Pandora’s Campervan
To tell you the truth, readers, we’re suffering from a little bit of option paralysis at the moment, although happily not in the same way Peter Murrell is.
The endless torrent of revelations following on from Murrell’s conviction a week ago isn’t just fascinating in its own right – it also forces numerous historical issues to be seen in a new light. At any given second there are half-a-dozen different articles we could be writing, but also so many to read that it’s hard to find the time.
We suspect this matter is going to run and run all through the summer silly season because there are simply so many angles and so many unanswered questions.
For example, these baffling stories now merit revisiting.
Details revealed at today’s “narrative hearing” at the High Court mean that the SNP’s stratospheric, ridiculous levels of spending on audio-visuals, office furniture and computer software suddenly make a lot more sense if you view them through a lens of a chief executive with almost unlimited power to spend money without challenge, and who wanted to make a lot of cash vanish in the accounts to conceal the fact that he’d actually spent it all on Lalique salt-and-pepper pots and La Cordonnerie Anglaise intendant valet boxes, whatever the hell those even are.
(UPDATE: It seems to be something for keeping your shoe polish in.)
All of these matters would – you would think – seriously worry the SNP, the ostensible victims of the crime, who’ve lost hundreds of thousands of pounds and seen their supposed political goal damaged beyond repair, yet unfathomably the party appears desperate to avoid discussion of the matter and shows less than no interest in getting to the bottom of how it happened.
John Swinney’s approach – “LA LA LA NOT LISTENING CAN’T HEAR YOU SHUT UP NOW PLEASE” – is ironically the exact same one fatally adopted by Nicola Sturgeon at the time the crimes were taking place.
But no fundamental changes have been made in any of the SNP’s management structures since Murrell’s departure three years ago. The only significant outcome of a 2024 “Governance And Transparency Review” was to make the leader’s position even MORE all-powerful and REDUCE members’ ability to challenge them.
The NEC remains as toothless as it ever did, and that’s assuming there was anyone left in the party with the ability or the gumption to hold the leadership to account anyway, which there isn’t. Which of this list of compliant Sturgeon leftovers and ambitious nobodies do you think is going to risk their own seat on the gravy bus by demanding answers to awkward questions from the leader?
Fear not, though, readers – we’ll have lots (and lots) more on the Sturgeon/Murrell scandal for you in the coming days and weeks. Just as soon as we can figure out where to start.
Cannie wait.
I note the Tommy Sheppard article in The National – “I was on the SNP NEC. This is what went wrong in the party” – that you reference.
TS somewhat negates all the points he makes when he says that a process with “a focus on service delivery, public confidence can be rebuilt” has commenced
“and I trust John Swinney to progress it”.
Stop right there!
Honest John the Redactor Man is precisely NOT the person to be in charge of restoring transparency and integrity in processes and procedures.
McKenna is with you;
“Only when John Swinney and his cronies are forced to resign can decency return to the cause of Scottish independence.”
link to archive.ph
Suddenly rather a lot of things are clicking into place.
Thanks for your fantastic work Stuart.
Your August 2021 challenge about the supposed SNP expenses has often been on my mind and the questions are still unanswered.
The media has bought into the £400k figure that Murrell agreed to plead guilty to and ignores the rest of the money.
Can’t escape the feeling it is all just a game to the perp and the politicians involved, Sturgeon too. The cynicism of these people is breathtaking.
“ .. if you view them through a lens of a chief executive with almost unlimited power to spend money without challenge… “
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But there were challenges, Rev. As you yourself have documented: from Joanna Cherry., Douglas Chapman (elected treasurer) and several NEC members who resigned because Murrell refused to let any of them see expenditure details. In this he was backed up by Nicola Sturgeon. Future challenges of course were also pre-empted by the sinister warning on Teams by Nicola Sturgeon captured on its video.
Why the hell was she not standing beside him in the dock today?
Everyone now understands that the SNP solicited funds to be ‘ringfenced for a future Referendum campaign’, and then used this money instead to pay back borrowed money which had already been spent on a General Election. This was a breach of trust, but not an actual crime, surely?
To Frank-If the funds were used for a different purpose than that which resulted in the donors making their contributions, then at some stage of that process fraudulent intent would seem to have occurred.
I doubt that it is a defence to claim that the intent was originally to use the funds for the purpose which led to people making their donations, but due circumstances, this intent was abandoned with the funds spent on another purpose which donors had no say in and probably would not have contributed to.
Re Frank Waring’s comment, it certainly is a criminal offence to raise money for a specific purpose only to use it for something else. It’s fraud.
Surely a question for COPFS who, in my opinion, have been way too tight with government during Ms Sturgeon’s reign.
absolutely!
The open corruption of the SNP was known prior to the last Holyrood election. And the SNP got returned to power–albeit with a reduced vote. Thus, what incentives do those MSPs have to change course?
It’s easy to see that the only way the SNP MSPs will demand honesty (they aren’t inherently honest) is if the party starts losing some by-elections. If the SNP MSPs get scared about keeping their jobs and perks, they’ll suddenly turn honest–or at least cast out the proven crooks in their party.
The true motive for the conspiracy against Salmond and the treatment of Joanna Cherry also becomes clearer. If either had gotten into power, or a position to trigger Indy Ref 2, then the fraud and embezzlement would have become immediately apparent as the vanished “ringfenced” money would have been needed. The SNP never had any intention of calling Indy Ref2, otherwise Murrell wouldn’t have touched the money.
Salmond / Cherry were an existential threat – Murrell and Sturgeon would have gone to jail. It explains the vindictiveness and ruthlessness that was used.
Probably true … but Sturgeon is naturally vindictive and ruthless … she disna need an excuse!
Exactly.
I also wonder if the deliberate own goal decision to go to the Supreme Court over indyref2 was part of a deal Sturgeon did with the security service spooks in the COPFS to avoid being charged at a later date.
Interesting thought – need to construct a detailed timeline of events starting from when things started to go awry with the SNP 2017 onwards I would say.
I just have a feeling that Mr Murrell dealt with the small beer. Sturgeon was in charge of the ‘national’ stuff. I’m sure there’s a lot more money gone and I’m sure some people have more money than they ‘should’ have – although I don’t KNOW who they are, I can only be suspicious.
The loan repayment to the Weirs allegedly using Indyref2 ring fenced funds is what I want to hear more about, for surely there is criminality in that also.
Exactly! Come on Wingers, there must be a lawyer here who can address this vital point.
They couldn’t have known because Murrell covered his tracks with a sophisticated fraud.
Like coding a robotic lawnmower from a landscape and gardening supplier as ‘legal fees’.
This should have been sown up in less than 3 months, not 5 years.
Excellent, as always, Stuart!
Jester or just a complete and utter idiot Colin Beattie with 1mb of ram for brain power. Who says one thing goes away and comes back with piece of paper in hand given a different story and unable to read whats been written or he can’t read his own written
So many opportunities have missed before, during, after and even now, what is going on?
If funny how people who have spent their whole lives wanting Independence and donating wither its a house or simply £20 because we are Scottish nationalist, UKG or crown prosecution has no interest in conducting a proper investigation or bring these who blatantly at fault to justice.
How obvious is JS making himself by refusing to permit a public inquiry that he just isn’t interested in, because it’ll make him and a whole lot of other people look guilty.
I don’t even believe we have touch the tipping point with regards to what the SNP and its staff have been doing since 2014.
Its should be no public inquiry then return the money that was donated to the SNP.
Is it possible to lodge a petition to Westminster for a judge lead inquiry and the return of the money stolen by the SNP.
It is of course not beyond reason to suspect the entire SNP «staff» of being British intelligence spooks, both knowing and unknowing.
An independent Scotland would be a super mega hit to the gut of the British state consequently an occurrence to be prevented.
The Brits are past masters in dirty trickery, subversion, great gaming etc.
Only the naïve might consider the current events «haphazard».
“The Brits are past masters in dirty trickery, subversion, great gaming”
Indeed, and especially so in the ‘strategic’ colonies where postcolonial theory confirms the constant activity of numerous ‘confidential agents pensioned off at high reward’ (Cesaire).
Whilst historian of imperialism cite the norm of ‘legalized lawlessness’ behind London rule globally (Elkins), including control of the ‘internal colonies’ (Hechter).
But hey, the native can be made to blame all their ills on wee Pete’s £400k pauchle …. meantime £150+ billion is plundered fae Scotland ivery year, aw ‘legal’ an above board!
link to yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com
The unionist media have been wanking themselves blind in excitement over this. And why shouldn’t they? That bastard Murrell handed it to them on a platter. He should never have done so. He knew what would happen if-and-when the media got a hold of it. He’s done a huge deal of (possibly revenge) damage to Scotland, like his ‘wife’.
Alex Salmond knew he would be under incredibly close scrutiny at all times, so kept his behaviour as above-board as he could. Remember him laughing cannily over the excitement his adversaries had over him buying something from a shop called Fun And Games. They thought it was a sex toy seller. It was a children’s toy shop where he bought toys for his nieces. But he knew what would have happened had he been being tacky and sleazy and underhanded. And so he didn’t act like that.
And even Alex made a couple of stupid slips. But he never caused ANY of the chaos that Murrell and Sturgeon – who is STILL going ON AND ON in the media about what a poor put-upon VICTIM she is – have done. They were trusted, they spat on Scotland…and only one of them is paying for it.
“The unionist media have been wanking themselves blind in excitement over this. And why shouldn’t they?”
Well, yes. Why indeed.
CC
Probably because big Unionist politicians receive eye watering donations so are “already in the money”.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not defending the Murrells, far from it, but it looks like they wanted to live something of the high life they saw in politics all around them..
Even the much maligned Weirs only gave a loan. Compare that to £5m “security” bung or BOJO the clowns (short lived) opium den interior decor styling!
The full force of the law should be brought down on all of them, dodgy donations included, till a better class of politician emerges..
Fat chance springs to mind though..
As usual, IMO, the Swiss have it right and referendum major decisions whereas the politico classes here see that as a tediously unnecessary burden on their policy making and implementation..
There’s the problem.
Out of all this, one thing everyone should be thankful for are your unrelenting efforts to shine a light into these dark corners. I’m sure there are lots more things that could be said if there was a ‘1st Amendment’ in the UK.
A few other points –
Perhaps the Amazon driver could shed some light on matters.
Did Nicola not notice all the bog rolls appearing in the house, or perhaps she never went into the toilet?
How can the top legal officer of Scotland be sat around the cabinet table at meetings and not be hearing things, imparting things which would be relevant or sensitive – she would have to recluse herself from pretty much every meeting, email etc.
Could the SNP sue Murrell for return of the money?
There’s probably some nice kitchen equipment in the Portugal villa.
What did Swinney receive from the Sturgeons for Xmas? Perhaps a nice pen.
There are lots of very odd multiples of things on the list – if he needs one where did the others end up?
.
Hi Stuart. Thanks for your excellent Pandora’s Box article.
I’ve been through the 107 pages of items bought by Peter Murrell and the items seem so weird and dissonant, they speak to a need that Murrell appears on an almost pathological path to WASTE the money he embezzled?
The evidence document had a statement that Peter (new pronoun: Pete-The-Prison-Gimp), started embezzling within days of his “marriage” to the Dreghorn-Control-Freak. That’s surely strange timing? Especially as so many of the items were, as you forensically observed via photographs: worn or carried on her person whilst prancing about as the First Minister – Old Nick’s pronoun: “
The aroma of rodent is overwhelming.
Stuart, you mention “Pandora” in your article’s headline.
In the ancient Greek mythology, HOPE was what remained left in Pandora’s Box. Has Gimpy-Pete pinched all hope?
?
In Greek the phrase for hope is elpis.
So it may be that Peter Murrell has taken El Piss for years.
Stuart, please keep FOLLOWING THE MONEY as you WILL find the answers, and the much larger cesspit of GRAVY-TRAIN riders have taken their share of the presents from Pandora Pete.
Whilst Old Nick is going to get spit roasted in all forms of media, legacy, print, online, BTL online, by angry voters, from now until the end of time.
“I’ve been through the 107 pages of items bought by Peter Murrell”
Keep in mind that BBC list excludes all the stuff he didn’t agree to plead guilty to. Like I say, all just a game to people like Murrell.
Begs the questuon, why did the Crown feel they had to agree to a deal? Could they not have proved theur case?
“Begs the question, why did the Crown feel they had to agree to a deal? Could they not have proved their case?
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To save money?
I suspect the bargaining strategy of the defence was to bid down the guilty plea to under £500,000 – an unofficial benchmark for a very long prison sentence.
The longer they drew out this process , the greater their fee income and the greater the budgetary pressure on COPFS to cut a deal.
Cause then people have to talk, under oath.
& They can’t have that sort of thing. It’d be unpredictable who’d blab.
“Begs the questuon, why did the Crown feel they had to agree to a deal? Could they not have proved theur case?”
There’s always a risk of going to trial, even with a strong case, witnesses can be unreliable and say something nobody was anticipating. Evidence can be excluded or new evidence can appear. I haven’t seen the evidence but it may have been possible they were concerned Mr Murrell’s counsel could persuade the jury that some of the larger items (e.g. the vehicles) were at least in part legitimate expenses (or might have been if procured properly), therefore reducing the value of the embezzlement and/or reducing to the less serious charge of uttering/false accounting.
I think it’s fair to say that the deal is not at all favourable to Mr Murrell, so I’m not surprised the crown office took it. To be honest, I was more surprised that Mr Murrell wasn’t prepared to take his chances at trial. It’s a wretched way to spend your 70’s; in prison and then broke and a social pariah.
If you’re part-head honcho of a party, and don’t like being so, with your wife being the main (s)limelight-dweller…and if you’re living a lie in being married to her…stealing from the party’s rank and file faithful is a way of getting back at them, for trusting you and her in the first place.
It’s a kind of subconscious, subtle self-loathing, mixed with a kitsch baroque magpie personality, and just being a slimy thieving cunt in general…there’s a few things to think about. Right or wrong? Who knows. He was certainly spitting on the party and country by stealing from SNP members anyway. Which in itself says a helluva lot about his worthless, utterly scummy mentality.
Getting interesting as the extent and timing of the control failures by Beattie and Sturgeon that favoured Murrell’s criminality are exposed. Basic internal control was in the Finance rules including the registered Treasurer to “put in place accounting processes capable of meeting the Act’s (Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000) accounting record keeping requirements”.
The Finance and Audit Committee rules include “In the event that budgeted, unbudgeted, or unauthorised expenditure is incurred without the proper procurement processes, both regulatory and corporate, being complied with then FAC, through National Treasurer, shall submit a report to the NEC detailing any material breaches of regulatory and good corporate governance.”
The basic controls were there they just were not operated. One wonders how the auditors failed to see this from 2018!
As to those in the NEC that could challenge, Peter Grant was, I believe, a qualified internal auditor with Fife Council before a politician so should be able to make the challenge to Swinney’s indifference.
Who were the Sloggi knickers for?
PUBLIC FUNDS
£8,143,658.37 in Short Money from the House of Commons
£2,437,821.47 in policy development grants from the Electoral Commission
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I thought the Short Money went into separate FINANCIAL accounts – SNP Westminster group. But is it in the same SNP BANK Account which Murrell had access to ?
There was an interesting article in the Sunday Times, part of which outlined the Swinney/Murrell connection from their schooldays, church & Boys’ Brigade activities.
link to archive.is
Don’t forget Honest John appointed his old school/church/BB chum Murrell to the CEO position in 2001. Undoubtedly, Petey was the best candidate…
With only 4 miles on the camper van it should make a good price at auction. But, I am left with the image of Pete sat behind the wheel of it, still on his mum’s drive, going ‘brumm, brumm’ like Toad from Wind in the Willows.
Sturgeon forced to answer for herself on national TV, with crocodile tears, only to turn round and say what have I got to be sorry for.
What ever surplus money the SNP got he or them just spent it on what ever they wanted, wither it was needed or wanted.
Given that the motor home was never used, and stuffed full of ‘luxury’ goods, you can’t help thinking that Murrell has serious psychological issues. Which is no excuse, but only provokes further bafflement that a) he was in sole charge of the books, and b) that nobody else, specifically Sturgeon, noticed his behaviour, and allowed him to remain in place, while blocking any oversight into this ridiculous spending.
Nothing about it at all adds up, or gives a picture of competent, responsible people ostensibly running an administration. It’s not just ‘oversight’, or ‘ I didnae know’, it is catastrophic failure to run even a basic operation which has accountability, transparency and legitimacy – if you have ever run a bowls club, or any small organisation which involves public liabilities, then you will know that any such entity requires these basic functions, with responsibilities usually handed out to a treasurer, a president and/or a board. This is basic, bedrock public organisation, providing accountability and transparency to any donors, subscribers or just members.
Yet, at the level of Scottish Government ruling party, with large amounts of public money circulating, there was no such comparable setup, or system of checks and balances which any conscientious person who wished to demonstrate their integrity, would welcome and understand the need for.
It is incomprehensible that this was the case, given that parties have lawyers at their disposal, but apparently it was. Excuses about not knowing, or pretending that Murrell was a lone wolf, are utterly inadequate, not to say, not remotely credible. I am not surprised that the police recommended Sturgeon should be prosecuted too, because she was responsible in law for the oversight of the operation, including of course, its accounts – whatever she knew or didn’t know. Is it legal to sign off accounts which haven’t been checked or subject to basic scrutiny? That is why their own accountants resigned after all. Walking away and blaming ‘men’ is the lowest form of evasive, red herring tripe and if she has the slightest remorse, or integrity, she would accept that, as chief officer of the party, the blame rests with her and her incompetence at noticing, detecting or acting on others suspicions. That is a duty, not a choice, or some kind of fantasy.
I am beginning to wonder what psychological issues of her own Sturgeon had, which would make her an accomplice in this tawdry, squalid scheme, or at least its cover-up. No intelligent person would consider for a moment that you wouldn’t be found out with this kind of scam, not to mention it had no ostensible purpose other than hoarding and abuse of party supporters. There is something darkly unpleasant about the whole saga, so pointless and damaging, so low and so corrupt. To what end? To live high on the hog for a while? They are beginning to look like pound shop Trumps, all front, while they frantically pile up designer goods as a shield for their inadequacies.
Murrell was CEO of SNP from 2001.
Murrell married Sturgeon in July 2010
The offences started 12 August 2010.
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Does any one else find this to be beyond co-incidence?
Oh my god, the awful BBC has finally named you and Wings for breaking this story.
Wonders will never cease! You deserve every accolade for what you’ve done!
Incidentally, when those figures for ‘audio visual’ came out, I remember trying to compile a realistic invoice for a conference with a sound system and a screen/projector. Even with generous allowances, I couldn’t get it above £2000 – and that would be over market price.. Even if you bought the whole kit, you would be unlikely to spend more than ten times that, probably more like five times.
So how they could claim a bill of hundreds of thousands is beyond any realistic scenario, unless they built an entirely new state of the art auditorium. Which I don’t think hiring a hall in Aberdeen which you couldn’t even fill qualifies as.
Why embezzle a camper van and never use it?
agentx says:
2 June, 2026 at 3:25 pm
Murrell was CEO of SNP from 2001.
Murrell married Sturgeon in July 2010
The offences started 12 August 2010.’
standard operating method – get someone else to do it for me?
There are two reasons I can see. The first is that he planned to use it but people started asking awkward questions. The second is that he developed some sort of mental condition which caused him to steal compulsively. We had that here in NC when a local government department was required to accept payment for certain services only in cash. So several employees, including the one in charge of the office took advantage of that. The senior employee stole $1 million. The difference here is that she was raised by her grandparents, who grew up in the depression. She never spent a penny of the money and made full restitution on the day she was sentenced to five-seven years in state prison. She served precisely five years plus a year of probation.
Of course, this does not explain the other purchases. It seems to me a lot of them were gifts. That may point to further mental issues. None of this is to excuse what he did, which was to abuse the trust of independence supporters worldwide. He deserves a long prison sentence.
It’s difficult to put into words the appreciation for, and admiration of, the sheer volume and depth of work being presented by Stu on this blog.
Current MSM headline ‘news’ exposures being depicted are, of course, variations of articles we’ve been reading on Wings for some years, and which are belatedly being given odd crumbs of recognition at national level.
We shall know in a couple of weeks’ time whether, and to what extent, the exposure of these scandals has penetrated the cognisance of Aberdeen South and Arbroath and Broughty Ferry electorates when the results of their by-elections are announced.
On the upside, Aberdeen is likely to give SNP a real kicking, downside a Tory victory, but Arbroath not so clear as in 2024 it was marginal between SNP and Labour, both a long way clear of the others, yet prior to recent boundary changes it was always a straight fight between SNP and Tory.
Neither result will give tangible cheer to Indy supporters, but an SNP trouncing will pile on the woes and pressure which must soon result in unmanageable cracks appearing.
Ebok: « It’s difficult to put into words the appreciation for, and admiration of, the sheer volume and depth of work being presented by Stu on this blog. »
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Seadh dìreach! Hear Hear!
Is it not more likely that this excess of pointless bling purchasing and overspend on office refurbishment is a way to disguise the taking of brown envelopes on a large scale? Or money laundering in plain language
I would imagine the ringfenced fund misuse is the tip of a fatburger of corruption .It would certainly explain why Murrell is prepared to be the fall guy for this .
Well, I can recall with interest Craig Murray stating there may have been something bigger in the mix when the “authorities” started investigating.
Gupta / GFG / SIMEC / Greenshill Capital UK.
link to archive.is
“Sites were visited across England, Scotland and Wales.“
That Tommy Sheppard article
He (now) knows exactly what went wrong yet seems to have no recognition of being 1 of the nodding dogs who went along with it all and no sense that he should have done something about it. And now recommends “trust Swinney”. Seems to have learnt nothing. Apart from staying quiet to keep on the gravy train.
Heard today that Murrell and Swinney have been friends since childhood,any truth in that?
Got the answer above at 2.23
He told reporters that there had been a “colossal breach of trust”.
Swinney said that while the party’s systems were “robust”, there had “not been in every respect adequate controls in place”.
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What an absolute fucking idiot – for God’s sake this stupid guy is in charge of a Country!!!!!!
“this stupid guy is in charge of a Country!”
Correction, he is heading up a colonial administration which by its very nature and task (i.e. to under-develop the country) is inevitably going to be ‘mediocre’ (Memmi).
I have no interest in your colonialism rubbish.
Swinney is in charge of Scotland – a Country.
Good one Alf. That’ll bring the post-imperial sentimentalists out.
Spot on, Alf.
The usual suspects disagree.
For obvious reasons.
“Swinney is in charge of Scotland – a Country.”
He isn’t FFS! Else we’d have had a referendum years ago & failed Swinney wouldn’t have been a shoo-in.
He oversees a Westminster puppet administration & don’t worry, whoever takes over next will still be a Westminster puppet administration because yer colonised.
The City of London shafts you on a daily basis out of billions in revenues but look at you getting all uppity over a few thousand LOL! Swinney isn’t in charge of anything. Lobbyists are. Corporations run the UK through lobbyists. Lobbyists buy/bribe politicians to push their own policies. They do it or they’re deselected for the next election. Only useful fools scale the political ladder. That’s how this pantomime works. They all work for the same set of unelected aresholes behind the scenes.
As leader, he’s responsible for his political party & I’m not even sure he even has that.
Everyone & their dug complained Murrell shouldn’t be in charge with Sturgeon.
Swinney is a useless hen pecked fud & just as bad as they were cause he was a lackey that did as he was told & still is. He should’ve stuck to making the tea & his redacting pen. He only remains in position cause he knows where the skeletons are. Imagine if he’d have been called to the stand lol He’d have folded in two seconds flat.
Geri
Maybe that’s why church-man Swinney has blocked an independent enquiry..
More important than all of this. PayPal Kavanagh is off sick again.
Dig deep and click on that donate button on his site to give generously.
Woo hoo! Just seen you on stv news. Fantastic!
If ever there was an embodiment of the saying “the truth will out” it’s you, Stu!
I hope the Rev will post it for us all to see – I can’t find it yet. All I’m seeing is clips of reporters just talking about the embezzlement, and Swinney saying how shocked he is, and they have robust procedures in place now. What a fraud he is.
“What an absolute fucking idiot – for God’s sake this stupid guy is in charge of a’Country!”
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Please don’t be unkind.
He also has a large gravy train with 58 passengers to keep on track!
Rev
I would have told them to eff off for referring to your site as “controversial”!
We all know who that was said for the benefit of in order to be permitted to get airtime.
I thought Grace Mugabe, sorry Peter Murrell, look quite untroubled in court. Then I remembered the missing quarter of a million on the indictment. If I was plod then I would be keeping a close eye on him when he gets out from whatever risible sentence he is given. Assuming he is even jailed.
If you could help me out here – do I recall something being said along the lines of ‘we’re standing down from the post of Finance Committee because we are not allowed to see ‘the books’ and if there are any discrepancies, we could lose our homes in order for the losses to be recouped’… or words to that effect, when three of the Committee and a Treasurer (Douglas Chapman) stepped down? And when Beattie ‘stepped up’ to wind the money through the accounts? And if I got that right, would that mean that the new Finance and Audit Committee and new Treasurer can now be held responsible for the missing funds? After all, THEY were the ones that have technically become responsible for not seeing that ‘the books’ balanced and that the funds were actually in place as reported by the Treasurer.
I could almost admire the bare-faced, brass-necked cheek of Beattie and Swiney to say ‘Its in the past and we should all move on’ – if it wasn’t for the fact I was one of those who contributed to the ‘Ring-fenced’ Independence fun. (Note: I said ‘almost’…) Obviously neither Beattie or Swiney contributed anything to the ‘Ring-Fenced’ funds? Or perhaps they’re too well paid to care that the money has been taken without authorisation by the Finance and Audit Committee and is okay with ‘moving on’?? Oh that we could ALL rationalise our financiall loss in such a way…
I am absolutely gob-smacked how Beattie & Swiney can stand and say, ‘We don’t even need ££1/2m sooo… let’s just call it a day on it, okay?’ NO. I want to know where my donation ended up and while perhaps the ‘ring-fenced’ money was purloined to the sum of £400,000 – where the heck is the other £200,000?? Or is that too, too paltry a sum to worry about? Is there nothing those two can be caught doing, that would push their ethics and/or (lack of, more like!) ethics to say, ‘We’re firing ourselves, so that we’re not entitled to… any kind of entitlements?? No… thought not. Stupid question, I know.
Imagine being like those two. Imagine not caring a rat’s ass what people thought of you, your character or your morals? Imagine sailing through life, taking advantage of millions of people and when caught, pals telling those millions of people to ‘move on’. Remember when con artists were jailed? What happened??? Oh yes…organisations like COPFS were put in place… yeah… those were the days…
Anyone who buys three very expensive coffee machines and other sundry luxury goods as multiples has something wrong with him or her. They were both earning high salaries, so, for some thing, I’m not surprised that she did not twig.
What really needs to be pinpointed is not that Sturgeon and Murrell were leader/FM and Chief Executive (although, maybe, not wise) but the whole non working audit and accountability systems for keeping checks and balances re the finances.
I, personally, wouldn’t have put down Sturgeon’s NEC outburst down to having discovered her husband’s duplicity, but, rather, that she had been caught out in other ways re the disposal of the monies that should have been ring-fenced for a referendum campaign.
That doesn’t let her off the hook because she ran the SNP like Stalin’s granny and sidelined anyone who questioned her methods and the party’s finances. Which should have rung bells. It was this more than any other single factor that allowed to happen that which did happen.
Had she come clean and said, if it’s true, that Colin and Christine Weir needed their loans to be repaid and that the SNP did not have the funds ordinarily, then, perhaps, members would not have reacted as they did.
Not trying to make excuses for her or for him – they were both complicit in hounding Salmond, but there is something very wrong with both, but especially him. Did the strain of living in a ‘lavender’ marriage cause a mental breakdown? Whatever, they have, between them, destroyed the trust of most of those who never saw them as the golden couple, but who had hopes for the future of Scotland.
“…. like Stalin’s granny …. “
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There is a real blast from the past!
It is usually applied to rather abrasive Labour women. Most recently, in our own bailiwick , to Helen Liddell.
Sturgeon is a fitting inheritor of the soubriquet.
Lorncal
I used to hold your comments in high regard.
But;
Sigh..
You just can’t help yourself.
If she didn’t “know” it’s because the control freak deliberately looked the other way and instructed others to do the same or your out..
Just stop it eh?
Reading this link to wingsoverscotland.com again, better informed by the additional learnings of the last year is interesting.
Perhaps it is worth updating?
A 24′ campervan parked along the side of a house somehow never came up in the conversation when Nicola and peter visited.
Also was there a budget meeting to discuss annual spending ?
How come nobody asked where the new computers were ?
Whose thinking that this whole sordid episode is going to be made into a TV show by Channel 5 next year like that recent Huw Edwards drama?
Wouldn’t surprise me that’s why Sturgeon is down in London now getting in the middle of it as quickly as possible.
I am as excited, can’t wait Stu.
The thing that really makes my piss boil, is that We now know for 100% certain that the people who lead the SNP (probably including Sturgeon + Swinney) had to make sure there was not a Referendum On Scottish Independence, lest the fraud be exposed.
They spent the funds because they knew they would never need it anyway.
They were and will continue to be compromised.
Indeed, to my mind, there never was any intention from 2014 onwards to do anything about a referendum or independence by any other route. Every decision taken presupposed that independence or even an independence campaign would never happen. How else can you account for the SNP 1 & 2? Quite deliberate stymying of independence – and that reeks of complicity in the workings of the British state. Several people in top positions will have been placed there to ensure it never happened.
It has come back to bite the a**e of the SNP, as the same dodge has ensured, down in England, that topics such as immigration, the state of the economy, etc. are never raised seriously by the governing party. There are elites who are even more elite than the elites we see. Anyone hear the debate on the EHRC today? All about the poor ‘trans’ women, almost nothing about women and girls. So, basically, they are asking for clarification of the clarification of the EHRC clarification on the Supreme court clarification. Like SNP 1 & 2, it has become a means of shutting down anything about which the public actually wants to hear.
The incompetence and downright stupidity in both parliaments is so deep now, it will take a JCB to dig out the roots of the horse manure that passes for serious debate. Something big and fundamental is happening in England, though. The English are not like us and they won’t just take it all on the chin.
Prof Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director of the Royal United Services Institute, said the Scottish National Party (SNP) would be forced to rely on the British Armed Forces for decades if it ever secures independence. The Scottish Government last week unveiled plans for defence in an independent Scotland that included the creation of a separate Scottish military. But Prof Chalmers said such a force would have to grow “under the protection of” and remain “very closely integrated” with the British Armed Forces. “There’s no suggestion (in the paper) that all UK forces will ever withdraw,” he said. “They say our most enduring security partnership will be with the UK. “So to me that suggests that after 20 years of independence, there will still – if there’s a need to do so – there’ll still be UK conventional forces on Scottish soil.”
The Telegraph
17 March 2024
Total bullshit!
Which is presupposed on the assumption that Scotland militarily will continue militarily along the lines of current and ongoing UK policy.
Go neutral, that’ll make them sh1t themselves and as I keep saying use the Swiss defence model as let’s face it, for the last god only knows how many centuries the only (serious/ realistic) threat of invasion has been from England.
They aren’t our pals unless it’s on their terms..
Remember Tories extolling airport carpet bombing in 2014 if we secured independence?
Says it all.
LOL I guess WW2 didn’t happen then YL?
How would you also protect Scotland’s offshore oil/gas and wind assets from sabotage? Scotland’s airspace from incursion etc. Ireland likes to also pretend it’s neutral, whilst of course enjoying the protection of the U.K. armed forces. There’s no such thing as neutral.
YL; Well said, sir.
How does the Netherlands, or Denmark, or Norway or [insert any country here] protect themselves and their assets from from interference without England’s help? How on earth can they manage?
Adrian and his cretinous, unionist warmongering buddies can divert, divide and disrupt as much as they want. But we see them.
GTF with your illegal wars and shove Trident up your rear estuary.
Yet again James making a total tit of himself demonstrating he knows absolutely nothing about any subject, so let’s have a wee look at some facts:
– The UK and Norway have a very close military relationship;
– The UK has a military base near Tromsø where upto 1,000 marines (rising to 2,500 in the next few years) are deployed at any one time
– The RAF and the Norwegian military do joint training exercises regularly, the last one was two days ago
– The U.K. and Norway signed the Lunna House Agreement in December this year which sets up a joint seaborne defence force using British-built frigates, in the Arctic. One of the main purposes is to protect Norway’s critical infrastructure.
– Again this December, the U.K. and Norway signed an important intelligence sharing agreement.
Go and read some books mate. You’re only making an idiot of yourself here.
the UK armed forces are decrepit and incapable of having a square go with a field of pikeys
– it is not because they don’t spend a lot of money on it; they do, but it is all designed to enrich defence contractors – it is all gucci kit too expensive to use, based on an outdated idea of the “big one” against the soviet union. The imperial fantasy of being able to do force projection is also folly. Iran concentrates on defence – loads of excellent missiles – and it holds the US and its owner at bay.
the UK nukes are a con – a rental from the yanks which we don’t have independent use of. Their last 2 tests failed. The subs hulls have worn out and can be heard all over the atlantic.
the UK is fuckall, and all these fantasies – SAS, special forces, aircraft carriers – is a hangover from the imperial era; the empire ended at suez and the cancellation of blue streak, the v bombers and the independent nuke; they bought polaris
in ww2, anytime it was close to an even fight, the allies got their arses handed to them by the germans; we won that one because the nazis ran out of petrol; the brits typically do best when shooting with guns people armed with spears
in the last military exercise, a bunch of yookies turned up with their drones and routed everyone – and I don’t think they are the A team
what does exist is NATO, which really means “USA and chums”; USA, what? 10 carrier battle groups, 10 trident subs, stealth bombers, the worlds 2 most powerful airforces, 7000 nukes, 700 bases around the world, the satellites and vast signals processing infrastructure to run it – that is the “defensive” alliance you are part of, that is what is doing the heavy lifting. Trump recently humiliated the UK about all this, and he was right. It’s like you were in a band, a ska band with 20 members, and you are 3rd backing singer – its fuckall and no one cares, if you left, no one would notice.
the only importance of the UK is the SOSUS network, which means Scotland, since they need somewhere to plug the cable in; with near absolute certainty, an indy Scotland would remain in NATO (until we had a referendum to leave)
Aidan – you are fucking halfwit mate – why don’t you go off and have a wank to a Commando comic – that is the level of your discourse, ya tit
Joint training, eh? Ooooooooooh!
Piss off.
Alright James – you’ve been made to look stupid, don’t let’s have a tantrum. It’s your own fault.
Yes AI Dun
WW2 happened.
Operation Sealion however didn’t as the Germans barges option wasn’t really that bright and would probably have struggled (this the important bit) in invading across even the short stretch of the English Channel never mind the North Sea.
Of course North Sea infrastructure would require protection, what we wouldn’t need was to conflate that with controlling the gap between us and Iceland to track Russian submarines as part of the big nuclear “game”.
And we wouldn’t have to waste money such as developing underwater drones seemingly destined for South Pacific waters and all other projectionist showboating and general interference where it’s none of our business.
Read up on the Gosport defences, built in the hysteria of an imagined French invasion which of course never materialised.
The UK military is a hollowed out husk compared to back in my time, and there was overstretch problems even then.
Now?
Well AI Dun I give you the example of deploying HMS Dragon recently.
World beating eh?
Look in a mirror, petal. Your Tory is showing.
Oh my god you called me a Tory, what a brilliant retort, off to the burns unit I go.
Honestly what a sad little man. No intellectual argument and no patter either. Usually people have one of those two!
Well Aidan
When exactly was the UK last invaded?
Serious now. Not small raids, full on invasion?
WW2?
Nope, Operation Sealion was an infeasible non starter and that was only across the channel, not the North Sea.
WW1?
Nope.
19th century?
Nope. Palmerstons follies is interesting reading about a non existent invasion threat.
18th century.
Nope. Jacobite support from the continent was fairly small scale.
17th century.
William of Oranges invasion was by invitation
16th century.
Relentless invasions of Scotland by England.
The Armada.
Do I need to keep going till we get to the Normans and Vikings?
Yes, protect North sea infrastructure.
Cover the movements of subs crossing the Iceland gap; nope.
Ditto airspace.
It’s really not that difficult or are you proposing we are too wee poor, and stupid?
And fyi; the UKs military is a hollowed out husk from what it was in my day. Remember the HMS Dragon deployment pantomime?
I rest my case..
“When exactly was the UK last invaded?”
Dunno exactly. I don’t keep track of the weather in the Channel.
But every day the wind drops and the swell subsides there’s a few hundred or so invaders.
It has been like that for most of the 21st Century.
ISTR that SNP MSPs and MPs were each required to donate £250 per month from their salaries to cover SNP HQ costs. If my calculations are correct, that amounts to circa £2.6 million during the time between the levy being introduced in January 2015 and Murrell’s resignation in March 2023. I wonder how they are feeling about Murrell’s spending spree? Some MSPs and MPs might have contributed close to £25,000 each. I expect that the party whips will ensure their silence.
Just a thought. I wonder if anyone has considered that the alphabeties or Liz Lloyd has been in receipt of gifts by fraudulent means. Unknowingly, obviously.
A
I’ve already mentioned that..
And what do they do?
Sling it (if not already done) and pretend it never happened, or sh1t themselves and hold onto it, re-gift wrapped saying it was a present from “they didn’t know who” so left it wrapped..
Quality Polis Toshan will have heard it all so many times before..
However; what happened “Honest John” to the ring fenced public donations towards an independence campaign that started this all off and that Branchform appears to have neatly sidestepped??
Why on earth hasn’t most of this money been recovered or is in the process of being recovered?
Surely at worst the camper van would be considered brand new with 4 miles on it and be worth £100,000 minimum? The Jaguar car £50,000?
The Luxury watches and pens etc at even half their purchase price would raise £50,000.
Murrell must have money in the bank and in investments as he had a six figure salary while he spent SNP money and Sturgeon would be paying her share of the bills.
He must have a very nice SNP pension in place that must now be cashed in.
Their home must be worth around £350,000 so half would be his share.
Lastly he loaned £107,000 to SNP so he won’t be getting that back.
The £400,000 stolen appears to be recoverable but will we be allowed access to see what became of these assets?
Congratulations on being interviewed by STV. It’s almost as if you’re being treated as a (gasp) actual journalist, after all the years of abuse directed at you and Wings.
Top down, obsessed with authority, control and secrecy. All heads in trough, shoulder to shoulder, hungrily gulping it down with one eye and part of tongue on dear leader and no thought or mention of Indy anywhere. Easy to see why this could happen. Also state and media sponsored and abetted. But hey, fool us once…
Well done Wings, you deserve credit for bring the biggest Story in Scotland for some time.
I watched you on STV making the point about Sturgeon, its a pity you didn’t have a hour, you could have really let lose on her tenure as FM.
You’ve written your name in history books Stuart. The Story was there as was the evidence for any decent reporter willing to get of their arse and challenge the SNP and Sturgeon.
Even now it seem more important for Scottish reporters to invited to press meetings rather than ask the question that need asking.
Let’s think back to 2019 in terms of political events:
– there was likely to be a UK General Election coming up in the next year;
– there was certainly to be a Scottish Parliament election in the next year;
– there could very well have been another referendum on Brexit; and
– there was an expectation in some quarters that there might even be another Scottish independence referendum.
Yet in that time the SNP’s finances were quickly going from quite healthy to significant financial trouble, and nobody thought to question or investigate why this was and whether it was prudent to be spending lots of money given the upcoming political events. Often when “internal controls” are discussed, this is in the context of huge organisations with a multi-billion pound turnover, where even a significant fraud barely dents the accounts. Here we are basically talking about someone draining all of the parties money, and nobody found out or thought to question that?