We’ve just watched a hearing at the Court Of Session with regard to Alex Salmond’s civil claim against the Scottish Government. It was an ostensibly minor one, in which Salmond’s team were requesting a sist (pause) in the case for the fourth time, on the grounds of a number of ongoing police inquiries related to the events around the claim.
For most of the time Wings was the only journalist in a (virtual) room full of lawyers – although a couple of Scottish Daily Mail hacks turned up midway through – and we got to hear a dramatic surprise revelation.
James Hynd is a civil servant who was head of the Scottish Government’s cabinet, parliament and governance division during the inquiry.
But the hearing revealed for the first time that Hynd is currently subject to a criminal investigation by Police Scotland, with the name Operation Broadcroft, on suspicion of the serious crime of “wilfully making false statements on oath” to the inquiry.
And the ramifications of that extend much further than Mr Hynd himself.
Poor old Tommy Sheppard’s got a contract, so he has to keep talking. And this week he said something that, if anyone really thought the constitution was still a current live political issue, would have attracted a lot more attention than it did.
Because even the SNP are now saying another indyref is – at best – a decade away.
The Hate Crime Act has rather faded into obscurity after the furore surrounding its introduction, with the police apparently just trying to pretend it doesn’t exist by ignoring thousands and thousands of complaints, and the useless Scottish commentariat duly proclaiming as a result that it was all just a big fuss about nothing.
But as soon as everyone stopped looking at it, there it was.
In many ways, the fabricated, hysterical furore of Humza Yousaf Vs Elon Musk is the ultimate in summer-silly-season politics stories.
Absurdly plainly, the former First Minister ISN’T going to take any legal action against the billionaire owner of Twitter. He only likes bullying small nurseries, and even then he doesn’t follow through. He didn’t even sue us for calling him racist a few months ago, so there’s zero chance he’s going to square up to the world’s richest man.
Every now and again you’ll go to clean them up and find something that you’ve been meaning to write about in a quiet moment, and this certainly counts as a quiet moment in Scottish politics, so let’s do this one now.
Because the story above is from March, but we don’t think we’ve ever seen anyone anywhere talk about just how weird it is, or what it tells us about the 2024 SNP.
You’d have to be living in a pretty strict prison not to have heard the big story from today’s Olympics in Paris, in which male Algerian cheat Imane Khelefi was put in a boxing ring with young Italian woman Angela Carini and allowed to hit her in the head for 46 seconds until she retired, in tears and in fear for her safety, saying “I had to preserve my life”.
Sound like your kind of fun, men? It’s surprisingly easy!
We’ve been off for a little break in the country, and as far as we can tell we’ve missed absolutely nothing in the moribund world of Scottish politics. We did, however, arrive back just in time for something mildly interesting, or at least revealing.
It’s the latest episode of a new podcast by veteran Scottish political journalist and broadcaster Bernard Ponsonby and jobbing opinion columnist Alex Massie, inventively titled The Ponsonby And Massie Podcast.
The first 35 minutes or so weren’t very noteworthy, other than the curious omission – when predicting the makeup of the next Scottish Government – of the idea of a Labour-SNP coalition, which to this site remains by far the most practical and logical outcome of the 2026 Holyrood election.
Captain Caveman on Narrowing the options: “Good grief, you must be bored and very bitter, Fatso. It’s not all about how much more “free” stuff you…” Jul 5, 12:45
James on Narrowing the options: “They must actually think that the Scotch zip up the back of the heid. Why let the facts, plain for…” Jul 5, 12:22
agentx on Narrowing the options: ““Police are investigating claims £1.5million went missing from the accounts of the 2014 Yes campaign. The organisation had close links…” Jul 5, 11:32
Aidan on Narrowing the options: ““Xaracen says: 5 July, 2026 at 10:28 am And what on earth makes you think that we can’t build a…” Jul 5, 11:31
Aidan on Narrowing the options: “There are people in England who claim that due to their own interpretation of Magna Carta, that whole swathes of…” Jul 5, 11:27
Xaracen on Narrowing the options: “And what on earth makes you think that we can’t build a case around Alf’s stated theft of £150+Billion per…” Jul 5, 10:28
Xaracen on Narrowing the options: “But that ‘reality’ is unlawful and unconstitutional precisely because of those ‘musty 300 YO documents’, Hatey. Even merry old England…” Jul 5, 10:10
Hatey McHateface on Narrowing the options: “As I’ve just said to Xaracen, beats me how you can’t leverage that claim, if it’s true, into a slam…” Jul 5, 09:54
lothianlad on Narrowing the options: “Glad the Scottish establishment is being held to account.” Jul 5, 09:52
DavidT on Narrowing the options: “Operation Branchform uncovered embezzlement but was primarily an investigation into fundraising fraud following a complaint about the handling of a £667,000 ring-fenced…” Jul 5, 09:38
Hatey McHateface on Narrowing the options: “Not compelling. Not persuasive. Not practical. Not aligned with reality. Find something else. For example, Alf’s claim that Scotland loses…” Jul 5, 09:36
Alf Baird on Narrowing the options: “Aye Hatey, they are well worth their £2 billion budget for “those who are working for the security services” to…” Jul 5, 09:29
Xaracen on Narrowing the options: ““I’m struggling to identify a single SNP MSP or MP who I would trust to organise a piss-up in a…” Jul 5, 08:47
Xaracen on Narrowing the options: “James, it wouldn’t matter even if Article XVIII (and/or the Tenor attached to Article XXV by the Scottish parliament) didn’t…” Jul 5, 08:42
Hatey McHateface on Narrowing the options: “@Andy Wasn’t it Elkins who proved that in a colony, everybody not working for the security services actually is? Plus,…” Jul 4, 23:18
Hatey McHateface on Narrowing the options: “One thing you may have missed is the recent call by one of the more outspoken spokesmen for the religion…” Jul 4, 23:05
sam on Narrowing the options: “Caveman’s a fool. Knows nothing about the case. Opens his gub with nothing to say.” Jul 4, 21:46
Captain Caveman on Narrowing the options: “Sam is a pronouns kinda guy.” Jul 4, 21:22
Andy Wiltshire on Narrowing the options: “That’s just what you would say if you were working for MI6, which I think we can all agree proves…” Jul 4, 21:09
Hatey McHateface on Fob, Fob, Fobbing Along: ““Colonialism eventually eats itself” Care to put a date on that, Alf? Currently, you’re claiming colonialism is eating us to…” Jul 4, 19:55
Insider on Narrowing the options: ““James” Che… Have your carers walked out on strike and left you alone with the computer ?” Jul 4, 19:53
Doddsotheglen on Tuning In The Shine: “Apart from talking down Scotland and Scotgov and SNP the BBC in Scotland is very controlling of it’s journalists and…” Jul 4, 19:40
James Che on Narrowing the options: “The decision on wether we are in treaty of Union with England may or not may come a lot quicker…” Jul 4, 18:05
James Che on Narrowing the options: “Fearghas, The private rights of the Scottish people would include mums and dads in Scotland, It would also include wether…” Jul 4, 17:47
Captain Caveman on Narrowing the options: ““Like Roddy, QC, there will be plenty of pro British people united with us pro Indy/Scottish types, so the reach…” Jul 4, 17:44
James Che on Narrowing the options: “The Bank of England? Obviously not the Bank of Scotland, the Bank of Ireland, or the Bank of Wales. Perhaps…” Jul 4, 17:32
Willie on Narrowing the options: “And whilst we are on tbe subject of politically corrupt colonial police doing how many folks have heard of Home…” Jul 4, 17:29
Willie on Narrowing the options: “4nd whilst we are on tbe subject of politically corrupt colonial police doing how many folks have heard of Home…” Jul 4, 17:25
