Standing on quicksand
So let’s just recap where we are with this.
Because it really doesn’t look very good.
It was revealed today that the firm auditing the SNP’s accounts, Johnston Carmichael LLC, resigned in September last year. The fact of their resignation only became public a few days ago, but until today it had been believed it had been much more recent.
This means they quit as little as two weeks, and a maximum of six weeks, after the SNP published its 2022 accounts in mid-August last year. Those accounts cost more than twice as much to audit as the previous year’s – £57,000 compared to £26,000.
Wings understands that this is because the firm had to embed an employee at SNP HQ to monitor its activities, as the party (for example) no longer produces proper minutes of NEC meetings, only a short list of “outcomes”.
Johnston Carmichael noted the following in the accounts:
The auditors have declined to comment on their resignation:
But we do know that they wrote this in their Transparency Report on 30 September last year (ie after they’d terminated their contract with the SNP):
Remarkably, the new First Minister claims to have been unaware of their resignation until he became SNP leader.
The party’s membership certainly wasn’t told about this important development, and even its ruling NEC wasn’t informed.
It also means that the party – whose accounts must by law be subject to audit – has failed to find anyone willing to take on the job in over six months. Any prospective new auditor is required to obtain a “professional clearance letter” from the previous auditors, basically alerting them to anything they might be required to be aware of before taking the client on.
This example is from the Institute of Financial Accountants:
We know that the SNP’s treasurer and half of its finance committee resigned in 2021 because Peter Murrell had refused to allow them the full access to the books needed in order for them to carry out their fiduciary duties.
We know that in recent weeks the party’s leader, her chief adviser, its chief executive, the Deputy First Minister and others have suddenly resigned, and the CEO has been arrested as part of an 18-month police inquiry into its finances (ie since autumn 2021).
A vehicle valued at around £110,000 has been seized by the police from the CEO’s mother’s house, which the party – after many days of silence – is now claiming was a never-used “battle bus”, mothballed due to the end of COVID restrictions rendering it no longer necessary.
It’s unclear at this stage why the no-longer-required vehicle wasn’t sold to improve the party’s cashflow after the election, given that that was the stated reason for its CEO giving it a loan of almost £108,000 in June 2021, and has instead been gathering dust and losing value on his mum’s driveway.
(Readers might perhaps also feel the interior of the vehicle, while luxuriously appointed, was rather cramped for the purposes of proper COVID distancing. Mike Russell’s infamous horsebox was probably better suited for the task.)
Many other office-holders in the party, including the resigned treasurer, have also been interviewed as witnesses in the investigation.
We know that the SNP’s bank balance at the end of 2021 was less than £145,000 despite it having raised almost £700,000 in “ring-fenced” funding supposedly to be held in reserve for a second independence referendum.
As late as October 2020 it was claiming it still had £593,000 of the money available, although two months later its cash at bank was under £261,000.
Wings draws no conclusions from these facts. We present them merely for ease of reference for those interested in the party’s financial affairs.
The least convincing battle bus since Mike Russell’s horsebox
link to twitter.com
Rev Stu,
Thanks for doing this.
That’s it.
Resigning then months later Sturgeon declares she “can’t give anymore” then Murrell is arrested and steps down but will not be suspended because Humza says he is “innocent until proven guilty”.
And there are still halfwits out there who think the SNP will deliver independence and Stuart Campbell has been wrong all along.
If anyone has the contact details of any of those halfwits please get in touch, i’ve got an antique chocolate fireguard going for a song.
As you say, The first question is why do auditors resign from an incorporated body or company? And the number one reason is of course when, for whatever reason, risk is established as sufficiently high, that further engagement is deemed reputational damaging and or (we the auditor could on the balence of probibility perhapse be sued) financial reasons
to that add: the second question. The pesky professional clearance or NOC. That is a No-Objection-Letter; from the Previous Auditor. Any new auditor has to first be provided with an PC/NOC. Which the reigning auditor ‘cannot’ legally provide where they suspect/ have perhaps have evidence of – a ‘Professional Objection’.
And a ‘Professional Objection’ is auditor code for NO! Because as the resigning auditor we cannot (legally) let you an unsuspecting fellow CA firm anywhere near this situation. Cos,in fairness we could be on the line for PC/NOC negligence
Cannot wait to see the Sturgeon appointed NEC members being held liable for the losses and charged.
As regard the motorhome the second hand value is now probably worth more than the purchase price so why was it not sold?
It’s hardly a bus. I mean how many folk could get in that. Also it’s illegal to sit in the back of a motor home while in motion. So a battle bus for two people.
Seems the SNP are doubling down on lies. There is no end to it.
Mebbe we can intersperse the reportage of the ongoing implosion of the house of cards that was Murrell’s SNP with the occasional uplifting and positive story on the need for and opportunities in independence? Not that I don’t love and respect Stuart’s journalism, but I could do with the occasional bit of uplift, frankly.
The last time I checked my head wasn’t zipped up the back so I’m not swallowing their ‘battle bus’ fairy story. For a start, it would be totally unsuitable for that purpose.Is it listed anywhere in their accounts? I very much doubt it.
I actually thought that was a spoof front page! 100 years of Warner Bros and a Looney Tunes character munching a carrot.
The Almighty says he’ll get Scotland out of this mess, but he’s pretty sure, the SNP are f**ked!
Can a political party be declared bankrupt? It’s employees laid off, assets seized, creditors lined up bearing fistfuls of I-O-U’s.
If so, what of the MPs and MSPs? Do they then serve out their remaining term of office as Independents before the electorate kicks them to the kerb at the earliest opportunity?
obviously they were going to convince all the SOFT-NOES along the North Coast 500 since it became annexed by the Home Counties gymkhana set
or
maybe they tried to do what all small businessmen do and book a personal item as a company expense – dodging the VAT – 4K widescreen bravias become “conference room audiovisual presentation equipment”, even though you will be watching champions league
to me, audits are like – driving insurance, good to have, but … meh … no one cares (from Northern Cyprus)
a mystery wrapped in an enigma, encrusted by paradox that it is hard to maintain any interest in
Another master-class for all you “real” journalists out there.
Time for Colin Beattie, International Banker, National Treasurer and he of ‘woven through the accounts’ to steady the ship … (with apologies to all those stranded by Caledonian Macbrayne)
In recent history there have been some spectacular collapses of governing political parties. Brian Mulroney, of Canada’s Progressive Conservatives, was seen as the country’s Reagan during the 80s but some very unpopular policies and a new leader, Kim Campbell, saw the PC lose over half of their vote in the 1993 election and in the 295-member parliament, they dropped from a governing majority with a pre-election total of 154 MPs to just 2 MPs!!!
In Italy during their early 90s corruption scandals that saw previous PM Bettino Craxi do a runner to Tunisia, the majority party, Christian Democracy, already struggling due to the end of the Cold War and further weakened by corruption allegations and Mafia links dissolved itself in January 1994. From their post-war 1946 founding onwards, the party was always the largest and almost always leading the govt of the day. When the bribery scandal began in early 1992, it took just two years for the party to collapse completely.
The moral is that the SNP cannot expect to continue indefinitely. A Holyrood majority and a majority Westminster cohort could disappear overnight and the new administration under HY is doing EVERYTHING wrong. They are not facing up to the scale of the crisis and all the excuses currently being offered suggest a tendency to deceive that maybe cannot be extirpated. Through years of deception, they have painted themselves into a corner from which there may not be a way out.
If this party cannot be trusted and cannot change AND is going to continue as a devolutionist/gender reform party then it may find it cannot win a single Holyrood constituency seat with only the list saving it. The next Westminster election could be even more catastrophic. Don’t rule any scenario out, including a Scottish Labour-type collapse.
Jings…
As I recall when the MSM eventually got with the program & asked Mrs Murrell about the “ring fenced” money her reply was
“£600k will be spent by the SNP on the next Indy Ref”
Clearly avoiding the incriminating fact the money was gone & leaving the rest of us to conclude they would borrow it when needed……….whilst she was in full knowledge it was never going to be needed.
What a shower of ########## what ever expletive you wish.
Didn’t the Titantic go down in stages? Hamza could say it’s all over – let’s start again but he seems to be determined to look for new icebergs. Jeez.
The guy Mike Russell really angers me. He went to the very edge of suggesting I did something I would consider fraudulent a few years ago.
Afterwards, I adopted an extremely careful approach and suspect he jumped on NS’s gravy train without hesitation.
Hopefully the police feel able to expand their research by reviewing how his children are doing.
I read on Twitter but Sturgeon is to resign as an MSP
Is this true or mischiefmaking?
With the referendum cash spent, UDI might have been the best bet, to cover her tracks, if only they had prepared the necessary infrastructure. Doh!
I’m guessing an English based Tory donor, will step in to keep his unionist chums at the Scottish National Party, afloat.
link to scottishdailyexpress.co.uk
=====+
If the tweet I refer to above is smoke, is this the fire?
Do all these Ministers who have jumped on the resignation merry-go-round think that they suddenly all become invisible?
The Polis will still catch you.
Ignore the above corroboration, seemingly, by the Daily Excess. The guy is predicting that the selfie Queen will step down before the next election.
I suspect the original tweet quoted by me is YOON Mischief-making.
Quicksand, like walking on broken glass?!
link to youtube.com
Brilliant Stu and up to their necks in it.
The neoliberal fiscal conservative globalists will still shout out loud it was the radical left wot done it. They’ll circle their wagons and go all Kier Starmer on everybody. Macwhirter has already started it in fine Farage fashion below.
link to conter.scot
When these bastards ran rough shod over everybody for years who are now offering an olive branch of unity. They should be told to get tae. These neoliberal fiscal conservative globalists should be laughed at as their heads disappear under the quicksand.
Even now lessons aren’t being learnt, the refusal to suspend both Murrell’s and the fact that no one seems to know anything not even the new FM is truly shocking.
I remember Sturgeon at her last conference saying I’ll be FM for a long time to, then saying she had loads in the tank to just saying I’ve had enough and resigned.
When the FM wrote in The Rag for unity what he was asking for was no one else to leave the party, i can’t believe for a minute that the membership hasn’t continued to decreased since he’s been elected.
Someone in the SNP should challenge the new FM for rerun of the leadership election for the sake of the party and the country or Indy will be lost for decades its that bad.
A battle bus is it ?
Did the NEC authorize that purchase ? at a meeting ?
Given the state of their finances that bus was a big financial risk, as well as a depreciating asset
Surely a regular battle bus on a lease or a rental would make more sense
Stupid people don’t know thier stupid…thier too stupid.
At the very least we need people who are at least smart enough
to know thier stupid.
Can someone devise a mandatory test to be taken by anyone standing in an election,so that we and they know how stupid they are!
Well done Stu.
These facts speak volumes about an organisation in at best poor shape.
A number of people really have to be held to account now. No whitewash necessary.
You always knew a real SNP Sturgeon battle bus. They always had an enormous grinning picture of Troon Tabard on the side.
It is unbelievable (naw it really isnae) that the Scottish Polis have taken 2-3 years and still huvnae got tae the bottom of where the £600,000+ either is or what it has been spent on
Stuart Campbell even dissected the fuckin thing for them he broke everything down and is still doing so, if it wasn’t for SC this total shitshow wouldn’t have been exposed and the liars and cheats would just have continued lying and cheating
But you would think that now that SC has pointed out the lies and corruption and who the perpetrators probably are polis Scotland and the justiciary would realise the game’s a bogey and they canny protect wee nicoliar any mair so collar feeling time is maybe gettin closer
We on WOS have been well aware of the duplicity, corruption and lies of these scumbags because we frequent a site run by an ordinary guy who values honesty and integrity and who makes it his mission to EXPOSE frauds and carpetbaggers
.
There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for Penfold Murrell buying a new bus…
His wife had obviously worn out he previous bus as she had, at the last count, thrown 728 people whom she did not like, underneath that earlier bus. This obviously wore out the underneath of that previous bus.
Hence the need to satisfy whatshername, the ex First Minister’s proclivity to dispatch political opponents via the ancient act of debuseyfenestration.
So nothing to see here.
Though anyone taking a look at social media will see signs of the NuSNP is imploding. Hundreds of shares and the talk of the steamie.
There are, or were, hundreds of thousands of ordinary voters whose muscle-memory caused them to vote SNP in blissful ignorance of what the best journalist in Scotland was warning them against by researching and reporting in his articles on this website.
Many of those SNP voters are getting incandescent with rage at finding out they have been treated as mugs by Murell and Septic-Sturgeon. The tipping point will soon be reached at this rate.
A new non-SNP First Minister this way comes.
people,s movement…only way!
Step up…Now…
politician’s…Naaaaaaaaaah!…we know what they are…!
Oh…and,
You can shove your granny aff a bus!
It’s Easier to Fool People Than to Convince Them That They Have Been Fooled’? Mark Twain
The SNP travelling circus. That’s all folks.
Holy cow! How did nobody read between the lines of the accountant’s statement in the accounts? It is literally the accountants saying, ‘We don’t like some of the practices we are seeing hence taking the unusual step of mentioning the ‘F’ word on paper at length. We have tried to get answers and made our discomfort clear and have been left with assurances that are not convincing us. We did our best.’
Standing On Quicksand
Not the headline I want to see.
Sinking Without Trace In Quicksand
That’s better!
It’s Day 15 of Yousaf. Is he gone yet?
Mia says: Yesterday. Mastermind? Surely you have to be joking. Well, yes. Exactly!
However, for every event you mentioned yesterday – there was at every crucial turn, when needed, a past or present representitive of the Daily Record.
From the Vow until Now! And that is not a joke.
Willingly the SNP recruited a DR ex-editor. Why?
And the then suggestion that he – the SNP’s director of Communications – from Vow to Now had zero idea that the ‘auditors’ had resigned. Well, that would be ‘well beyond’ reasonable doubt.
It looks like only one man will be the fall guy in all of this. And someone must have Masterminded that!
They could have at least painted it yellow..
If anyone left in the SNP still cares for Independence the they need to lance this boil as quickly as possible, suspend all office bearers connected to this scandal, appoint ‘clean’ replacements and give out all information they can lawfully.
Otherwise, this could drag on forever.
It’s a strange feeling I have about all this.
I want the Independence Movement purged of every last one of these troughing charlatans, and while I believe Scottish Independence itself will remain robust and endure it, there will be a price to pay somewhere. But you know what? Bring it on. May this Nation of ours needs a sobering reminder what t(rai-tor)s against the Nation can expect.
What conflicts me more, is a belief this is just the hors d’oeuvre. I mean this shite about a Winnebago and misappropriation of funds isn’t something to be taken lightly, but frankly, I want to see these bastards going down for perjury and trying to frame Alex Salmond, to have him rot in jail branded as a sex offender. That’s the stomach churning stuff. Not Murrell with his hand in the cookie jar.
If this wee bastard get’s taken down for sticky fingers, and only that, it’s a sign that the more serious stuff is staying under the carpet, and the Conspirators have gotten away with it.
It might make me a bad person, but I hope the NEC gets clobbered for thousands, really taken to the cleaners. It couldn’t happen to nicer bunch of carpet bagging grifters, but even their financial ruin is nothing beside what these shitbags have done to Scotland, Scottish Independence, and the big dogs in the Independence Movement, from Alex Salmond to Joanna Cherry and the others.
Credit where it’s due, my highest respects to folk like Rev Stu who saw this coming and warned the community which didn’t want to listen.
But I’m gonna have one last punt of my own wee “lost voice in the wilderness”…
Impeachment.
Via Scotland’s Claim of Right, the Constitutional Sovereignty of the people, the sovereignty I’ve described as “red” sovereignty, by reconvening a Scottish style Convention of the Estates, we, the people, could assume the right to impeach the whole colonial institution of Holyrood, to treat the 1998 Scotland Act with utter contempt, and when our Vichy Edinburgh Assembly is swept aside, so too is our Vichy Scotland Act, and our Vichy Scottish “Government” and Vichy Gauleiter’s office entitled “Scottish First Minister”. These are all Westminster constructs, every one of them.
Rather than the long and drawn out deconstruction of the SNP and Scottish “Government” by the hyenas in the media and Unionist forces, who will savour the delights of this debacle for years to come, it is my belief we should act swiftly and decisively to put an end to this circus swiftly, and for good.
Holyrood is tainted forever, it is a subservient institution forevermore based upon it’s own cowardly concessions, and the SNP is now badly holed below the waterline.
We should use the time afforded us to scuttle this troubled ship ourselves, and establish the credentials of a Scottish Convention of the Estates standing firm in resolute defence of Scotland’s lawful status as a sovereign Nation.
Impeach Holyrood, and put these various invertebrates on trial for their unconstitutional betrayals and capitulations, and abdications of Scotland’s rights in Law.
Fuck the Winnebago.
The best defeat we can hand these bastards is for Scotland to bring the Union crashing down around their ears, and for Scotland to take command of it’s own destiny again.
Lay on, Macduff, And damned be him that first cries “Hold! Enough!”
Why does journalism in the MSM and TV fall far below that of WingsOverScotland.
I could spend 20X my monthly Wings payment and not get anywhere near the same standard
Links, source material, hard facts etc All presented on a clear timeline.
Thank goodness someone is doing it!
Well done Stu. At least one University with Journalism listed should be offering an Honorary Doctorate in Journalism.
Who is the registered keeper of this “battlebus”? Does anyone know?
So what exactly happens when the SNP fail to produce audited accounts as required by law?
The organisation will definitely have to be dissolved – the “company/association” Murrell set up in 2003 anyway. Same as a limited company which fails to produce accounts will eventually be struck off.
Then what happens to the political party? Can’t be permitted to continue “as is” can it? Its not the same legal entity at that point.
Supposing that is the case then surely that is going to trigger a Holyrood election well before 2026?
Anyone actually know what the law says should happen in a case like this?
Perhaps a silly questions…..
Why was the Motorhome not on the SNP accounts as an asset?
Why was it in PMs Mothers name?
The SNP NEC will all be held financially liable for the missing 600K.
They will turn on ringmasters Murrell and Sturgeon now.
The Indy Swindlers.
Anybody know to whom the ‘battle bus’ is registered ?
I’ve just heard that Mrs Murrell is cruising about without the wedding ring on, Oh peter what have you been saying to upset Mrs Murrell. Will the truth finally come out?
To spend all these years not being able to drive to now having the desire to want to drive.
That money was just resting in my account
Battle bus, who are they kidding? It’ll be a nice gift for mother Murrell.
They had the Both Votes SNP bus driving around the country during the Covid election in 2022.
So that’s a lie.
I remember reading a Wings article about them refurbishing the SNP office. More corruption will come.
The toilets of Barlinnie and Cornton Vale will have much less arch support than a Herman Miller office chair.
Murrell has had a sense of invincibility about him, that’s what happens when you are put on a pedestal. Anyone who voted for the SNP at the last election after Murrell and Sturgeons display at the AS inquiry were they lied and treated everyone with contempt must share in the blame for were Scotland as a country stands today politically. It was very clear at that point they were corrupt.
Has it been explained why the mobile home was registered in Murrell’s mother’s name?
Gets worse everyday folks-https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/23449248.snp-finance-woes-deepen-auditors-leave-partys-westminster-group/
“Any prospective new auditor is required to obtain a “professional clearance letter” from the previous auditors, basically alerting them to anything they might be required to be aware of before taking the client on.”
Could the above be why the SNP hasn’t appointed new auditors because they would automatically know that the figures don’t add up, and the info might find its way into the public domain.
How long legally can the SNP go on without auditors?
Garrion at 11 April, 2023 at 11:54 pm, hoping for something less grim.
Robin McAlpine seems to have turned a little less depressing in his recent couple of posts – even so far as to say it’s not necessarily all lost and the timetable for Scottish independence has not changed.
link to robinmcalpine.org
Yuge respect to whoever coined the battle bus reference since it reflects back wonderfully on what crown agents, auditors, HM opposition (whose short money is supposed to keep government honest by financing alternative opinion rather than having it silenced) and other such professional or established bodies were up to* during the coughid related assaults on mind body and soul.
*O grade/level math and the results of first three weeks to flatten the curve being plenty enough to get a handle on the most likely nature and extent (gaslighting/ hysteria) of the problem
Don’t know if all this “kill the witch” stuff is doing us much good, most of us have known for years what was going on yet clung on to the popularity engendered by wee Nickla.
Let the law take its course, even if we don’t like the outcome. The cabal are kaput so let’s get on and concentrate on what sort of government we want after the Co have gone into liquidation.
It really is of the utmost importance that we have discussions regarding what and Independent Scottish Government would look like, as folks will no longer be prepared to vote for Independence at any price. The GRR put an end to that belief.
“As a result of performing these procedures we have assessed the following areas as having a heightened risk of fraud; related party transactions and manual journal entries.”
Hmmm that is very interesting.
So who or what would constitute a ‘related party transaction’ here. In the context of the SNP (as a political party and not a business) that would seem likely to be an insider of some description, probably a high ranking employee or an SNP politician.
Manual journal entries. This is very telling especially when combined with Related Party Transactions.
The ability to post manual journal entries is usually a very restricted functionality within any organization as it is very powerful and could be used to facilitate or obscure fraudulent activity. Only trusted staff would be have access to the journal.
The audit fees spiking I noted last time this came up. It strongly suggests something very contentious occurred and the auditors had to do a lot of extra work to completely satisfy themselves they could sign off.
But then it looks like it was so borderline that they decided to resign.
So something very contentious is there in the accounts that is for sure and this is doubly confirmed by Murrell’s weird reluctance to show anyone else the accounts.
WTF has this balloon done I wonder. It all gets stranger and stranger by the day. Buying that motorhome is really odd as well.
Some unusual transaction(s) occurred between the SNP and a related party and it was manually posted through the journal very possibly by the same related party. This obviously has triggered major alarm bells with the auditor and the audit committee.
I don’t find that excuse about the motorhome being a battle bus very convincing at all. That doesn’t make sense. Why would you buy a vehicle like that… I also don’t recall seeing a 110k motorhome on the SNP’s balance sheet last time I looked but maybe they obscured it in some other line.
Murky Murrell is approaching black hole levels of murk. Soon light will not be able to escape his surface.
Rob says:
12 April, 2023 at 9:01 am
Garrion at 11 April, 2023 at 11:54 pm, hoping for something less grim.
Robin McAlpine seems to have turned a little less depressing in his recent couple of posts – even so far as to say it’s not necessarily all lost and the timetable for Scottish independence has not changed.
——–
Wishful thinking. Nobody here will live long enough to see an independent Scotland. I doubt even your grandchildren will see it. Nothing has progressed for years. Depressing innit.
If we don’t get a new party then I see no way to get independence. The SNP brand is toxic, and a national embarrassment. I mean how do they fight the next election.’ Trust The SNP’.
Nobody with any sense will go within a 100 miles of their campaign. No celebrity’s or business people will want their reputations damaged by the SNP brand.
I would favour an enlarged Alba party , with the SNP defectors coming into the fold. The rotten rump of the SNP needs to die a swift death. They will not win the next Holyrood election. They will lose half their seats at Westminster.
Forget saving the SNP , it’s over.
It is possible this could all be about the purchase of the motorhome.
If that was an SNP asset though why was it parked at Peter Murrell’s mum’s house? Ok so maybe that was just a cheap place to locate it and the motorhome was only ‘resting’ in his mum’s driveway… And I’ll bet it was not taxed hence the need for off street parking.
The Murrell loan was for a specific amount. Was that the price of the motorhome I wonder… Both amounts are very similar.
If it is not convincing to us it was a battle bus it would presumably be not be convincing to an auditor either.
But then sitting in at the NEC meetings seems a strange way to get comfortable about a motorhome purchase… so this is a bit of a puzzle still.
Oh Peter what have you done, allegedly.
NewSNP’s arrogance knows no bounds. They pressed ahead with the attempt to Get Salmond in defiance of expert legal advice. Result: huge cost to the public purse.
Murrell kept the accounts to himself, in defiance of proper practice, even denying access to the Treasurer and Finance Committee. Result: auditors running for the exit having detected a stench of serious fraud.
But NewSNP and she/her knew best (or knew nothing).
Result: Implosion of #NewSNP and every excuse for the enemies of independence to point and laugh.
Well Ash Regan and Kate Forbes dodged a bullet and poor Humza is about to be strung up by those that guided him into the top job.
The SNP is finished.
If Richi Sunak was on the ball he would call a general election now and have the SNP in the bag. Ok many of the seats might fall to to Labour but there is no sign of them recovering in England and he would be seen to be in the driving seat.
Can someone sit the NEC down and explain to them what “Joint and Several Liability” means in practice?
I know someone tried before but was dismissed as a pot-stirrer.
If it could be filmed, with sound, I’m sure it would be a best seller in indie-minded Scotland.
Carma is a bitch!
The snp arrogance is unlimited, completely shameless, they must think we all zip up if they assume we would swallow the shite that theyre drip feeding out. A battlebus for fucks sake how long did it take to think that one up, why could they and useless not give the correct date of last audit …..absolutely stinks to high heaven. Murrell STurgeon Useless Swinney and I guess a lot more are all implicated directly or indirectly in this travesty……Its all making sense now theyve had a ticking time bomb since last September thats now its blown up leaving nats with a staggered denial / avoidance strategy, obviously Sturgeon had to get out however if she lies her way out of this then the legal system is corrupt.
This could get very interesting
6 months and the snp have not appointed another auditor
Could it be that any self respecting firm of auditors will have spoken to the departed firm
And be told DO NOT TOUCH THIS WITH A BARGEPOLE!!?”
Then what will happen?
Electoral commission send it their auditors?
Then the brown stuff will really hit the fan
Hence all the resignations
JC have been my business accountants for two decades. The partner who deals with our accounts has always known my political leanings and has been similarly sympathetic.
A couple of years ago, I was looking over the SNP accounts (public document) with him and I asked how £600k+ could possibly be ‘woven through the accounts’ in the way the Murrells had suggested. This was met with a knowing look and silence, aside from suggesting that he was a specialist in other areas and not a partner for political organisations….
To be frank, I’m slightly saddened to discover that they (JC) only junked the SNP six months ago. If the SNP had gone into the Dragon’s Den with their financial fairy tale, Peter Jones would have ushered them straight out of the room. In a similar vein, Alan Sugar would have said, ‘You’re Fired’!
When they set up the pictures of Mike Russell and the horse box as the start of the big campaign he must have known they were yanking his chain and humiliating him publicly. Why did he not react.
Some of the top people they have ostracized are talented and will get another job very easily, but they said nothing and did not resign. The current bunch at the top, the best that could be said is they are in there out the road of the busses, are unemployable.
«Solid domestic governance has been the bedrock of the GRADUALIST independence strategy for decades. It is one side of the coin in our LONG campaign to restore Scotland’s place in the world»
Alyn SMITH..The National today.
He describes Scotland as a «small country».
In Europe Scotland has larger land area than Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Irish rep. but has rather less than Portugal and Czechia. On a world scale the word «medium» would apply. They who think small….
Re Accounts
I think the Battlebus may very well be in there! On the Balance Sheet as at 31/12/21 there is shown £80,632 under the heading “Motor Vehicles”. The comparative figure for 31/12/20 is Nil. There is reference to Note 18. Note 18 does not have a separate column for vehicles but incorporates it into Office/Computer Equipment where additions for the year amounted to £116,497. Broad brush then purchase of Battlebus £100k less depreciation charge of £20k takes you back to Balance Sheet figure of £80k Not sure why description is plural though!
akenaton
I agree this will be the car crash they have agreed to deliver for their handler.
We must reform around Alba and gather in the best of the SNP as see reason and let the rest head of to jail
I reckon I could suggest several lines of argument that would assist Peter Murrell’s lawyers. (I am not going to of course.)
But they all are severely undermined if it turns out Peter used part of the missing 666k of ring-fenced indref2 fighting funds to buy a 100k+ luxury motorhome and park it round his mum’s.
What is also important to find out here is from whom was the motorhome purchased. Was it a garage or a private individual. Was the purchase in any (other) way unusual.
I sense another SNP purge is looming large. Which way their MPs and MSPs will walk is anybody’s guess but one thing is for sure, those that created this mess are going to get in the way of a positive independence message for the whole of the next parliamentary session. Thank goodness we didn’t put all of our Indy eggs in the one basket!
do you think Humza’s dad would take n the auditor’s job
Curious that the Lügenpresse are blurring the vehicle registration mark of the “battle bus”, something explicitly designed to be publicly viewed.
Well, I’m sure there’s nothing in its ownership, keepership, or insurance history that would contradict the new narrative.
Breeks,
Talk of Sovereignty and the Claim of Right all seems very “historical” except it’s intended for exactly this situation – when you need to sling the troughers out on the street you can, without having to burn down their favourite restaurant or Winnebago in the process.
We’ve been sold the “ever closer union” / “better together” BS when it’s really all about taking away people’s ability to effect change. Sovereignty and Claim of Right is the ultimate in empowerment. It’s a master reset switch that can stop a runaway gravy train even before it decides to leave the station. The Americans have their “right to bear arms in a well regulated militia”. This is much, much smarter.
Well someone’s got to be able to drive the £100K plus motorhome.
“Nicola Sturgeon has been snapped returning home from a driving lesson as she continues to adjust to life after stepping down as First Minister.
The 52-year-old, who remains MSP for the Glasgow Southside seat after quitting the top job in February, was snapped getting out of a blue Toyota Yaris with L-plates run by the Caledonian Learner Driver Training motoring school on Monday. She stopped the car outside her home in Glasgow”
link to archive.is
Colin,
Hmmm…
Off the top of my head Murrell’s loan was initially for something like 106,620, it was a VERY specific number.
The loan was then repaid in two installments reducing it to 80,000 pounds which neatly matches the net book value of the fucking motorhome.
The loan was paying back the motorhome not his tainted wages… I think.
Ohhh the twists and turns are glorious.
The SNP did not email all donors explaining what happened to their donation.
Colin Beattie said they would but when they didn’t I told him several times, I was waiting on my email.
When Murrell resigned Pension Pete took to Twitter and praised him because he had “professionalised” the SNP.
Care to revise that opinion Mr Wishart?
@Ottomanboi
There are almost exactly the same number of countries that are larger than Scotland as there are smaller, both in terms of land area and of population. Scotland is the exact definition of medium.
This is rich coming from the guy who demoted Joanna Cherry whilst protecting sleazy Patrick O’Grady, meanwhile the coming together doesn’t include Margaret Ferrier.
“Ian Blackford urges SNP to ‘come together’ during ‘challenging period”
@Mac
I’d imagine fraud is far more prevalent in the copy paste era than it would ever have been with manual entry ledgers (using enough different hands for writing each book the customer, bank and shareholder gets to see being a big enough pain/ security risk in and of itself) so, to my increasingly cynical eyes and ears, the auditor’s disclaimer makes it look somewhat insincere/ tick box oriented, if not necessarily full Arthur anderson/ Pinsent masons.
If so, perhaps the security tent was not so much to provide additional drama for the anti Sturgeon media circus but more a heads up to the auditors that its all part of a well orchestrated sting to give fraud squad greater licence to dig into the ‘services’ they’ve been providing to their more serious clients (if any).
a positive independence message from the nats lol lol lol ..its all over now baby blue………….
Nice work Stu. It would be interesting to know if the Internet traffic to Wings has spiked since the resignation of Nikita Stalin et al.
I wonder if Al Capone’s accountant is still available?
Beauvais says:
12 April, 2023 at 10:11 am
”When Murrell resigned Pension Pete took to Twitter and praised him because he had “professionalised” the SNP.
Care to revise that opinion Mr Wishart?”
You clearly misunderstood Beauvais, what he meant to say was ”Criminalised”
The facts are sinking in to more core SNP supporters, I feel.
I note that message appears now to be whataboutery: “So there was some piddling corruption, the Unionist parties, are worse, on a far grander scale – what’s a little corruption when Indy is at stake? Who is holding them to account, why come down so hard on the SNP”?
Which is certainly a point of view. At face value, it is a piddling amount when UKGov regularly pochle to the tune of millions & billions.
Of course the figure could go up, who knows, and those who do are not saying. Corruption isn’t only money, when it comes to a corrupt Judiciary the moral stakes become higher.
So, is that really the state of play we must accept, the ‘realpolitik’ – anyone can come to the table and ante, but to stay in a high stakes game, you must be corrupt?
Maybe it is, and those saying so have a point. It would be naive to think there is any government on the planet, which is not tinged by corruption. Is the primary disappointment, the fact it was so feebly done? Yeah, a lot of that.
Primarily though, it’s not the money, it’s not the shady shenanigans with the Judiciary, it’s the fact that none of it was done to advance the cause of Independence. They were shafting their own – the betrayal is what is unforgiveable.
I’d like to turn a blind eye, I’d like there to be a redemption for the SNP, I’d like to put it behind me, but I can’t. Dip my hip, but don’t slap me while you’re doing it.
dasBlimp @9:13am
Robin is full of Righteous Anger TM. Depression is reserved solely for the faithful as they come to terms with what they enabled.
“Wings understands that this is because the firm had to embed an employee at SNP HQ to monitor its activities, as the party (for example) no longer produces proper minutes of NEC meetings, only a short list of “outcomes”.
This to me is clincher, it is saying we don’t believe you are following sound financial controls and we’re going audit your controls, the result of which, lead to them saying Adios.
I remember the Labour Party when it was in Dire “Straits”..
link to guardian.co.uk
Senior officials in the Labour party, including Gordon Brown, could become personally liable for millions of pounds in debt unless new donors can be found within weeks, the Guardian has learned.
The party has five weeks to find £7.45m to pay off loans to banks and wealthy donors recruited by Lord Levy, Tony Blair’s former chief fundraiser, or become insolvent. A further £6.2m will have to be repaid by Christmas – making £13.65m in all. The sum amounts to two-thirds of the party’s annual income from donations.
.
.
.
The advice from City solicitors Slaughter and May said unequivocally that leading party officials and members of the NEC would be ” jointly and severally” responsible for the party’s debt.
The reason is that the Labour party constitution is framed like a local club or society, and has no provision for limiting the liability of its officials or managers.
Wings and Craig Murray have given pretty strong hints as to what it was the police discovered while investigating the missing 666k.
Something to do with a certain ‘businessman’ and a certain deal and a very large amount of public money is about all they are saying.
So if that turns out to be true the motorhome shenanigans will just be the hors d’oeuvre, the tiny tip of the colossal shitberg floating our way.
You might need to all brace yourselves for the real possibility that criminals have been governing Scotland for years
Colin Beattie had full and detailed knowledge of what was happening.
I would suggest to Police Scotland that a 12hour grilling of that individual would open the floodgates.
As for the NEC, I estimate about £30k liability each. It is too late to hide any assets now.
Well done Stu. Very High quality reporting.
I wonder what the New Party will be called. “The Rainbow Alliance” or perhaps “Rapists for Indy”
Serious question: The NEC are claiming ignorance (which is not a defence) if the auditor had a body embedded in SNP HQ as they felt they lacked good governance if that said body was withdrawn 6 months ago did no one notice, or is this where Nicolas sermon on the mount speech about asking questions about the finances gets the NEC out of jail free
A poster above mentioned the absence of vehicles in the Accounts.
The SNP 2021 closing fixed assets in the published audited accounts do include the net value of motor vehicles acquired during the year at £80,632. This is cross referenced to note 18 where you might expect to find the cost and depreciation figures for same, netting to the above figure.
However note 18 does not do so despite a cross reference to it as no additional column has been inserted( there being no motor vehicle asset at the end of 2020 so one was not required in 2020) Instead the motor vehicles cost and depreciation must be included in the movements on computer/office equipment.
I offer no view on whether the motor vehicle purchases and the “battle bus” are the same items and there is no point in speculation. By inference the auditors must have considered the purchases to be legitimate and authorised capital expenditure or they would have drawn attention to them in their report.
The temptation to just say “wake me up when a single policy independence party forms or the brick throwing finally starts” is getting pretty strong.
Then again maybe it should be temptation to start said party or brick based Olympics.
I’m two decades out of touch with charge-out rates in the UK. How many hours fo say, one audit senior and a semi-senior would the increase in audit fees cover?
@akenaton
Its best its all out in the open, it helps get rid of the people whole don’t support Independence but their own interest and once its out we the Indy movent can move on and get Independence.
Colin, regarding the plural vehicles…
I wonder if Mike Russell’s horsebox is in there as well.
We never did see what they intended towing that thing around with… Tah-daaah! A new luxury motorhome. I am not being entirely serious here but the timings actually fit. Oh man this is cracking me up.
The motorhome, the horsebox, connect the dots people.
link to thenational.scot
An interesting question might be to ask if there are any other Scottish public bodies which have replaced traditional governance and record keeping with lean, light touch ‘efficiency’. Anyone know who signs off on their arrangements?
Good advice….unless you are a willing patsy!
link to bbc.co.uk
“…deliver a quality audit…”
I’m always amused when “quality” is unqualified.
The horse box as well? Of course!
Mike Russell why the long face?
@Iain mhor says:12 April, 2023 at 10:28 am
Primarily though, it’s not the money
Too fucking right, it’s not the money.
It’s not the alleged financial shady dealing.
It’s the alleged fraudulent NS replacement process.
It’s the alleged fraudulent position of HY as leader of the SNP.
It’s the alleged fraudulent position of HY as FM of medium-sized, aspirational first-world, European country, Scotland.
The blinkers need to come off and the real extent of this travesty needs to be at the forefront of everybody’s attention.
Scotland is being represented on the world stage and domestically by somebody who in all likelihood has no legitimate right to be in the position of FM.
Forget imposter syndrome, we have a genuine imposter.
IMHO that’s a lot more of a problem than the problems being raked over on here.
link to electoralcommission.org.uk
Meanwhile, in other news…
link to lbc.co.uk
Has any other political party in British history ever had such difficulty in finding an auditor prepared to take them on?
Is any other party in Britain run as a corporation with a CEO?
The SNP NEC is effectively the Board and the members are effectively the shareholders. In any respectable corporation the Board would have booted out a CEO who refuses to disclose the financial affairs to the CFO. If they didn’t, there would be be a shareholder revolt at the next AGM.
Where was the outrage within the Party? The outrage was here on WoS for years.
The SNP is a steaming shitpile which stinks to high heaven.
The SNP has started circling the drain.
Alba is on the move.
Any new Scottish Liberation party, if it can’t speak to the youth of the nation, will fail. The grey-hairs have had-their-day and completely fucked it up for them, as all available evidence now clearly shows.
>”I wonder if Al Capone’s accountant is still available?”
It seems that Murrell’s “loan” might have been used to purchase the Battle Bus. If this was some VAT dodge, it would be delightful if he does go down the same way as Capone.
A battlebus built for two!
Possibly in the MSM later today.
“Re Battle Bus, there was a one letter mistake when originally printing this, it is actually the Bottle Bus and is a purpose built vehicle to enable the recycling run for the elderly and infirm. It also provides make up and dressing facilities for trips to schools to provide Story Hour.”
Electoral Commission website.
If you have 30 minutes or so to spare it’s worthwhile going onto the above and downloading the party’s 2020 and 2021 Annual Reviews (with their accounts) and in particular he Financial Review.
The 2020 Review has a sizeable narrative over the Referendum Appeal following questions received. Reports £666k received with £51k spent. In 2021 £741k reported as having been received with £253k spent. Thus over £200k – surely not including the motorhome !
Interestingly there is mention of earmarking but for “independence related campaigning’ The Treasurer’s assurances are for campaigning’ and nota Referendum despite the paragraph heading. The overall wording in both years is very much smoke and mirrors.
Some interesting movements in membership numbers as well.
In December 2020 there were 105,393, however the report indicates 116,853 by 31 March 2021, and over 119,000 by the end of May.
However,the December 2021 figure in that year’s report is way down from over 119,000 to only 103,884.
I suspect the membership reporting is only as accurate as the financials.
Geoff Anderson @ 12.06.
Wow, that’s quite a list.
s.43.7 is of interest: ‘Failure to deliver statement about auditors resignation’.
Not sure what such a statement should include or when it should be made. Can you help?
Colin says:
12 April, 2023 at 12:35 pm
Electoral Commission website.
“If you have 30 minutes or so to spare it’s worthwhile going onto the above and downloading the party’s 2020 and 2021 Annual Reviews (with their accounts) and in particular he Financial Review.”
No problem Colin. Neoliberal fiscal conservative globalist Kate Forbes, once the idiots make her leader, will sort it out in a heart beat.
She’ll invite big business and corporations into the den of thieves to fully fund the party. That will be the corporate capture complete. Cheered on by EU uber alles Susan Aitken.
link to novaramedia.com
People who can see the outcome playing out. Simply refuse to believe their own eyes and come up with weird and wonderful ideas to try and save these Neoliberal fiscal conservative globalists from complete destruction. Rather than finally putting a stake through their hearts.
So useless is to appeal the UK gov block on the GRA reforms
Mmmmmmm
It is an interesting question as to the registration of the motor home. Surely, it can’t be Murells mother, despite it being in her driveway? She is 92 years old!!
@Sapri
As a separate question, it might indeed be interesting to know which public bodies have hidden or are hiding ‘discrepancies’ in their accounts. I can think of one…
The SNP however is not a public body…no political parties are. The Scottish Govt actually has a website where you can see the list of public bodies…not going to link just Google it.
The point about political parties which comes up again and again is ‘fundraising scandals’. These scandals never go away, they never stop, and until an adequate formula is found to stop parties pushing at the margins of the law, these scandals will never stop happening.
Now there’s a whole other type of financial scandal afflicting political classes down the generation because public contracts are a target for the entrepreneurial criminal classes but until we hear more I ain’t going there…!!!
As someone pointed out on Twitter, Kate Forbes surely must have known that the auditors had resigned in September? No wonder she had a huge smile on her face at HY’s leadership win
Useless had one shot , one opportunity, to salvage anything for the SNP in Scotland he has blown that opportunity by trying to appease the Scottish Green pervert party. Hope the Supreme Court rips him a new one.
It’s a wee bit off topic, but even the first few minutes of this should really be mainstream viewing, because outside of the bubble, there are big changes happening in the world, and we really, truly, need to start paying attention, because the Western Media will not tell you about it… (And we Scots shouldn’t need convinced about that).
link to barrheadboy.com
We are sleepwalking ito disaster, and Scotland cannot, must not, allow the UK Government to be playing Scotland’s hand in these emerging global affairs. Our very place in the world is what is at stake.
I’m not afraid of what the BRICS family of Nations can do and achieve for themselves, good on them, indeed in Africa in particular, when you look at Chinese investment, this has been on the cards for long time. But in Highlander Movie parlance, I believe we are now witnessing “the Quickening”.
It does worry what the US and UK will do in response, and EU’s response is also, well, shaping up to be “interesting”. This matters, because I don’t believe the “division” is between NATO members and BRICS… It is shaping up to be the Anglo-Saxon component of NATO.
Inform yourself about what Macron has been saying about the US, and further inform yourself what US Senator for Florida, Marco Rubio said about France in reply…
link to twitter.com
(And just to clear, this is not “about” Macron, who yes, I know, has domestic problems in France).
I have this wee dream in my head about a progressive Scotland being the Istanbul of Western Europe with the GIUK Gap / North Sea being or Bosphorus… and Scapa Flow becoming a deep water Container Ship hub of global significance. It’s possible, but it’s all in peril.
Bottom line is, I see a glowing long term future for a Scottish Nation which can temper the belligerence of the UK / US foreign policy without going to war, and function as an intermediary between BRICS, EU and the US, while assisting England coming to terms with their self imposed Brexit isolation. We can position our Scottish Nation to physically “be” the diplomatic resolution which keeps the peace.
This is a monumental window of opportunity, but it requires a Scottish Nation to be extraordinarily brave and resolute, and acting like a grown-up, and NOT being sucked into the asinine swamp of Vichy Holyrood Devolution, and waiting for leadership from our tragically inept and disfunctional SNP “Government”.
Go out and look for your news, because important developments are happening right now but being kept from us. Are you comfy heading into troubled waters as an Anglo-Saxon Scotland?
Me, I’d rather we didn’t … Right now, I’d prefer Scotland to be as “un”- Anglo Saxon as we can possibly be. London doesn’t speak for me. Right now, nobody does.
Once neoliberal fiscal conservative, EU uber alles globalist Forbes gets her hands on the party voted in by a bunch of psychopaths. Who only voted for her because she simply said a man is a man and a woman is a woman.
Completes her mission of corporate capture. It will be Government by Estate Agent on steriods.
link to conter.scot
Of course, why the banks had already been given the heads up and invested so heavily along the river banks of the Clyde. The financial sector ( rent seekers ) have grown substantially in Glasgow.
The real Kate Forbes the female version of Kier Starmer. As slimy as David Cameron.
link to mobile.twitter.com
Wouldn’t trust her to take my bins oot. Or take my granny to the bingo.
The only reason I could believe it was bought as a battle bus, was the complete farcical nature of never branding it, never modifying it, never using it, never coming clean about it, choosing something seemingly inappropriate (ie small and luxurious rather than big and practical), ignoring the facts that essential work – use of offices, hotels etc, was never banned, storing (& registering??) with either a nepotistic or crony connections – all points up to the complete lack of competence the SNP and Scottish Government applied to everything it touched.
Sorry…I want to swear like a mud-drenched squaddie…what is it about the SNP and husband and wife appointments at the top of this party?
It’s like we’re all mugs to these people, thick as toothless bonded labourers covered in soot speaking an indecipherable dialect…no SNP jobs for you peasants…sorry did you not understand?…OK…I’ll shout so you can understand…NO SNP JOBS FOR PEASANTS. Governing is hard, that’s why we in the SNP have to choose only the best…but never mind the SNP, Scotland has become like some weird cult that actually has strict conditions for membership.
Why anyone would choose to come and live here now is a real pressing question…
Don @ 1.00.
The SNP (aka SS Titanic) has spotted another iceberg to sail into.
Still, it’s only public money they’re wasting. They were already sinking, so why not go out in style?
The only reason Kate Forbes’ was interesting for all of 5 mins in the leadership contest was to watch how the SNP have used social liberalism as complete cover for their rightwards economic shift.
It was pure entertainment to Sit back and watch the rabbits startled by her headlights.
At least we now know for sure that ALL of those Scottish Labour voters who never moved over to the SNP and who gave the reason for not doing so as – ” Thery are nothing but Tartan Tories”.
584,392 of them were bang on the money all along.
PhilM, not only at the top of the party, my (woke) MP’s wife was elected an SNP councillor. Keeping it in the family
@Breeks says:12 April, 2023 at 1:05 pm
important developments are happening right now but being kept from us
But not from you, eh Breeks?
Hows about you share your sources then? We could all have a wee look and determine for ourselves how plausible they are.
Your idea that revelatory truths can be told only to an elect (i.e. yourself), who will then pass on an edited summary with many nods and winks to the faithful disciples went out with the invention of movable type.
Excellent post Breeks. The latest Prism was a real eye opener.
Don @ 1.00.
“The SNP (aka SS Titanic) has spotted another iceberg to sail into.Still, it’s only public money they’re wasting. ”
What on earth is public money ?
Can you describe it to me without parroting the brainwashing of Andrew Neil or Margaret Thatcher ?
Was this motor home parked in the Murrell drive for the whole of the time it was owned by the SNP? I’d be interested in knowing the mileage when it was delivered to the SNP and the mileage when the police took it away.
Still Sinking (2018): Making a Point:
“…We’ve seen a lot of people come and go
But we’re here to stay
This is not propaganda
This is public opinion
All we want is for you to remember us for who we are
And when it all falls down
We’ll stand and watch you drown…”:
link to tinyurl.com
To put you minds at rest, the motor home is really like Goldfongers RR. Happy to be of service/
Just a few more observations on the 2021 audited accounts.
1. If the “battle bus” appears in the accounts at all it must, as has already been remarked upon, form part of “Office/computer equipment” in note 18. I have never seen motor vehicles lumped with office equipment before.
2. No separate depreciation policy is disclosed in respect of motor vehicles. I would regard this as unusual.
3. Campaigning costs, £1,647,041, are the largest expenditure item and represent a 750% [sic] increase on the previous year, yet they are the *only* expenditure caption not further explained in a note to the accounts.
4. An analysis of this highly material item would considerably assist in an understanding of the accounts.
5. This large expense contributes to a pretax loss of £749k compared with a *profit* of £1,092k the previous year.
6. £749k might be said to be of a similar order of magnitude to £667k.
Neutral observations, made without implication of error or impropriety.
Motorhome Tour : Niesmann + Bischoff iSmove 7 3 F
Visible on YouTube, though not on the SNP accounts.
Just the sort of thing you need as a “bus” on an election trail, despite having belted seats for only two (or four) people.
At the time of acquisition, there were social distancing laws in force. How appropriate a vehicle for a campaign room!
Albert Herring says:
12 April, 2023 at 10:11 am
“@Ottomanboi
There are almost exactly the same number of countries that are larger than Scotland as there are smaller, both in terms of land area and of population. Scotland is the exact definition of medium.”
Not just that but the area of Scottish coastal waters is estimated at 462,315 kms sq, almost six times its land area of 78,352.
Since the land area of Scotland is 32% of England’s, well, you can draw your own conclusions about how small Scotland is. I’m still trying to find the area of England’s coastal waters, as opposed to the UK’s.
The above was the scientific answer to the question re the size of Scotland.
This is the poet’s: link to scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk
Ya bass!
Hi TC.
Figures from: link to marine.gov.scot
Apologies if the formatting goes awry. It looks ok in the text box.
Table 3: Sea areas of UK Countries and Crown Dependencies
Description Area (km2) Approx. %
Scottish zone 462,315 63%
English zone 230,190 32%
Welsh zone 30,778 4%
Northern Irish zone 6,819 1%
UK Exclusive Economic Zone (Total)
730,102 100%
Isle of Man territorial waters 3,976
Guernsey territorial waters 3,691
Jersey territorial waters 2,965
Source: UKHO Maritime Limits
UKHO = link to datahub.admiralty.co.uk
@BDTT: thanks, me old haricot, for finding those chiels that winna ding.
Scotland small? Dinnafinksae.
I used to wonder why facts like these and Dan’s Table of Scottish Assets by % were never stressed by the SNP to “show us the money” as John Main is wont to say.
Now that we know the party is full of outright Massey Fergusons, trimmers and troughers who don’t give a flying fruitbat for independence, it’s perfectly understandable.
Eight and a half wasted years which are gone forever.
No reputable auditor would touch the SNP accounts with a barge pole – it would be akin to auditing the books for the Mafia!
However, if there is an ongoing investigation into the SNP’s finances, should there not be a police-appointed auditor looking at the books?
Has anyone worked out why £107,620? Such an odd figure.
I think it could be a transfer of Euros, which, for a figure of that amount, probably directly from a non UK bank.
The only other scenario would be that it was for a specific spend, done on behalf of the SNP by Murrell.
There is just something very odd about a loan that isn’t merely £100k or £110k.
But I’m still scratching my head over an increased in funding. Accounts and public info show something like £2.5m from 125,000 members, so presumably the income from <35,000 in 2013/14 would be around £700,000.
Even considering the timescales for the increase to 125,000 and the subsequent decrease to <80,000, that's a LOT of extra money, presumably £12-£15 million over the period between 2014 and 2021.
And, not only all spent, but more besides.
The SNP have certainly been living outwith their very comfortable means, when surely they should have been saving this windfall for a rainy day? Or a war chest for a referendum to add to the £600k fundraiser, as that is their raison d'entre.
Anyone know how to access online SNP accounts from 2010 to 2019?