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An innocent man 950

Posted on March 23, 2020 by

Today a mostly-female jury drawn from the most Unionist city in Scotland and directed by a female judge delivered the only verdict it was credibly possible to reach on the (total absence of) evidence before it: that Alex Salmond was not guilty of any crime.

After two weeks hearing an assortment of lurid allegations from former friends and colleagues hidden behind cloaks of public anonymity, the jury – having been advised by the prosecuting counsel that they were the sole arbiters of fact – decided that there was no truth to them.

Since the two most serious charges, in particular, were both matters of the accuser’s word against that of the accused, and the two parties gave completely irreconcilable accounts of the facts (rather than competing interpretations of agreed events), it can only be the case that one side was lying absolutely, and the jury decided that it was the anonymous accusers who were doing so.

It remains to see whether there will be a legal reckoning for those lies. But more than one sort of reckoning will surely follow from these events.

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Bolted from the blue 334

Posted on March 21, 2020 by

The delay phase 982

Posted on March 14, 2020 by

Gagging order 646

Posted on March 07, 2020 by

Six questions for Nicola Sturgeon 349

Posted on March 03, 2020 by

There are now exactly two weeks remaining of the Scottish Government’s second fake “consultation” into its proposed reforms to gender law.

We say “fake” not out of cynicism or mad paranoia, but because the cabinet minister responsible for the reforms has already made it explicitly, publicly and repeatedly clear that she intends to press ahead with them regardless of the responses, and that the only purpose of the “consultation” is to try to persuade people to agree with them.

Shirley-Anne Somerville reiterated this position just days ago, telling Scotland Tonight that she was “absolutely determined” to enact the bill and only interested in silencing opposition and removing any “medicalisation” of the process of gender transition.

While the Scottish Government has met literally hundreds of times with transactivist groups with regard to the reforms, it has refused to meet women’s groups critical of them, and frequently lied about that refusal.

(It also funds transactivist pressure groups with hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayer money to create a “feedback loop” supporting its position. Gender-critical women’s groups receive no such funding, largely because the conditions attached to Scottish Government funding specifically and deliberately exclude them.)

The consultation document and the draft bill leave enormous logical and legislative gaps which are likely to cause untold chaos if the reforms are implemented. The Scottish Government has apparently learned nothing from the shambolic fiascos around the Offensive Behaviour (Football) Act and Named Person legislation, both of which have collapsed despite widespread public support – something the proposed gender reforms emphatically do NOT enjoy.

We’re obliged for the sake of sanity to assume that at some point the First Minister, the Cabinet Secretary or both will have to undertake at least one proper interview on the subject of these extremely serious and potentially catastrophic proposals.

For the consideration of whoever may conduct these interviews, we submit below some questions which a very considerable number of people in Scotland – primarily but by no means exclusively women, and encompassing a majority of every political and social demographic – urgently want answered.

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The fateful day 946

Posted on February 23, 2020 by

A few weeks ago when we said Wings was going to take a break for a bit, we also said “There may be posts now and then if something particularly significant happens”. Well, this week something particularly significant happened.

It was a development that we’d been predicting ever since Boris Johnson became UK Prime Minister, but it’s no less important for that. And it’s not an exaggeration to say that it could be the deciding factor in whether Scotland becomes independent.

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The silver lining 99

Posted on February 22, 2020 by

The vote of confidence 791

Posted on February 15, 2020 by

Baptism of fire 752

Posted on February 08, 2020 by

The prisoner 1,240

Posted on February 01, 2020 by

The Betrayer 522

Posted on January 31, 2020 by

So that’s it, then. That’s the grand plan.

We’re sorry, but we’d say the game’s a bogey, gang.

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When you put your life in their hands 35

Posted on January 31, 2020 by

Well, here’s your New Britain. Here’s your “better deal”. Own it, you tossers.

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    • factchecker on Anything But That: “Good Lord, James Che, where to start? Perhaps a simple, demonstrable piece of rubbish. “Perhaps we should keep re running…Sep 3, 09:23
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    • Young Lochinvar on Anything But That: “S Good stuff, need to pop over and see it.Sep 2, 21:11
    • Phil on Anything But That: “This says it all. https://spectator.com/article/when-will-scottish-nationalists-come-clean-about-devolution/Sep 2, 21:07
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    • sarah on Anything But That: “Yes, Billie. And conference went along with the change of rules – it used to need 100 signatures with signatories…Sep 2, 17:05
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