The media is focusing on Murrell’s continued evasion of the question of his WhatsApp usage (Murrell bizarrely states he has several messaging apps installed on his phone but uses none of them), but there’s a much more interesting revelation in the second of the letter’s two sections.
This is a direct, unambiguous and categorical statement from the First Minister that the investigation into the false allegations against Salmond was a Scottish Government matter that was absolutely nothing to do with the SNP.
This site and other gender-critical voices are regularly accused of being “obsessed” with trans issues, even though the subject has been mentioned in fewer than 0.7% of Wings posts. But this week the SNP’s transgender faction – when it hasn’t been STILL raging about its battering in the NEC elections – has been swamping social media with organised complaints about a tiny prospective legislative change that they themselves insist doesn’t actually matter at all.
Rape Crisis Scotland, who are almost entirely dependent on the Scottish Government for funding, have chosen this evening to wade into the debate over the wording of a new law which is intended to lessen the trauma of people (nearly all women) who’ve been raped. We can only speculate as to whether they were pressured to do so, but the intervention seems likely only to pour petrol on the fire.
In his evidence to a Holyrood inquiry today, having been asked about some troubling WhatsApp messages concerning the case from 2018 which appeared to suggest the possibility of a conspiracy against the former First Minister, Murrell told members of the committee “I’m not on WhatsApp, it’s not a social media platform I use”.
Alert readers will have noticed a very careful use of the present tense there.
We’ve now filed a formal complaint with the Scottish Information Commissioner about this, because what we’d forgotten last week was that our original request was actually sent in September and it’s now been almost 60 working days with no sign of a proper response, not the 20 it’s supposed to take.
Because for some reason the Scottish Government REALLY doesn’t want you to know what the First Minister and Geoff Aberdein talked about in March 2018, and we think that you probably should.
We don’t normally like to devote much time on Wings to things that have been more than adequately covered elsewhere in the media, which is why you haven’t read much here about eg the Internal Market Bill. Unlike some we don’t see much point spending our limited human resources telling people stuff they already know and agree with.
But we’re going to make an exception for this next thing, which was already covered pretty well by Susan Dalgety in last week’s Scotsman, because (a) a lot of our readers, quite reasonably, will have an instinctively adverse reaction to either anything printed in the Scotsman or anything written by Susan Dalgety, and (b) a number of people have asked us to amplify this issue because it’s so important and so awful.
As well as the SNP NEC elections, the weekend saw the election of the first committee of a new grassroots independence organisation which is unfortunately and hopefully temporarily going by the stupendously terrible working name of “Yes Alba”.
15 people were elected to its ruling body by the votes of hundreds of delegates, with the top-ranked picks including SNP MP Angus MacNeil and former SNP MP George Kerevan. The majority of the successful candidates (eight) were female, even though there were no quotas or women-only shortlists imposed, and a wide range of ages was represented from young activists to former UK ambassador Craig Murray.
(We have no idea about any of their sexualities or gender identities, and also no interest in knowing, because those things have not the slightest bearing on their ability to fight for independence and are frankly none of our damn business.)
But that wasn’t good enough for Team Woke.
On a day when Joanna Cherry had a grown-up, reasoned and constructive column in The National calling for unity in the pursuit of independence, the outpouring of snide, sour sneering from a faction still raging with bitterness about being routed on the SNP NEC is instead curdling Twitter even as we speak.
And embarrassingly, not a single one of them has actually bothered to check even the most basic facts.
Iain More on Governing For Beginners: “P.S I forgot to add – Get that fuckin Yank NAZI Boat out of the Moray Firth” Jan 15, 01:12
Charles Findlay on Learning Insanity: “I think bollocks is the only acceptable spelling. Anything else would be bollocks.” Jan 14, 22:44
Charles Findlay on Learning Insanity: “I think bollocks is the only acceptable spelling. To spell it bollox would definitely be bollocks.” Jan 14, 22:43
Watching from afar on Learning Insanity: “Should there not be commas between the adjectives? or hyphens somewhere? 😉 (Sven has already pointed out “upon which they…” Jan 14, 21:20
Kate L on Learning Insanity: ““who like all women share an abiding love of steam engines” almost made me spit out my drink. I’ll thankfully…” Jan 14, 20:59
Sven on Learning Insanity: “How very correct my old friend Northy is in suggesting that folk posting upon public Forums upon which they happen…” Jan 14, 20:20
Northcode on Learning Insanity: ““Free speech should have its limits…” – attributed to Jenny-Anne Bishop OBE by an ITV reporter. I agree. Far too…” Jan 14, 20:01
David G on Learning Insanity: “I know Wings serves varied constituencies, but I do so enjoy these more than the ones about the list vote.…” Jan 14, 19:45
Nae Need! on Learning Insanity: “What a lot of money and status is lauded on these individuals. They are afforded a respect they don’t deserve.…” Jan 14, 19:32
Aidan on Learning Insanity: “Are you seeing if you can bag yourself one last NCHI before they get rid of them Stu? I feel…” Jan 14, 19:29
Young Lochinvar on Learning Insanity: “Mod in the heid.. Why seek or expect sense from the clinically confused?” Jan 14, 19:16
Joan Edington on Learning Insanity: “Sorry to go off topic but that post reminded me of a tattoo parlour shown in a TV series I…” Jan 14, 19:05
Ian McLean on Learning Insanity: “Oddly and quite unusually he does seem to use the singular/plural of woman/women correctly. Is “bollox” an acceptable term for…” Jan 14, 18:52
Gerry Parker on Learning Insanity: “I’m glad I never bothered learning the vocabulary of this particular area of delusion.” Jan 14, 18:36
Campbell Clansman on Learning Insanity: “Question: Who voted to have our taxpayer money fund this mentally-ill nonsense? Who put him/her/it on the HMPPS Board and…” Jan 14, 18:28
Morgatron on Learning Insanity: “Phew, lots going on there. I usually just say how’s it going lad? when i encounter one.” Jan 14, 18:13
agentx on Learning Insanity: “I agree that yesterdays Scottish budget is not worth any attention!” Jan 14, 18:04
Phil Riddel on Learning Insanity: “Thank fuck I’ve retired.” Jan 14, 18:01
Simone on Learning Insanity: “I’m not reading that for fear of a migraine. So thanks for taking (another) one for the team” Jan 14, 17:52
Moley on Learning Insanity: “These people are often told to ‘bring their whole selves to work’. May I not so cordially suggest that they…” Jan 14, 17:40
Iain mhor on Learning Insanity: “I was holding it together until “Biromantics are people who really love pens” and then saw the little graphic at…” Jan 14, 17:31
Stuart MacKay on Learning Insanity: “So, the gender controversy is done and dusted. If you just make it clear your referring to people using their…” Jan 14, 17:28
A2 on Learning Insanity: “Sorry the only thing I’ve taken from this is that it’s harder to get propper Dental treatment than Gender affirming…” Jan 14, 17:27
Graeme on Learning Insanity: “Once again thanks Stu for going through that bollocks so we don’t have to. If I were you I’d book…” Jan 14, 17:09
Iain mhor on Governing For Beginners: “By all the auld gods! What an avalanche of memories there! Haha. I still have the ZX81 in the attic…” Jan 14, 17:02
duncanio on Learning Insanity: “i’VE Got A hEaDAcHe++++++++!!!!” Jan 14, 17:01
James Cheyne on Governing For Beginners: “My doorstep is in Scotland, However that does not mean that I am blind to how the Governance in Britain…” Jan 14, 16:28
Iain More on Governing For Beginners: “I have been watching that Russian oil tanker seized in the Moray Firth for the last day at least off…” Jan 14, 16:01
James Cheyne on Governing For Beginners: “Sometimes we have to see the bigger picture, but prevent ourselves from seeing so far that the distance is to…” Jan 14, 13:55
