Here at Wings it’s mostly our job to point out things that are broken. (Currently that’s mostly the SNP.) But there are also other more useful people working on actually fixing stuff. Readers might want to give them a hearing and perhaps offer some assistance and input of their own, especially as you can do it today without leaving your house.
It costs nothing and it starts at noon. All you need to participate is the virtual meeting software Hopin (also free). What is there to lose?
Word reaches us from this afternoon’s meeting of the SNP NEC that three members of the Finance & Audit Committee (ie about half of it, we believe) have resigned on the basis that they’re responsible for the party’s finances but are unable to carry out their duties as chief executive Peter Murrell refuses to give them access to the books.
We don’t yet know if it’s specifically in relation to the missing £600,000 in “ringfenced” fundraiser money that was supposed to have been earmarked for use in a second independence referendum campaign but which cannot be identified in the records of a party whose last published accounts showed only £97,000 in the bank.
It’s a curious thing to say before either of the inquiries has delivered its report. The only people who are asserting that Sturgeon has been somehow cleared of involvement in a conspiracy are the SNP, and even their own voters are split down the middle on it.
But let’s just check on how big the SNP are winning right now.
This isn’t quite yet a smoking gun, more of a starter’s pistol. But it’s already more than we’d expected from the Holyrood inquiry – an unambiguous statement that the First Minister misled it (and therefore Parliament) under oath.
What’s still missing at this stage is the word “knowingly”, which would turn it from a serious but non-fatal misdemeanour into a resignation offence. But nor, yet, is there any sight of the word “inadvertently”.
When Nicola Sturgeon is finally held to account for the charred, twisted and shattered ruins that she’s made of Scottish political and civic society in her desperate attempts to save her own neck, the complete discrediting of ostensible support organisations for victims of rape will be near the very top of the charge sheet.
But before we talk about that you really need to read this.
Because if you live in Scotland you can only rationally be one of two things at this moment in history: (a) terrified, or (b) an idiot.
We’ve received information this afternoon with regard to Nicola Sturgeon’s statements at today’s FMQs, which appear to have been wholly and disturbingly dishonest.
The quote below is from an email sent today by SNP communications chief Murray Foote, briefing ministers and MSPs on the official Scottish Government line, which is what the First Minister told the chamber in response to a question from Ruth Davidson.
We enjoyed doing this site a lot more when it was the dishonesty of Unionists and the Unionist media, not the SNP, that represented the main threat to independence. So let’s make like it’s the old days, just this once.
The Dunlop Review into the Scottish Government’s conduct of an investigation of false harassment allegations against Alex Salmond was published today. It is an extremely damning report, which basically boils down to “You got absolutely everything possible wrong, never do anything that way again, you incompetent idiots”.
You can check out the whole 78-page document here, but we’ve included its 10 key recommendations as to how such investigations should be carried out in future, along with a note of whether these recommendations were followed in the Salmond case.
Geri on The Broken Rainbow: “The UK is heading towards a Totalitarian state where this ideology will seep into every single persons private life &…” May 14, 01:19
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The Broken Rainbow: “SCOTS PRIMARY SCHOOL CHALLENGED OVER FAILURE TO PROVIDE SINGLE-SEX TOILETS A pupil has been left in pain and distress after…” May 14, 00:40
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The Broken Rainbow: “DRAFT ‘CONVERSION THERAPY’ BILL IN KING’S SPEECH AGAIN The Government has repeated its pledge to bring forward a draft Bill…” May 14, 00:31
Geri on The Broken Rainbow: “Polling means absolutely zero. It can be manipulated, rigged, depends on how the questions are asked & who exactly is…” May 13, 23:46
Hatey McHateface on The Broken Rainbow: “@Geri Polling evidence is clear enough. If a Reform government offered us a referendum next week, a majority of Scots…” May 13, 23:08
Geri on The Hills Of Far Away: “SNP had various mandates. How do you know they vote for something else? An election isn’t a referendum. The Yes…” May 13, 23:06
Geri on The Broken Rainbow: “Reform wouldn’t offer Independence. They certainly wouldn’t deliver on it. They’d not let the UK cash cow just walk out…” May 13, 22:56
Hatey McHateface on The Hills Of Far Away: ““refused what we vote for” You’re refused what YOU vote for, Geri, because the majority of Scots vote for something…” May 13, 22:44
John on The Broken Rainbow: “well- the only way to fix it would be to “true” proportional representation, as in the German Bundestag. Problem with…” May 13, 22:14
100%Yes on The Broken Rainbow: “John Swinney will now sell Scotland for federalism make no mistake this is what’s going to happen. The SNP leadership…” May 13, 22:01
Geri on The Hills Of Far Away: “AI Dan “fluff”? Yer sounding more & more like Franchise Fanny by the day. You just can’t help yersel. As…” May 13, 21:45
Hatey McHateface on The Hills Of Far Away: “Havers, Northy, you’re confusing meaning with interpretation. The Egyptians, demonstrably the finest stone workers who have ever graced this planet…” May 13, 20:47
100%Yes on The Broken Rainbow: “Has anyone watch the mid week Scottish Prism, take a look. Already JS has backed track on what he said…” May 13, 19:47
Northcode on The Hills Of Far Away: “Rhetoric shapes meaning; a lie hollows it out. A lie is the crack in the stone not a carving… as…” May 13, 19:44
Hatey McHateface on The Broken Rainbow: “Good Lord, Northy! So even the Picts are now using the lying language of the coloniser – English.” May 13, 19:30
100%Yes on The Broken Rainbow: “This policy of kicking Indy into the long grass is now showing in the opinion polls for the SNP. There…” May 13, 19:29
Northcode on The Hills Of Far Away: ““… insults aren’t meant to arguments…” To be or not to be, but where is the ‘be’… I forgot to…” May 13, 19:28
Hatey McHateface on The Hills Of Far Away: “You omitted to say where bare-faced lying fits in, Northy.” May 13, 19:27
Northcode on The Broken Rainbow: “Colonialists in this place very often mistake disruption for cleverness and noise for wit, but “the stone knows the difference”,…” May 13, 19:18
Northcode on The Hills Of Far Away: ““Calling people “thick cants” isn’t an argument either.” Correct, but then again insults aren’t meant to arguments… not directly, anyway.…” May 13, 19:08
Hatey McHateface on The Hills Of Far Away: “Well, well. So the Falklands now has an outfit backed by a state with the determination, skill, technology and balls…” May 13, 18:48
Hatey McHateface on The Hills Of Far Away: “@Aidan There’s a war crimes tribunal in permanent session atween Geri’s lugs. In the interests of efficiency, she volunteered to…” May 13, 18:40
Hatey McHateface on The Broken Rainbow: “Lucky for Scotland that the boys petitioning the UN make all of this democratic voting malarkey a pointless sideshow. Beats…” May 13, 18:35
duncanio on The Broken Rainbow: “I didn’t say it was an alternative. I said it was imperfect but less imperfect than FPTP. Otherwise you would…” May 13, 18:31
Hatey McHateface on The Hills Of Far Away: ““Do you think have a special, unique entitlement to type insults” Does not compute. Re-type and re-submit.” May 13, 18:25
Hatey McHateface on The Hills Of Far Away: ““Calling something “horseshit” isn’t an argument” Hark at Northy! Only yesterday he was calling people “thick cants”. Ken fit sane,…” May 13, 18:19
Jay on The Hills Of Far Away: “Commander-in-Chief Caveman, I’ve no idea whether you will read this.. What is pretentious in my comment? I do not pretend,…” May 13, 18:17
Captain Caveman on The Hills Of Far Away: “@Aidan “Of course people living in a rich and prosperous country cosplaying as victims is one thing you missed from…” May 13, 17:38
Rev. Stuart Campbell on The Broken Rainbow: “Ever since 2016, the SNP’s policy has basically been to kick it down the road for two years at a…” May 13, 17:33
Rev. Stuart Campbell on The Broken Rainbow: “It made zero difference to the point anyway. But gah, too many numbers flying around at once.” May 13, 17:32
