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Wings Over Scotland


Dear Sandy 70

Posted on September 24, 2024 by

The below is an open letter from a rape survivor, Paula, to Sandy Brindley, CEO of Rape Crisis Scotland. It is reproduced unedited, with Paula’s permission.

Dear Sandy,

I’m writing to implore you to stop doing press interviews.

Each time you do, it feels like yet another slap in the face from Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre and Rape Crisis Scotland.

To be honest, I didn’t even know who you were until a few weeks ago. When the report into ERCC came out and Mridul Wadhwa resigned, I thought I could put this whole experience behind me.

Last week however, I heard on BBC that you “unreservedly apologise” for the failing at ERCC. It is honestly laughable. I have had no such apology. In fact, quite the opposite.

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A Danger To Women 52

Posted on September 23, 2024 by

As we write this article, Sandy Brindley (on the left of the picture below) is still in post as the CEO of Rape Crisis Scotland.

For as long as that remains the case, rape victims in Scotland will not be safe.

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The Hand Of Friendship 34

Posted on September 23, 2024 by

We’ll be honest, folks, we’re not 100% sure this is how you build unity.

But what uplifting and powerful alliances might we be missing out on?

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The Triple Whammy 94

Posted on September 22, 2024 by

Scotland’s energy rip-off continues unabated, and its impact on Scotland is merciless. GB Energy is to put up a plaque on an office in Aberdeen whilst Scottish pensioners can’t afford to put on the heating. Oil continues to boost the UK coffers as a senior British business figure calls Scottish renewables “a golden ticket for UK growth”.

But as Scottish pensioners freeze, Scottish industry’s being devastated, and workers are being made redundant.

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Say What You See 142

Posted on September 20, 2024 by

Don’t say we don’t tell you, readers.

Because we do tell you.

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10 Years On 58

Posted on September 19, 2024 by

For all of those who couldn’t make it to Saturday’s sold-out event at the IMAX:

As for the next 10 years, that’s another question.

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An unduly restrictive view of salvation 88

Posted on September 18, 2024 by

Earlier today we heard from the SNP’s depute leader Keith Brown that the party now accepts there will never be another UK-sanctioned independence referendum.

And this afternoon in the chamber the SNP also voted against the only alternative.

Alba MSP Ash Regan laid down the above motion, which supports what as far as we knew was still the SNP’s official policy in the absence of another Section 30, in so far as they even know what their policy is.

Today that motion was voted down by 125 votes to 1.

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Objection Sustained 41

Posted on September 18, 2024 by

This must be some kind of mistake.

Because we’re sure you’ve spent the last decade telling us that just couldn’t happen.

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A Brief History Of Hope 168

Posted on September 14, 2024 by

The Land Of Immunity 101

Posted on September 12, 2024 by

Astonishingly, there isn’t a single word of apology anywhere in this statement.

There isn’t a scintilla of contrition, not the tiniest glimmer of admission of culpability or responsibility. There isn’t even a weasel-worded expression of “regret”.

Rape Crisis Scotland is unfit for purpose, and its CEO must resign.

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The Tartan Messiah 42

Posted on September 11, 2024 by

Well, Shauny‘s knocked it out of the park.

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After the swarm 72

Posted on September 11, 2024 by

On 15 October 2012, I signed the Edinburgh Agreement with David Cameron to secure the independence referendum of September 2014.

On the same day Peter Kellner of the polling company YouGov wrote one of his condescending commentaries from London dissing any hope for the Yes campaign.

“However, from Salmond’s point of view, it is about the only thing going for him. Indeed, were he to be given a truth drug, he might well curse the fact that the SNP won last year’s Scottish elections outright, and thus found himself in a position to keep his promise.

He would surely have been much happier remaining the leader of a minority government, unable to get his independence legislation through Holyrood. Then he could have railed against the Scottish satraps of the Britain-wide parties for silencing the voice of the Scottish people.

Instead, by winning an outright majority, he has shot his own fox. Rather than shed crocodile tears for his inability to call a referendum, he must now put the issue to the test.

As a shrewd and intelligent man – indeed, one of the shrewdest and most intelligent in British politics – he must know that his mission is impossible, that in two years time his country will vote to remain part of the United Kingdom, and that far from being achieved, independence will be deferred for at least a generation.

All YouGov’s evidence from the past four years is that independence is a minority passion north of the border. Even as the SNP was surging to victory last year, Scots told us by two-to-one that they wanted to remain within the UK.

The SNP won because most Scots thought it had governed their country well, because they liked Salmond, and because they thought the Scottish Labour Party was useless – not because they wanted to sever links with London.”

Kellner’s view was almost universal, and not just among the London pack of journos and politicians. Most, if not all, of the Scottish media agreed with him.

However, by September 2014 things looked very different.

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