Progress to nowhere
Alert readers may be familiar with the market research and polling company Progress Scotland. Readers of The National certainly will be, as the semi-newspaper has run over 120 stories about it, most of them around the company’s creation in early 2019.
The company was formed by Angus Robertson, at the time an unemployed former SNP MP after he lost his Moray seat in the 2017 election, and its stated goal was to persuade those not yet fully decided.
Progress Scotland launched at a quiet time for polling. There hadn’t been a poll on independence for two months by 3 February 2019, and there wouldn’t be another until two months later. Both showed support at 47%.
Four years later, the average of every poll held in 2023 is… 47%. (Which is also the figure returned by the two most recent ones.)
It’s a familiar number to Wings readers.
People invested a lot of money in Progress Scotland. Within days of launch, Robertson was claiming to have signed up “thousands” of subscribers, at recommended rates of between £3 and £12 a month.
Despite wading through most of those 120+ National articles, Wings has been unable to find any more specific numbers than that. But let’s make a conservative estimate and say “thousands” means just 3000, and let’s assume for the sake of argument that most people went for the middle suggestion of £6 a month.
That’s a warchest of a not-insignificant £216,000 a year.
The month after the company launched, Robertson said he was “totally focused on my work with my new venture Progress Scotland”, rather than a rumoured attempt to contest the Edinburgh Central seat at Holyrood for the SNP.
But the rumours were true, and after Joanna Cherry was controversially prevented from running in the seat in 2020 by an SNP rule change – widely seen as an attempt to keep her at Westminster and therefore stymie any ambitions she might have of succeeding Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister – Robertson duly secured the nomination and was elected in May 2021.
Earlier that year the firm had nevertheless asserted that it was “stepping up its polling and research work”. Those unspecified thousands of subscribers had seemingly helped it “establish a substantial research pool of key voters”, particularly targeting the supposedly persuadeable.
Dozens of subscribers contacted by Wings tell us that they received almost nothing in the way of communications from the company telling them what was being done with their money. (Although they did get bombarded with emails if they asked to cancel their subscriptions.)
However, when one of them contacted the company in August 2021 to ask what their subs were being spent on, they did receive a commendably detailed reply from someone called “Peter”, which among other things revealed that at that point Progress Scotland hadn’t commissioned a public poll in 10 months.
(Click pic to read the full email.)
No surname was given for Peter, and the PS website has only ever identified Angus Robertson and Mark Diffley as its staff, but Wings is prepared to lay a very substantial bet that he was in fact Peter Dempsie, brother of Robertson’s wife Jennifer.
Dempsie’s LinkedIn page states that from February 2019 until April 2022 he worked as “Head Of Communications and Engagement” for a “Market research and public opinion polling” company in Edinburgh, which curiously he doesn’t name.
It also lists one of his previous employers as Spey, the PR firm run by Jennifer Dempsie (currently Jennifer Robertson, although the grapevine tells us a change there is imminent).
Angus Robertson’s public register of interests as an MSP states that he hasn’t done any work for Progress Scotland in almost two years.
The company is only required to post “micro accounts”, which contain very little detail. The most recent ones filed go up to November 2020 and state that the firm’s average number of employees from its formation until that point was 1, which we must assume to be Peter Dempsie.
(There should have been 2021 accounts by now, but last year the company applied to move its year-end from November to May for unknown reasons.)
A couple of obvious questions arise from that fact:
(1) If Dempsie was the only employee, on what basis was the sole director, Angus Robertson, being paid? He specifically notes in the Register Of Interests that he expects to receive money “for work completed”, rather than as dividends from profits, so was he a freelance contractor for his own company?
(2) If Robertson stopped working for Progress Scotland in May 2021 and Dempsie stopped in April 2022, that means it has no employees and is conducting no trading activities. So who is the current recipient of subscriptions still being paid to the company and what’s being done with them?
We know that subs are still active, and the website is still live – the first words on the front page are “SUPPORT US TODAY” with a link to the also-still-live subscriptions page, so a company with no staff is soliciting and gathering money with no discernible purpose.
The site has only been updated once since Peter Dempsie’s departure – a piece from November last year about comments by Prof. Matt Qvortrup. (At the bottom of it is another solicitation for money despite the firm having no staff at this point.)
The last actual research published by Progress Scotland was the October 2020 poll referenced by Peter Dempsie in his email, conducted for the company by Survation. It was a large poll, with double the normal sample size (2,093 people) and 40 questions. Based on our extensive experience of commissioning polls, we’d estimate the cost of it at around £15-20,000.
Survation also ran a standard-sample two-question poll for PS in January 2020 (estimated cost £3-4000), a double-sample 32-question one in October 2019 (est £12-15,000), a standard-sample three-question one in June 2019, (£3-4000), and a double-sample 23-question one in March 2019 (est £10-12,000).
So in over four years, we estimate Progress Scotland’s total expenditure on public polls at less than £50,000. If for the sake of argument we assume a 20% drop-off in subscribers every year (which would be a high churn rate, given how hard people told us it was to actually cancel), it’s taken in something just shy of £650,000 in that time.
An unaccounted-for £600,000 is also a figure that may be familiar to Wings readers.
Now, that line is a joke we couldn’t resist. And the email from Peter Dempsie notes that published polls were followed up with one or two private ones. But even if that’s true it would only account for another £100K max. That still leaves an awful lot of cash unaccounted for, and the opaqueness of the money given to Progress Scotland, who and where it came from and what was done with it is a much more serious matter. Because there’s no evidence trail for any of it.
It can’t be found in the accounts of the company itself, which refer to trivial sums of a few thousand. Robertson stopped working for PS as soon as he became an MSP, conveniently freeing him of any obligation to disclose any sums he may have paid himself. The company’s only known employee doesn’t even name it on his CV, although he’s happy to identify everyone else he’s ever worked for.
(Amusingly given the SNP’s current circumstances, the other company Robertson names on his Register Of Interests, ASCR Ltd – presumably actually himself, Angus Struan Carolus Robertson – describes the nature of its business as dealing in “management consultancy activities, other than financial management”.)
That only leaves us with Progress Scotland’s other named member, its “research and polling adviser” Mark Diffley.
Diffley’s bio on the Progress Scotland website directs us to his own company, The Diffley Partnership Limited, which despite its name only has one officer – Mark Diffley.
(Although a minority of its shares are held by Charlotte Street Partners Limited, a name Wings readers may recognise as the vaguely-purposed consultancy formed by, among others, Andrew Wilson, author of the SNP’s infamous Growth Report.)
The Diffley Partnership’s first accounts, made up to April 2018, showed the company (then called Mark Diffley Consultancy And Research) with just £19,361 in net assets.
After another year of trading that had increased to only £32,990.
But a year later, after hooking up with Progress Scotland, that figure had rocketed spectacularly up to a hefty £163,347.
And another year later, by the time Progress Scotland had stopped commissioning opinion polls, TDPL’s assets were at £267,569.
For the avoidance of doubt: Wings Over Scotland is no accountant, has no knowledge of Mark Diffley’s business, and makes absolutely no allegations of any sort of impropriety against either Mark Diffley or Angus Robertson.
But we do find ourselves concerned about the complete lack of transparency regarding the finances of Progress Scotland. How many subscribers did it have? Why, unlike most political crowdfunding – including all of Wings’ – is there no paper or digital trail of any sort indicating who or where its money came from? We can think of no good reason for that information to have been concealed unless the source was other than what it was claimed to be.
Even its own evasive statements suggest that it raised a very large sum of cash, which there is little evidence for the disbursal of. How much of the money actually produced research and how much was paid to company officers and employees? Why is a company with no staff still receiving money and soliciting for more, and what will happen to that money?
And why did Angus Robertson, having spent the last few years manoeuvering himself into position as the natural heir to Nicola Sturgeon and being the odds-on favourite with the bookies, then suddenly decline to even stand for the position when the moment came?
The one thing we know for sure is that all of it produced no results. For all that cash and all that expert analysis, support for independence is exactly where it was the day Progress Scotland launched four and a bit years ago. It’s been a very expensive ride, but unlike “Air Miles Angus”, it didn’t go anywhere.
Tick tock Mr Marmalade. Tick tock…..
Oh dear me smells the smell of corruption.
So much a parallel to a certain couple of Murrells.
When will thus pair of less than genuine people get karma.
Just when you think we have reached the bottom of the murky pit, you realise there is such a long way to go.
With the on going Police investigation into the top of the SNP, of which I will say nothing at the moment, and with everything else that drips out I can only say….I definitely smell shite.
Apologies to our more gentle readers for the rough language… however experience tells me if it smells like shite it generally is shite.
SNP putting Scottish Labour to shame in the smell of shite stakes well done guys.
If he’s a crook, hopefully he’ll get his comeuppance
Stu,
I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding. I think you are causing yourself raised stress levels by setting the bar for behaviour of Scottish Politicians quite high. I think you need to lower those expectations and listen to Humza. Then it all makes sense.
ps- I wonder if any of his subscribers will call Police Scotland? Here’s hoping.
Great research, Mr Campbell.
It seems everything about the hierarchy of the SNP is shrouded in mystery. Included in that is the fact most SNP reps on Twitter are removing SNP references in their bios.
Trying to wipe their prints off of everything.
Piggies at the trough. We see you piggies.
This “woven accountancy” appears to be on the increase. Perhaps Mark Diffley or Angus Robertson will take the opportunity to clarify the mystical money machine.
£600,000 in for very little output but lots of transfers. An income for some and devoid of any paper trail.
Have the Magic circle considered this a worthy of membership?
I look forward in anticipation to the next article.
I remember when PS arrived on the scene.
It was endorsed by Sturgeon herself.
For once, I contributed zero because I could never stand air miles Angus.
Always thought he was an oily, smarmy git but I do know decent people did and who set up a SO.
This needs investigated because it smells very bad
Great investigative journalism Stu.
More squeaky bum time for the SNP for sure.
I read through the Donate link you posted of previous fundraisers and was surprised to see Doug Daniel with the most recent comment from July 2012 stating “This is the blog I check out before any others these days, I think £2 per month is pretty damn reasonable. Subscribes.”
Wonder if he still does ;-P
Has anyone taken a look at his mother’s driveway?
Merkin Scot says:
14 April, 2023 at 3:35 pm
“Just when you think we have reached the bottom of the murky pit, you realise there is such a long way to go.”
If you thought we were anywhere near the bottom of the barrel yet, we’re not.
With apols to BTO.
You ain’t seen nothing yet, oh baby you just ain’t seen nothing yet….
Angus Robertson published his book “Vienna: The International Capital” in late 2021. The writing of it must have taken a good year, probably around 2019-20.
This is starting to resemble the institution called Rangers who have a lot of people who chase what is known as the “Blue Pound” from people being appointed to positions to selling the supporters dodgy merchandise.
Here we have people chasing “the yellow pound” basically monitizing the independence movement for their own gain.
Was Mark Diffley awarded a contract worth £27k to pick the “citizens assembly”?
The grift goes on.
SNP/indy supporters pay. They collect.
47% is within the margin error of the original 45% she started with!
I was stupid enough to subscribe to it when it first started, and pretty much forgot about it. Recently I remembered and tried to cancel my subscription. This was not straightforward and ended up getting my bank involved to stop the payments.
I figure the whole lot ended up in Robertson’s pocket, or at least one of his relatives. That’s how it’s done these days.
Allegedly.
Wonderful piece of journalism.
This House of Cards hates the burning light of transparency, so good on you for shining right in their eyes.
It sound to me as though the SNP and all its familiar cronies have spent the last eight years trying to fleece as much cash as possible from indy supporters, preying on their longing to rid our country of English interference.
There’s not a day goes by now that negative doesn’t story appears about the SNP or one of its cronies, or business dealings etc.
I urge everyone to abandon the SNP its credibility and reputation have in my opinion been damaged beyond repair, god only knows what other scandal has still to bubble up to the surface regarding the SNP and its cronies.
Vote Alba, Join Alba, lets get this lot out of office, and put an end to the fleecing of indy supporters.
He’s in NY for Tartan Day Parade on Saturday my friend “T” (you know who you are) who reads your blog, is furious, is in the parade with a bunch of young people who’ve worked so hard to get there.
Who gets the press? Not the kids who drummed their way over the Forth Road Bridge with Gail Porter to raise funds, who couldn’t afford to take their own drums over with them but ‘borrowed’ from Harlem drummers; oh no not them but your smiling grifter SNP’s Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution Angus Struan Carolus Robertson!
Money for nothing? Standard SNP tactic to keep relatives solvent.
David R says:
14 April, 2023 at 3:48 pm
Stu,
I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding. I think you are causing yourself raised stress levels by setting the bar for behaviour of Scottish Politicians quite high. I think you need to lower those expectations and listen to Humza. Then it all makes sense.
ps- I wonder if any of his subscribers will call Police Scotland? Here’s hoping.
Almost worth subscribing just to make the complaint.
Jennifer Dempsie (Robertson) Huh now why is that name so familiar? 😉
Will today’s “Progress to nowhere” blog go down in history like the previous “The Great Indyref Swindle”? I wonder.
“47% is within the margin error of the original 45% she started with”
Comparing like with like (ie opinion polls rather than the indyref itself) she started with 50%.
I couldn’t help notice that there are two other Robertsons still operating with Charlotte Street Partners;
Jane Bennett Robertson,
Malcolm George Wallace Robertson.
Coincidence?
I subscribed to Progress Scotland when it started up. At that point I didn’t have any opiniion about Angus Robertson, just thought he’d have been a better choice than Ian Blackford to lead the parliamentary party! How naive can someone be? Anyway, it soon became apparent that they weren’t doing anything and I cancelled my SO. Have done the same with Business Scotland although in fairness I do think they produce some good material but they were too supportive of Ms Sturgeon for my liking.
I’d be very happy if there was a very deep dive into everything that Jennifer Dempsie/Robertson ever touched regarding the independence movement.
This is exactly the sort of journalism Scotland needs. You are brilliant and deserve a medal. Grubby greedy politicians pretending to care about independence when they care about nothing but lining their pockets it appears.
Have just blocked Chris Law on the Twitter for an outrageous tweet in which he states that Alba is ‘working with the Tories’ because it objects to the GRR Bill.
I remember when he was a regular here and attended FOW gatherings.
Sad days indeed.
🙁
It all makes sense now. When Peter Murrell said the missing money was woven through the accounts….he didn’t mean the SNP accounts.
OK.
So let me get this right.
In the business of being an MP or MSP, it appears some (many?) are set up or connected with these kinds of ‘polling/advisory/activism’ businesses.
The basic premise is to get family members and/or friends to head up or become employees of said business.
Request donations/subs or look for Government funding.
Do little to no work.
Trouser, literally hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Did I miss anything?
‘Currently Jennifer Robertson – although a change is imminent’.
Interesting. Who is ditching whom?
Stravaiger 4.16
You were taken in but as a contributor you have a remedy at hand Report them to the Police for a potential fraud or let them continue taking money from peoples pockets
Nationalism is toxic throughout history. ,
Have two complements for Mr Campbell in spite of that
First rate researcher and journalist
From Professor Dumbledore “ It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies but it takes even more to stand up to your friends “
Have the SNP been running a “circular economy”?
Has Chris Law ever spoken?
Like ever?
I see him nodding a lot.
Merganser says:
14 April, 2023 at 4:52 pm
“‘Currently Jennifer Robertson – although a change is imminent’.
Interesting. Who is ditching whom?”
She’ll be binning him I reckon. He’s no use to her ambitions now, although quite who she thinks is going to be interested in her toxic past is another matter.
Chris Law sold us out for a salary and an “attaboy” from Sturgeon.
Current exchange rate is 100 attaboys = one “oh shit”
Stephen @ 4.24.
I recall Jennifer writing a glowing tribute about Alex Salmond some years ago, which John Smythe republished not too long ago.
Is that what you have in mind?
A balance sheet is a snap shot at a point in time.
Several hundred thousand pounds could have run through the company during the year and we would not know it from looking at a snap shot at the start and the end of the year.
Extending the accounts by 6 months I think is the longest you can do it by so that looks like a delaying move to push back the date you have to file the next set of accounts and buy another 6 months.
You should have a bloody Pulitzer 🙂
“Lead pollster for the UK government” – say no more …
On twitter people are saying many well known SNP troughphers are dropping their connections to SNP in their bios is SNP party going bankrupt?
Ah, the magical woven threads, making the most elaborate magic carpet bag. Shame about the fishy smell from within…
I noticed with alarm a number of people replying to Stu on Twitter saying that they’ve had trouble cancelling their memberships with Progress Scotland with the direct debits continuing to run.
Simply contact whatever bank or building society the money is coming out of, and order them to stop the DD at once. This applies to any other financial transaction by DD.
Institutions taking your money for whatever reason like to give the impression you “need” to tell them first, or there’s a fourteen/twenty eight day admin period during which one last payment will come off, any flannel story on the planet to buy them more time to be able to nag you into submission into staying.
Cancel it at source, and that’s an end to the matter.
Would you buy a used motorhome from this man?
Further to my last post, the article written by Jennifer was published in The Courier on the 20th November 2014. Well worth a read.
I wonder if SNP HQ would be a subscriber to PS and if so would their accounts identify that, or maybe hide it under some other category. It could be a way to siphon money to someone for services rendered.
@Merganser
Who do you think? Fancy waking up to Gus every morning!
The Diffley Partnership is a supplier to amongst others The Scottish Government .
Such as this award https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=JAN438958
As it so happens, my business is being inundated by emails from Mark Diffley, Diffley Partnership.
Wanting us to join in their surveys.
Started a few weeks ago.
Dear colleague,
There’s never been a more important time to understand Scotland from a business perspective.
With the challenges the economy is facing in the wake of Covid, the rising cost of energy and the impact of the war in Ukraine, it’s vital to have sight of how businesses across the county are doing as we look to grow the economy.
And while there are other surveys that take a snapshot of some business sectors and areas, the new Understanding Business survey will be the most comprehensive Scotland has ever seen.
Understanding Business is a new, quarterly survey of 1,000 Scottish businesses. It will be the largest and farthest-reaching business survey in the country covering SMEs, plcs, private and family businesses across all sectors.
It will deliver unrivalled and in-depth information as well as helping shine a light on the challenges Scotland faces. And we’ll not just be looking at the figures but will be looking at what’s underneath the headlines too.
It’s simple and easy to complete and we’d love you to take part by clicking on ‘Begin Survey’ below.
This survey will take no longer than 5 minutes to complete and can be completed on any device. The more businesses that participate, the better the survey will be.
Look out for more information on how we will use the survey as well detail of special events and unique analysis.
Please contact xxx if you have any queries. If you would like to opt-out, click ‘unsubscribe’ below or reply to this email.
Yours faithfully,
Mark Diffley
A mad thing about this is indy support remains in touching distance of a majority.
A new supra-political party organisation needs created which keeps the cause afloat while SNP goes down the tubes.
It’s a shame as many of these people did work very hard during 2014 and 2015ish.. it’s so tough to see it all unravel.
But there needs to be some focus on how we get out of this mess. Some kind of olive branch is needed across all sides.
ross
“Some kind of olive branch is needed….”
It wouldn’t be sensible to hold out an olive branch to people in a whirlpool.
“I wonder if SNP HQ would be a subscriber to PS and if so would their accounts identify that, or maybe hide it under some other category. It could be a way to siphon money to someone for services rendered.”
It could, couldn’t it?
“‘Currently Jennifer Robertson – although a change is imminent’.
Interesting. Who is ditching whom?”
She’ll be binning him I reckon.
I wouldn’t be sure. If Marmalade still wants to be FM, he will be aware that remaining hitched could make that difficult!
Craig Murray tweeting that the two £600k figures ARE INDEED linked.
So, it would also be interesting to see if Progress Scotland ever contracted out ‘work’ (use the term loosely) to Spey?
.
This article is shocking.
– Shockingly well researched.
– Shocking at what is found.
– Shocking in the concluding segment.
If person or persons unknown needed to introduce “reasonable doubt” that a certain £600,000 was in “fact” spent on IndyRef2, then this page is almost the playbook a defence counsel would deploy.
It also begs the question…
– If £600,000 went through the washing machine spin-cycle and re-appeared, but was NOT spent on any meangful polling work, then what was it spent on?
EXCELLENT WORK THANKYOU STUART.
THIS IS ONE ARTICLE THAT REAL PEOPLE WILL HAVE HAPPILY PAID FOR AND REAL PEOPLE WILL HAVE ENJOYED READING.
Though I suspect the likes of Angus Robertson will have spat his coffee out when reading the facts here.
Has Pension-Pete or Paypal-Paul said anything about this yet?
Maybe this article explains why the plumber’s van is sitting outside the Robertsons house. The extensive workforce at “Progress Scotland” just collectively shat themselves and as a result have bunged-up the Cludgie with a mass jobbie movement. Bad Stuart Campbell! You broke Angus Robertsons bog.
I’m not an independence supporter but, i’ll say again, if this blogger (WINGS) was reflective of our independence MSP’s i would be voting in favour of, dare i say it, Independence!
I wish our MP’s & MSP’s were 10% as committed to the greatness of Scotland as Wings. I also wish our Scottish media could show a bit of humility and take some lessons in the art of investigative journalism from Wings. He is head and shoulders above the rest of the journalists and lying SPAD’S!!
Scotland’s 4 priorities for USELESS (within his first fortnight) have all been ignored. Light the bonfire and destroy the following; 1. The Greens 2. Gender Bill 3. Hate Crime Bill and 4. Deposit return scheme.
With SNP liabilities/debt mounting, I’d see a buy out of that debt as proper use of public donations, as a way out for SNP and the movement.
However not continuity of SNP as a single entity, a replacement party, involving the independence movement and ALBA.
If insolvency is inevitable, the NEC should come clean, allow a takeover, enabling the electorate to make that clean switch to the successor party.
The worse case scenario, is SNP limping on, half-cocked, hoping to recover. The void is best filled with immediate effect. If SNP does go belly-up sooner rather than later, without need for a buy-out, the same applies,focus shifts to new leadership.
There’s no returning to SNP, in any event. Come what may, a new alliance party, gives the electorate and Scotland something positive to drive forward.
@Rare Exports 4:12pm
Just tried to access their website and it seems to be “missing”.
Last thing I found on the Scot Gov website relating to it seems to be in 2021.
There is reference to their “final report” at the bottom of this link https://www.gov.scot/news/commitment-to-future-citizens-assemblies/ and then it goes awfy quiet. The link to the final report is also a dud.
The forensic skills of Mr Campbell have to be admired.
Mr Robertson, who I understand is a skilled germanist, might have brought something cosmopolitan to the office of FM had he chosen «to run».
Politics is set with traps labelled «what might have been if».
@ David T.
But he might want to jettison a millstone before the next leadership contest.
A theory: all the money was spent on Cameo messages to his darling wife Jennifer, with all the messages done by H from Steps (£72 per video message) her favourite pop star.
Surely a potential case of obtaining money by deception. If you are soliciting for funds for a purpose and have made no efforts to deliver on that? And have distributed those funds to individuals who can’t show they have worked to deliver on the purpose? Some people ought to file a formal complaint with Police Scotland on suspicion of fraud by false representation.
Mac @4.30pm.
Malcolm Robertson is the son of Lord George Robertson, the ex-Nato chief and House Jock.
Malcolm is married to one of Sarah Smith’s sisters.
Rev. Stuart Campbell says:
14 April, 2023 at 5:48 pm
“I wonder if SNP HQ would be a subscriber to PS and if so would their accounts identify that, or maybe hide it under some other category. It could be a way to siphon money to someone for services rendered.”
“It could, couldn’t it?”
…and would of course be a prima facie reason for auditors to recuse themselves from providing further services to the SNP.
Arguably (possibly, with a suitable judge) not fraud & at face value would provide a cover for funds raised for “independence” campaigning to be siphoned off, should such funds exist of course.
So many rocks to turn over….so few cops willing to do it….
Garavelli Princip says:
14 April, 2023 at 5:50 pm
“I wouldn’t be sure. If Marmalade still wants to be FM…”
That won’t be happening. There’s too many people who know what occurred for him to benefit from “spousal issues”. The truth WILL come out if he ever attempts it.
Stu may have kicked over the right stone when suggesting that these ‘side initiatives’ by SNP princelings is a useful way for the to channel public government money into party purposes. Of course, some of that may also go direct into the pockets of the righteous.
Stu,what exactly is your political goal
Interesting stuff.
“There’s more trouble in Scotland’s nationalist paradise. A storm is brewing amongst members of the SNP’s innermost ruling group as it is revealed that party secrets have been kept from its very own National Executive Committee. The resignation of the party’s auditors, details on finances and the exodus of party members all came as much as a surprise to the party’s ruling group as they had to the rest of the nation.
But it doesn’t stop there. Fresh allegations have sprung from a source deep within the party: an NEC whistleblower described how a group of senior figures including ‘power couple’ Sturgeon and Murrell demanded that the NEC be ‘disbanded’ in order to launch an inquiry meant to save the party from electoral disaster. The anonymous source didn’t hold back, saying that the party has become ‘rotten to the core’.
And now, a member of the SNP’s NEC has threatened to quit if the party does not hire forensic auditors to assess its finances. The threat, which comes from Bill Ramsay, the convenor of the SNP Trade Union Group, comes amid an escalating row over the SNP’s lack of transparency, and an ongoing police investigation into the party’s funds.
Ramsay said:
In June last year, I was making calls for more transparency. Indeed, I forced a vote to ensure that members of the NEC could see how other members were voting. My call for a full-day NEC meeting to address the way the party is run is still being resisted, it seems. This, and talk of a review, is not taking the need for urgent change nearly seriously enough. If the call to appoint forensic auditors is not moved forward, I will have to seriously consider whether I can continue on in the NEC.”
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/snp-power-couple-face-dissent-from-within/?zephr_sso_ott=FjQAGv
Does it involve the SNP given money?
@ Ronnie Anderson and others who recommend police investigation, this (ahem) organisation touting for donations and subscriptions IMO is similar to the indy ref2 possible ??? scam and should be considered with the same mindset
I previously on numerous occasions advised subscribers and donors to contact others who also gave their HARD EARNED money to an SNP organisation who PROMISED SO SO MUCH but delivered absolutely nothing, but, interestingly or not, they still felt entitled to KEEP the money which may or may not amount to FRAUDULENT ACTIVITY
Unfortunately on the previous occasion it appears that the number of complainants was NOT very high which allowed the police and COPFS to obfuscate and delay any investigation or subsequent outcome which is still NOT resolved , we on WOS have witnessed the extreme reluctance of the authorities to act and investigate possible criminality carried out against independence supporters, many who were NOT snp members but believed that their freely given donations were to be utilised by the governing party for a PROMISED forthcoming referendum, THAT PROMISE was broken but the money was still RETAINED
If anyone feels aggrieved that their donations or subscriptions have been misused or NOT applied for the actions they were promised, I again would advise that you attempt to make contact with others of the same mindset and go forward as a collective GROUP, whether that be to a solicitor on a no win no fee arrangement or insisting that the authorities investigate any possible misuse or misrepresentation of how your donations have been used , individually you are a small voice , collectively and with representation you have to be listened too
As others have said don’t let this manipulation of our desperation for independence facilitate the harvesting of money by unscrupulous and dishonest carpetbaggers
The Americans have a word for all this and that word is graft.
Bravo Stu,
I’ve been a “Winger” since 2012 approx. Always appreciated that nothing important and against Scottish Independence would get past him without some scrutiny.
Really the best journalist!
“Stu,what exactly is your political goal”
Same thing it’s always been. What’s your point?
A .org, “normally” a not-for-profit organisation. Also the £600k was specifically for “indyref2” (not yet appeared), not just “independence”, nor polling, nor anything else – from independence supporters, not just SNP members or supporters.
Somebody invested 100,000 quid in The Diffley Partnership in the year to 30th April 2021. Looks like Charlotte Street Partners took a stake of between 25% and 50% on April 23rd. That would explain the increase in cash. In the same year, retained earnings dropped from 90,664 to 59,795. Retained earnings is profits from prior years plus current year profit minus dividends. Presumably the accounts are on accruals basis, which means dividends could have been declared after year-end (up to nine months and one day, if memory serves) and be included in the prior year accounts. Perfectly normal transaction.
What I do find interesting is that the company owed Mark Diffley 22,774 on 1st May 2020. In the following 12 months, they advanced him 84,320 and he repaid 43,562, some or all of which could have been accounted for by a dividend after year-end, reducing Retained Earnings. In any case, he repaid pretty much all of it by 30th April 2022. When I see things like this it is often because the owner is using the company as a piggy bank. That would be a reasonable assumption to make for 2020/21. If so, it looks like somebody pulled him back. Perhaps the accountants (I’ve had to have that talk with clients in the past) or perhaps Charlotte Street Partners before they bought in.
Trade debtors have increased quite heavily, which would indicate a substantial increase in activity. Impossible to say very much without sight of the Profit & Loss Account, but I’d be concerned if a client of mine had such a big increase in Trade Debtors that was not matched by a larger increase in Retained Earnings. It usually means they are not collecting what they are owed.
To sum up, there is plenty of evidence that this is like any other young, small business. The increase in cash could easily be explained by the Charlotte Street partners buy-in. We do not know what owner salaries are, so it is hard to say how profitable the business is. To get a true measure of profitability, you have to add the owner’s salary to net profit.
All of which gets us no further in figuring out the transactions behind Progress Scotland. I miss the old days when you had to file an abbreviated Profit & Loss, along with the abbreviated balance sheet. That is fine for any for-profit business trying to earn an honest crust, but it is unsatisfactory when there is a public interest in knowing what the business has been up to.
Ash Regan and Joanna Cherry implore Humza Yousaf not to waste a shed load of Scottish taxpayers cash fighting the S35, knowing that the majority of the Scottish doesn’t want it.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/humza-yousaf-warned-he-faces-humiliating-defeat-in-legal-battle-as-snp-infighting-erupts/ar-AA19P6iy?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=669e2c36632049dbb72af702ea6fa714&ei=6
Worth a look at payments from SNP to Progress Scotland?
One for the battle bus mixtape has to be I Am The Upsetter by Lee Scratch Perry to remind them of the Rev.
@Republicofscotland :
Bill Ramsay has been knocking around the SNP hierarchy for donkey’s years. If he didn’t know what was going on then he’s a moron.
All he’s doing is trying to cover his own arse in terms of liability.
Too late Billy boy, you’re on the hook, same as the rest of the NEC….
Re increase in assets: £267569 – £163347 = £104222 …
Vestas @6.49pm.
That maybe so, I’m just hoping that this can of worms (the SNP) is opened, and if its opened from the inside fair enough.
@ Republicofscotland at 6.24
If you read both the Spectator article and the whistleblower’s comments, you will see that the former has got the wrong end of the stick.
It’s the whistleblower who wants the NEC disbanded and for there to be an inquiry, not the ruling clique:
SNP ‘is rotten to the core’ – The Mail (archive.ph)
Wow! Not again!
@Jim Thomson says:
Re Progress Scotland’s site
It just worked for me, including brining up the support us page. Gives the impression of being a going concern, emphasis on the con.
That kind of money buys enough jam to bathe in.
BUT Real sticky and Hard to hide the evidence
from a forensic Expert.
Bill Ramsay or indeed anyone who was still on the NEC after Sturgeon&Co changed the rules, really deserves all they get. It’s a bit late crying ‘wolf’ now. Never mind, I’m sure if they all have to take a financial hit, they can ask Mr Murrell for a sub!
John says:
14 April, 2023 at 5:23 pm
On twitter people are saying many well known SNP troughphers are dropping their connections to SNP in their bios is SNP party going bankrupt?
Some alert reader somewhere must be able to idenify the reason for them all suddenly doing this , the Murrell Gang never do anything without a reason of their own for it. From what I’ve seen Sturgeon, Blackford , Robison , Black and Swinney have been listed among those having done this recently , whats going on ?
Essentially the SNP have milked the independence movement for everything it can in order for them to make money and retain power. They’ve done less than the minimum to push for independence while dangling the carrot in front of people in some cases have been dreaming of indy for their entire life, but to them they’re just revenue streams.
Even if there’s no corruption (and there is) the independence movement have been played for idiots while the supposed parties of independence push to give rapists the rights to share spaces with women and girls harder than any of them have fought for indy.
Independence is now either a grift or a faith where one refuses to question the SNP or Greens in order to gain independence the SNP/Greens have no need or wish to achieve. People like Angus Robertson and his ilk sum this up perfectly.
I do also fear the cause of independence has been so damaged by the SNP/Greens that we’re going to be struggling to rebuild what the SNP and Greens have damaged for years, probably decades.All because people liked the lifestyle, the power and wanted to impose their personal perversions upon the population.
@ me at 6.55
Sorry – I thought I’d pasted a link
Try again:
https://archive.ph/CHQ5c
It’s easy to see why the Spectator misunderstood:
Top skills Stu in highlighting what these cretins have been up to. Even if it is all legit business, there is still the glaring matter of the interests Charlotte Street Partners represent.
Maxxmacc says: at 7:11 pm
“I’m sure if they all have to take a financial hit, they can ask Mr Murrell for a sub!”
What! So not content with the campervan he’s also bought a submersible!
We all live in a yella submarine… The signs were there.
Mind you, all this is making some epic James Bondesque escape plan, scuttle the once good SNP ship and as it sinks and mutiny ensues sneak away in a sub.
Some may say he has plenty experience putting on skin tight rubber
gimpdiving suit in Helensburgh area.Just hope he didn’t get the sub built by the same folks that are “building” the Glen Sannox!
Ah Chris Law,the one with the socialist principles,who purchased a castle.
Stephen Obrien 5.54
Why would anybody buy the Snp bad dept the NEC own all the assets let them pick up the dept Useless shower of BASTWARDS .
The 47% flatline chart? Naughty naughty, very naughty!
https://scotgoespop.blogspot.com/2022/11/wings-watch-ive-calculated-average.html
The real numbers are just about as bad. Use them, not a cherry picker.
When Arthur Scargill’s mineworkers Union was wanting to safeguard its funds (I think there was a worry they could be siezed under new legislation if he wanted to run an “illegal” strike), The story was that he sent money in all directions across Europe. Sometimes as bills paid, loans, or any other number of things.
I would not be surprised if the most nefarious of SNP-connected executives had thought of a similar ploy.
Nah, couldn’t possibly be.
I may have said this before, when some people lived in a more perfect world.
Daily Record & Humza Yousaf admits motorhome seized by fraud probe cops is owned by the SNP.
While Roddy Dunlop KC @RoddyQC 5 Apr put it this way
“Recent developments in the world of Scottish politics lead me to issue the usual reminder:contempt of court protections are triggered, in Scotland, once an arrest is made”.Please take care.
‘contempt of court protections are triggered yet’ Humza Yousaf admits (broadcasts) motorhome seized by fraud probe cops is owned by the SNP!!
Of course the police will just be loving that bit of interference…
What force or gile could not subdue
Through many warlike ages
Is wrought now by a coward few
For hireling ("Tractor" - Ed)’s wages
So we have a senior member of the SNP/Scottish Government who in members interests declares “ I expect to receive a final payment of between £501 and £1,000 for work completed prior to my election“ in 2019 being the sole active person in a company which is still generating a continuing revenue stream. Should it be declared?
Four years later, the average of every poll held in 2023 is… 47%. (Which is also the figure returned by the two most recent ones.)
To be fair, it’s amazing independence is still polling that high, after everything the Scottish Government has done to put people off the idea.
(Obviously Westminster is in a mad race with Holyrood to see who can be the most disgusting and obnoxious to the people who pay their wages plus splendid pensions)
I think it’s got more to do with the ossification of public opinion into two camps shouting past each other though.
For some strange reason the slimeball Angus Robertson always reminds me of that ex Scottish Labour slimeball Tom Harris.
The two of them would work with anybody to make a quick buck, no matter how crooked.
And Robertson, Harris and Mark Diffley all remind me of the STV politics show “Scotland Tonight”.
Just another reminder of how rotten Scottish political merry-go-round is.
Progress Scotland. A job creation scheme for Angus Robertson to keep him in style during the lean years, but which continues to rake in the dosh long after he got himself safely back on the gravy train. Anyone still donating to this scam should cancel their standing order as a matter of urgency.
I would guess that MOST of us, who were pro-independence in 2014, are still pro-indy.
Some of us (like me) rejoined the SNP after the referendum, thinking we were showing pro-indy solidarity.
Oh, how we were shafted. I was considering joining the ISP in February 2021, when I emailed my MP and MSP, Chris Law and Joe Fitzpatrick, raising concerns about the party.
Responses there were none.
So, when Alba was launched, I resigned from the SNP and joined Alba.
There are so many, formerly, high profile SNP activists now in Alba, that there is a solid foundation to build going forward.
When you see people like Dundee Annie, who pounded the streets for years for the SNP, now doing the same job for Alba, you have to realise that something is rotten in the state of the SNP.
https://i.imgur.com/g9i6ly8.jpg
Well well. Humza says he can’t disclose the cost because that is part of the legal advice he has received concerning the forthcoming court case.
If the Lord advocate had given the advice and was conducting the case it wouldn’t cost anything, it would be part of her job, and Humza could have said so.
So who is he paying to take this on? The lawyers won’t lose out – whatever the result they will have been paid upfront.
It will be very interesting to see whose name appears on the court papers.
Another sure sign that things are getting bad for the SNP.
Pension Pete has started reminiscing about Runrig on his Twitter.
Gets better by the week, this crowd of troughing charlatans, doesn’t it!
What a nasty lot of troughers they are. And Marmalade’s former Campaign Manager and drag queen is in the news not to mention the dock (again) too. https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/former-scots-hiv-charity-chief-29608705.amp
This tweet (and there’s another following it) lists the names of the big prizewinners in the SNP’s Grand Draw that’s been ongoing for years.
Cars and big cash!
Just wondering if any of the names may be familiar. There is a Mrs C. Law (Dundee) but that’s just a coincidence, obviously, has to be, no-one’s that fekkin daft…
https://twitter.com/julesMcBot/status/1646954400315834368
I subscribed to Progress Scotand. Managed to cancel it in 2021 nut I my after contributing at least £150. This was after reading concerning stuff posted on this and other sites.
Wise advice from Twahater @6.25
“If anyone feels aggrieved that their donations or subscriptions have been misused or NOT applied for the actions they were promised, I again would advise that you attempt to make contact with others of the same mindset and go forward as a collective GROUP, whether that be to a solicitor on a no win no fee arrangement or insisting that the authorities investigate any possible misuse or misrepresentation of how your donations have been used , individually you are a small voice , collectively and with representation you have to be listened too”
Talking to a solicitor will help clarify if there is a case to answer. If so, s/he will represent/safeguard the plaintiffs in any police proceedings
First step – contact other subscribers to Robertson’s “Progress Scotland”. There appear to be 2 or 3 on here this evening. Am sure the Rev will facilitate contacts if the individuals are really interested in pursuing this course of action
ronald anderson says:
14 April, 2023 at 7:41 pm
Stephen Obrien 5.54
Why would anybody buy the Snp bad dept the NEC own all the assets let them pick up the dept Useless shower of BASTWARDS .
—————————————–
This rancid boil needs lanced before the next election.
The most important issue is to deter SNP hangers on, from splitting the vote. If SNP can be disposed of all the quicker through a buy out of their debt, better then for the Scottish electorate and the road to recovery.
Uniting the movement is priority.
Also, we can’t afford to let the SNP carcass rot on a spike, then through a miracle, eventually rise from the dead.
The NEC will pay for their sins, buy out or not.
A new chapter is overdue, that requires finality of the current shambles.
Is this the same Peter Dempsie who may or may not have written to Perth and Kinross Council in 2015 in support of moving T in the Park?
https://www.pressreader.com/uk/scottish-daily-mail/20150822/281672548688262
We know Robertson likes his ‘expenses’ and the high life. Look at his track record at Westminster and the never fulfilled promise to donate profits on his London flat sale to Moray good causes. He has recused himself multiple times from making decisions as Culture secretary, because of his central Edinburgh brief, thus saving himself the bother of having to do some work.
It is inconceivable to me that Progress would not have a close relationship with the SNP administration, given its aims, and potentially profit from that relationship. There wouldn’t necessarily be anything wrong with that, but why the secrecy? Did he receive money from the vanished ‘ringfenced’ fund? I don’t know, but I think we ought to know. Maybe that was he didn’t stand, despite being the apparent heir elect and bookie’s favourite. Why the sudden cold feet?
The Indy swindlers.
Listening to the Two Davies youtube channel. They both look broken. Sturggling to come to terms with the fact the SNP have shafted them right up the arse.
SNP – THE REDACTED YEARS
I read somewhere (here?) that references to Alex Salmond had been removed from the history of the SNP. If that is accurate, then I think that he might be the fortunate one.
Stuart Cullen says:
“What force or gile could not subdue
Through many warlike ages
Is wrought now by a coward few
For hireling tr@it0r$ wages”
From someone who was so fresh to it, who lived a lifetime just after the betrayal, and who was incredibly articulate, that whole poem just nails it. It is brutal reading.
Jim says:
14 April, 2023 at 7:20 pm
John says:
14 April, 2023 at 5:23 pm
On twitter people are saying many well known SNP troughphers are dropping their connections to SNP in their bios is SNP party going bankrupt?
Some alert reader somewhere must be able to idenify the reason for them all suddenly doing this , the Murrell Gang never do anything without a reason of their own for it. From what I’ve seen Sturgeon, Blackford , Robison , Black and Swinney have been listed among those having done this recently , whats going on ?
There have also been a lot of WM tory politicians that did the same thing over the last week or two max, I think Carol Vorderman started listing them.
Feels like something bigger is going on…………
Let’s face it. We’ve all been taken for mugs. Instead of backing a party we believed was dedicated to fighting for Indy, we actually backed a Scottish Mafia whose only aim was to remain in powerand bleed all the mugs dry with promises which were never going to be fulfilled.
They used our passion and commitment against us rather than for us, whilst all the time coming up with new schemes and promises of imminent action if we would only back them,to turn our hopes and belief in liberty into financial gain for themselves or their family and friends
Harsh and costly lesson for us all.
I used to love the SNP, but now I do not recognise them since Salmond left believing he had passed on a thriving movement for a better future.
Instead they have destroyed it completely.
In the midst of the numerous resignations from this laughable parody of a town council- perfectly understandable from the point of view of their own self preservation- one thing stands out to me; the failure of either of the ladies who stood against the new FM to challenge the vote itself- it’s almost as if someone granted them a glimpse of what the ‘party’ really is and said-‘leave off-or you might inherit this’.
Companies House are going to force companies to file Profit & Loss accounts once the Economic Crime and Transparency Bill gets enacted so Progress Scotland had better hurry up and file abbreviated accounts while they can.
All it takes is for one subscriber to formally complain to the police.
The police will find the missing £600,000 in no time at all.
Perhaps I am being slightly optimistic about the police.
It is very difficult for them to find a good accountant in Scotland.
Well Angus R was all at sea following his 2017 election loss. He needed a job and floated around a number of different activities in the aftermath including working for Plaid Cymru and speaking engagements in Austria. I think PS was dreamed up primarily as a job until he could re-enter front line politics. As early as 2018 he indicated a likely move to Holyrood when possible. I know this is true because he told me.
Thankfully his wife has no skin in the game.
Rev. Stuart Campbell says:
14 April, 2023 at 5:48 pm
““I wonder if SNP HQ would be a subscriber to PS and if so would their accounts identify that, or maybe hide it under some other category. It could be a way to siphon money to someone for services rendered.”
It could, couldn’t it?”
Surely the SNP’s auditors during those years would have made sure everthing was in order?
After all, they didn’t resign until September 2022?
Did the auditors simply audit the SNP’s accounts or did they prepare them as well?
If they simply audited them, who prepared them?
Swinney? Forbes? Russell? Is Murrell an accountant?
Any decent genuinely pro-independence accountant reading Wings over Scotland who could read through the SNP’s accounts over the years?
It’s all over Twitter already!
Karen says:
14 April, 2023 at 6:37 pm
“Also the £600k was specifically for “indyref2””
How did the SNP get the funds?
Directly into its bank accounts?
Or through third parties?
Surely not in cash?
Shame there is such a shortage of accountants in Scotland for the police to find a good one.
It would take less than a month to look at the SNP’s bank accounts and find out where money came in from and where it went out to.
Updated the info to include events in September 2018. including the launch of Op Diem!!! Should get the hairs rising!!!
Evans attempted to trigger a police investigation on 22 August 2018, when she contravened her own recently adopted Government procedures and a pending Interim Interdict to report the outcome of internal Scottish Government harassment allegations involving Alec, to the Lord Advocate’s Office, against the will of the women involved, claiming that she had balanced their objections with “potential criminality”.
The Lord Advocate’s Office instructed the Crown Office Chief Executive David Harvie, to ask the police force to investigate which he duly did , but the police refused the invitation to become involved saying that to do so would compromise any investigation they conducted.
Their refusal was overturned on 29 August 2018. (See: 29 August 2018-January 2019: “sink the judicial review”). A very tight deadline to circumvent the Judicial Review which took effect on 01 August 2018.
https://caltonjock.com/2023/03/29/the-politically-motivated-persecution-of-alex-salmond-the-finger-of-accusation-points-at-former-mi5-spy-crown-agent-david-harvie/
If the party goes bankrupt that’s because Sturgeon and her hubby Murrell corrupted the party.
Bankrupt. Partners in crime. Lovers in crime. If only her behaviour was more becoming of a First Minister. If only.
Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell. Nicola said. I do. Just married. With the independence can trailing down the road off the back of the 100K caravan.
Till death do us part. Like Bonnie and Clyde.
Can you flump up my pillow honey bunny Peter, the 600K stuffed in mine just isn’t comfortable enough?
No problem darling. Tickle tickle.
@David Hannah…
“If the party goes bankrupt”…
Please, not before those spineless, complicit and Woke b****rds in the NEC have themselves been made bankrupt.
Hopefully under the weight of financial penalties imposed by the Electoral Commission come July.
Angus the fat piggy ate from the trough. And is also ex BBC world service. I wonder if he was ever approached by people who talk like they’re from that special school.
@revstu, there’s often praise for your work, but on this thread especially I can see many people expressing exactly what I think too; this is excellent work and thanks for doing it.
I sometimes wonder if Mr Salmond despairs of the Scottish people. After IR1, he clearly felt isolated within the SNP and just wanted to walk away.
Now, I think there is a very real anger at what has happened and suspect/hope it is in evidence at the AOUB rally in Glasgow next month, the first one I shall ever have attended.
(Hope I can skip into the march around High St, due to a little walking problem…)
Outstanding investigative journalism Stu,thank you.
Regarding those SNP representatives who have removed the letters “SNP” from their Twitter pages… could the registration of a new domain name within the past day (14th April) possibly have something to do with it?
https://www.whois.com/whois/scottishindependenceparty.scot
Who can remember when Marathon changed to Snickers? It was still full of nuts!
Methinks that the financial situation is now so dire that the SNP as a legal entity may be unsalvageable. The accounts may also be frozen pending police investigation.
So the Scottish Independence Party will be born to ensure that the current trooughers can still access their swill.
Cue the Dead Parrot sketch.
Politicians who ignore Public opinion pay a heavy price
https://archive.ph/aacdp
May 31st deadline?
It will take more than 6 weeks to audit the mess.
Regarding a handy new domain name, how surprising, not.
Expecting bankruptcy? Gullible little people will be left liable? ISP, Independent Scotland Party will have their identity obscured and reputation damaged? Main culprits will wriggle out? Gravy guzzlers will keep guzzling?
Reminds me of the tribalist football religion: circuses and money laundering.
‘Woe to you who are rich, you have had your reward.’
Brilliant work again Stu. You have done more for the cause of independence than anyone. These bastards have taken us all for saps and easy pray due to our desperation in speeding up independence a terrible betrayal and one more akin to Westminster politicos and we trusted them, which is the bitterest pill. P.S. never did like his smug puss anyway.
Excellent Stu. Finger on the pulse as ever.
Scottish politics has become murky and corrupt since Alex Salmonds tenure, without a doubt assisted by a compliant MSM who’ve been so sound asleep at the wheel they’re now pinching your work and themselves for being so lazy and inept.
The likes of air miles and His wife will be a tad uncomfortable with their laundry being washed in plain sight and it’s not before time.
It’s a cesspit. A good drenching of sunlight on the corruption is the only disinfectant to be rid of the germs who’ve betrayed us to line their own pockets.
Another cash funnel for the Murrels’ Mafia.
They found a captive audience that was eager to throw money at any blurry, fleeting vision of a better future.
Like a ghost, it vanishes as soon as you open your eyes.
The internet is full of charlatans that sell bridges to naive desperados, but to take advantage of a pivotal movement like the call for Scottish Independence, with its beneficial offshoots for the whole planet, is abhorrent.
Jail is not enough: they all must be prominently remembered in history books for the disgusting fraudsters they were, dashing the hope of a better life for multiple generations of Scots.
Children went and are going hungry because of their cowardice and callousness.
We must build a special kind of hell for them.
Fools and their money are easily parted eh ?
I did post a tweet on Angus Robertson’s twitter account asking him to comment on your article. Fellow wingers might like to do the same. Also on PS website.
Like piggies at the trough, the lot of em. Now, who’s for some bacon?
I really don’t know why so many commenters are fawning over Mr Campbell because of this article.
It’s nothing special,
I’m sure the likes of Tom Gordon or perhaps a ‘real journalist’ like David Leask, will have already written an article even better than this and published it in their respective ‘real’ newspaper!
I’m also confident that the BBC will have already started putting together a hard-hitting documentary, that gives the ever-obedient fee-paying public of Scotland, all the answers to the questions asked in this article.
So, C’mon all ou ‘real’ journalists out there, show Mr Campbel that he isn’t as his followers suggest a far, far, better journalist than anything else we have in Scotland…
C’mon, lads…
…lads?
Charlotte Street Partners has a lot of old and new connections – they sent updates to Companies House about the Robertsons in March 2023 when Andrew Wilson had left.
These names are not the Robertsons of Angus, as one is the son of George Islay MacNeill Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, KT, GCMG, PC, FRSA, FRSE
Extract from Companies House – https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC450325/filing-history
20 Mar 2023 Notification of Jane Bennett Robertson as a person with significant control on 1 February 2023
20 Mar 2023 Change of details for Mr Malcolm George Wallace Robertson as a person with significant control on 1 February 2023
20 Mar 2023 Cessation of Andrew John Wilson as a person with significant control on 1 February 2023
Charlotte Street Partners also has Roland Rudd as a Director. He is a London based person and the founder and chairman of Finsbury, a public relations firm. He sold that company to WPP plc in 2001, making an estimated £40 million.
Sister – https://members.parliament.uk/member/3983/career
Andrew Wilson moved to Santander UK as director of corporate communications and responsible banking. It said
Andrew is a board member and trustee of the National Galleries of Scotland, The John Smith Centre for Public Service at the University of Glasgow, the Edinburgh International Culture Summit, Sistema Scotland and Motherwell Football Club.
In March 2020, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In September 2016, he was appointed chair of the Sustainable Growth Commission, which reported to Scotland’s first minister in May 2018.
He was also a member of the Independent Commission on Referendums, based at UCL’s Constitution Unit, reporting in July 2018.
He has been a regular contributor to the media on economics, business, and current affairs.
Re the new domain name:
Those are easy enough to obtain, but registering a political party with a name very similar to that of an existing one is not so simple.
I’m sure there was a fuss about such an attempt not long ago – maybe one of George Galloway’s multiple creations, maybe in 2021 – and the Electoral Commission was quite strict about it.
The EC has been politicized itself, more than it was anyway, but I doubt if that would bias it towards the (ex-)SNP.
Leask has a hilarious article up today, complaining about the frequent recent appearances of Alex Salmond in the media. Without a hint of irony or self-awareness he whines about old white men being given media platforms for their redundant old-fashioned and misleading views. I couldn’t have put it better myself, David, regarding the relevance of your views. Ha ha ha.
@Ian
If you read the third last and second last paragraphs in the article he shows his true purpose, less white people in general working in the media and/or providing a platform for other white people.
What a brilliant piece of investigative journalism. Probably too full of goodies to feel the need to highlight that the correspondence address of Charlotte Street Partners, part owners of The Diffley Partnership Limited, is given as 13 |Rutland Street, the same street number as the registered address of Progress Scotland Ltd and ASCR Ltd.
I smell shite.
Aye. That’s shite.
With reference to Mr. Leask and the aforementioned ‘article’. – Somehow I am reminded of a scene roughly 6-minutes in to the film “Sir Henry at Rawlinson End” …
“Dressed as a person of foreign extraction, Henry monthly rode to the sewage farm in Concreton where, high-stepping over the revolving sprinklers he found in the muck, blessed relief from his Lumbago; it was filthy work filled with fearful dangers.
I’m often caused to wonder if he and his ‘clutch’ once stumbled across a VHS copy of the film; and confused it with a training video?
Looking forward to the Downfall parody. Sturgeon in the bunker with the NEC, Murrell, Ruddick, Humza etc. Raging about the money and calling everyone trators.
Any news on the complaint to the Polis by a ‘concerned citizen’ about Humza breaking his own hate crime and GRR legislation when he described the lovely lady rapist Isla Bryson as a man.
Any thought on Blackford and Highlands Council approaching the MOD to ask the army to provide ferries? They have of course gone behind the FM’s back – unthinkable under the previous regime suggesting that Humza has lost all authority over his MSPs. Hilariously the Defence Journal did an April Fools spoof on such a scenario to weeks ago!
Rev you are a master at this kind of investigative journalism and i salute you. What kind of people are they.
Scottish Independence, are we following the South Sudan model?
It certainly brings the bandits and ne’re do wells to the surface.
When will this charade end? Soon I hope!
Dear Daily Telegraph – could your senior reporter Neil Johnston have the honesty and good taste to credit the source from which his ENTIRE ARTICLE of today, 21st April 2023, came from, namely this article above in Wings Over Scotland?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/04/21/polling-group-sturgeon-ally-donations/
Absolutely disgraceful he is claiming this as if it is his own work when it was lifted entirely from here.