Mike Leigh could make an entire movie out of it.
And we know what you’re thinking – that we sat through some internet livestream to find the most pitiful-looking freezeframe imaginable to show them in a bad light. But nope. Kevin Stewart MSP posted this cheery snapshot of his own free will on Twitter on Sunday morning, presumably in the hope of boosting party morale in some way.
But this extract from an interview to be aired on ITV tonight is actually interesting.
In it, Sturgeon doggedly continues to refuse to use male pronouns for multiple rapist Adam “Isla Bryson” Graham, despite admitting that he IS male, instead calling him “they”. But it was the bit before that that raised our eyebrows.
A little over two years ago, three SNP MSPs contested the leadership of the party in the wake of the sudden resignation of Nicola Sturgeon. All were full of grand plans and dreams for the future of the party, the nation and the independence movement.
None of the three is leader now, and in nine months’ time none of them will be SNP MSPs. Indeed, it’s overwhelmingly likely that none will be an MSP at all.
And that, readers, is not a sign of a party – or indeed a Parliament – in good health.
sam on Response Level Upgrade: “Was he not already king of Scotland, therefore crowned here, before he was offered and took crown of England?” Jun 18, 20:35
Aidan on Response Level Upgrade: “Well that’s good news on this lovely summer evening, let’s all open a beer to celebrate.” Jun 18, 20:00
Aidan on Response Level Upgrade: ““James” Rather than expressing completely ingenuine and totally unnecessary concern for me, why don’t you address your own enormous and…” Jun 18, 19:54
James Che on Response Level Upgrade: “The Westminster parliament for England and annexed Wales was a little bit too anxious to capture Scotland and rushed it…” Jun 18, 19:18
James Che on Response Level Upgrade: “Sam, Correct me if I am wrong, Was king James coronated or crowned in Scotland or did he self declare…” Jun 18, 19:01
James Che on Response Level Upgrade: “It is a devolved parliament in to Scotland that serves two masters,” Jun 18, 18:40
James Che on Response Level Upgrade: “The old Scottish parliament was adjourned under Sine Die in Scotland on 25th March 1707, The monarch of England under…” Jun 18, 18:30
James Che on Response Level Upgrade: “Sam, And the rest of Scotlands land and sea was taken under the posed question that the parliament for England…” Jun 18, 18:10
James Che on Response Level Upgrade: “100% yes. If the treaty of union were real, then article XV11 for the subjects of Scotland would provide Scotlands…” Jun 18, 18:02
100%Yes on Response Level Upgrade: “In The Rag “John Swinney refuses to halt AI data centres amid ‘free-for-all'” it amazes me how anyone can read…” Jun 18, 17:12
agentx on Response Level Upgrade: “Good luck to Scotland (women) tonight.” Jun 18, 17:06
Captain Caveman on Response Level Upgrade: “Awww, bless! Much wailing and gnashing of teeth I see; GOOD! 🙂 Zero self awareness as per; we’re back to…” Jun 18, 16:10
Aidan on Response Level Upgrade: “Well, I think you must have done quite a lot of reading to identify the writing that involves “rage”,anger, “bitterness”…” Jun 18, 16:09
Northcode on Response Level Upgrade: “I’ve been thinking – an activity alien to colonialists – and I’ve arrived at this… “The name of the thing…” Jun 18, 15:59
sam on Response Level Upgrade: “Well, I think you must have done quite a lot of reading to identify the writing that involves “rage”,anger, “bitterness”…” Jun 18, 15:54
Young Lochinvar on Response Level Upgrade: “BREAKING! Harry “top of the morning” Kane has tried to defend his Riverdance approach to kicking penalties on the fair…” Jun 18, 15:46
Mark Beggan on Response Level Upgrade: “You are a busy bee Sam. Ever considered getting a job?” Jun 18, 15:45
sam on Response Level Upgrade: “https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/?p=84849 “Last month (year 2020) Andrew Mackillop and I published a report disclosing connections between landownership in the west Highlands…” Jun 18, 15:40
Tinto Chiel on Response Level Upgrade: “@ diabloandco: yes, I don’t know what would have appalled Jimmy Reid more, the grifting, mediocre and unprincipled politicians of…” Jun 18, 15:39
Mark Beggan on Response Level Upgrade: “Stop hiding behind a fake name or we will have to call you Karen.” Jun 18, 15:38
Aidan on Response Level Upgrade: “I don’t generally read your posts ”Confused”, I doubt many people do. The maelstrom of anger, rage, bitterness and hatred…” Jun 18, 15:32
Young Lochinvar on Response Level Upgrade: “CC Hahahaha “Cry me a river” Slaphead “old boy”.. 🙂” Jun 18, 15:22
Northcode on Response Level Upgrade: ““Oh do fuck off, you thick fat twat…” “Yeah, but that’s enough about your porcine dietary habits.” “Another day, another…” Jun 18, 15:22
Mark Beggan on Response Level Upgrade: “The Leftys are having a meltdown. Wonder what could have caused that? I think we need to start calling them…” Jun 18, 15:15
Young Lochinvar on Response Level Upgrade: “NC Never mind, Susannah Reid made a non-apology the other day for decrying Scots as drunken sots needing a bank…” Jun 18, 15:11