As we’ve repeatedly pointed out, Wings has made NO comments about the “workplace harassment” allegations made against Alex Salmond several years ago. We’ve only commented on the CRIMINAL allegations, and workplace harassment isn’t a crime. (It’s a matter for an employment tribunal, not the police.)
But the real question is WHY Andy Wightman is so doggedly attached to these two complainers that he’s determined to keep digging himself further into a hole of lies. And everyone knows what you tend to find when you start digging holes.
“Hello Stuart. We’ve been contacted by a reader who says he also contacted you about a post on the website in the early hours of Saturday. Referring to Nicola Sturgeon, the poster says “Decapitating this witch would stop the SNP dead in their tracks.”
Our reader, Ian Reid, an SNP activist in the Borders, has been a regular Wings reader but was taken aback by the language. He had hoped you would have deleted the post, but that hasn’t happened.
He has reported it to the police and given a statement to them.
He has also given us these comments on why the Alba Party should condemn this sort of material and cut its ties to the Wings site.
“Alex Salmond and the leaders of the new party need to separate themselves from that, they need to call it out. They seem to be trying to set themselves up as the moral guardians for women’s rights, which I absolutely support. At the same time, we’ve got somebody posting this on a blog that they clearly associate with and clearly use.
On the one hand, they’re talking about gender-proofing their policies, which is great. On the other hand, they’ve got this where a woman is being described as the devil herself, and where there’s a reference to decapitating the witch having a justifiable end.
That needs to be called out. The party needs to come out and say something about it. The best possible outcome would be that they do condemn it. It would be such a powerful message. Separating themselves from that cesspit would be a very politically astute thing for them. As long as they don’t, it’s colluding with it, it’s condoning it.”
This is for a potential story online and in print.
If you didn’t already know that the BBC were going to run a character-assassination hatchet job on Alex Salmond tonight (and another one tomorrow), you could surmise it easily enough from the state of the Scottish media in the last few days.
But it’s today’s Daily Record that dredges the depths of the journalistic sewer with a barrel and then scrapes the very bottom of it for the grubbiest, oiliest sludge it can find.
The BBC’s Reporting Scotland is, in our view, directly responsible for at least 80% of Yes supporters’ belief that the UK’s state broadcaster is biased against independence. Almost all of the worst examples of unbalanced or downright dishonest coverage over the last five years come from the flagship teatime bulletin.
Normally the amateur blogger, unqualified would-be economist and unsuccessful dog-food salesman that BBC Scotland and the Daily Record employ on a regular basis to openly troll Yes voters restricts himself, when attacking this site, to crude abuse or smear and innuendo like the below, tweeted on Holocaust Memorial Day last year:
It’s important to note, firstly, that the version of Sadiq Khan’s speech to the Scottish Labour conference he tweeted on Saturday morning simply flat-out said that Scottish nationalists were the same as racists and sectarian bigots. Its meaning was as clear as crystal to the Daily Record, a newspaper which is hardly hostile to Khan’s party.
“No difference” is a stark and unambiguous phrase. The speech did not contain the hastily-added qualifiers about “in this respect” and “of course I’m not saying the SNP are racist” which suddenly appeared when he read it out onstage that afternoon.
There’s a truly abominable piece of hatemongering in today’s Times. A grotesequely dishonest Nat-bashing smear job based on stupendously misrepresented fragments of quotes, it’s penned by Patrick Harkness, someone who the paper identifies as “a past co-chairman of the RSE [Royal Society of Edinburgh] Young Academy of Scotland”.
For some reason it’s chosen to leave a few lines off his CV.
Readers may be aware that Wings Over Scotland is (fairly remarkably, really) the UK’s second-most-read politics blog, behind the hardcore right-wing “Guido Fawkes”.
Our “competitor” isn’t a site we look at a lot – the comments make the Daily Mail readership seem like enlightened and thoughtful moderates – but last week someone asked us about a smear piece they’d run on SNP MP Corri Wilson, and we only just remembered today to check it out. Our initial findings weren’t well received.
It seems that Mr Fawkes and his minions aren’t too keen on scrutiny themselves.
Since the astonishing election of 56 SNP MPs to the UK Parliament last May, the Unionist media – suddenly deprived of a whole contacts book full of friendly Scottish Labour bench-warmers ready to feed it cosy stories over a boozy expenses lunch in Whitehall – has raked through every bin and gutter in the land looking for anything (however pathetic) that it can try to puff up, distort, and rope into service as “dirt” on each of the Nat members, in an attempt to discredit them and the party.
So let’s just have a little look in here and – YIKES!
The Scottish Daily Mail’s front page lead today is so galactically despicable that it’s easy to overlook another story that it bundles in with the same “SNP BAD” attack.
While excoriating Dr Philippa Whitford for having the sheer shameless gall to help save women’s lives in her holidays, the alleged newspaper also devotes a page-high article to an attack on another Nat MP, George Kerevan, for employing his wife.
Confused on The cost of failure: “Farage was a good laff the other day, pointing out what the BBC was up to in the 1970s -…” Dec 5, 23:04
James Cheyne on The cost of failure: “Stu, good journalism, Catch up in morning, am tired and away to bed.” Dec 5, 22:29
Colin Alexander on The cost of failure: “There is no pro-indy vs Pro-union division at Holyrood. That’s just a theatrical show for the gullible. The parasite political…” Dec 5, 22:28
James Cheyne on The cost of failure: “AI primeminster? I think one is being trial right now, he’s like a robert.” Dec 5, 22:24
Iain More on The cost of failure: “SNP – Bought and Sold for Sassanach Gold sic a parcel o traitors in a Nation.” Dec 5, 22:23
Mark Beggan on The cost of failure: “France 98′ The penalty against Brazil and that Uri Bellend and his voodoo. Bring it on!” Dec 5, 21:59
James Cheyne on The cost of failure: “Stu, the network and funding for the likes of Ending Scottish independence and slowly demolishing the Snp funding to negative…” Dec 5, 21:45
Maxxmacc on The cost of failure: “Apart from Brazil its a good draw. And Brazil arent what they used to be. One victory might be enough…” Dec 5, 21:45
sarah on The cost of failure: “Groupo del muerte: Brazil, Morocco and Haiti. Sigh.” Dec 5, 19:04
agentx on The cost of failure: “Hope you have your football wall charts at the ready guys 🙂” Dec 5, 17:14
Cynicus on The cost of failure: “Hatey McHateface says: 5 December, 2025 at 1:25 pm ‘“Mr el Nakla hails from Dundee, correct?” Sorry, Cynicus, perhaps it’s…” Dec 5, 16:02
Mark Beggan on The cost of failure: “This is out and it won’t go away. Too many in Scotland think that bad things get stopped at the…” Dec 5, 15:54
factchecker on The cost of failure: “Every poll suggests that the SNP is unbeatable because pro-union votes are split 3 or 4 ways. Either not voting…” Dec 5, 15:06
Sven on The cost of failure: “Mark Beggan @ 10.51. No chance in the world, Mark. These grifters only ever stop the gravy train long enough…” Dec 5, 14:55
Jon Drummond on Ain’t Got Time To Bleed: “Brilliant Stu, You ripped that dude another dozen arseholes with that reply. I’m sure he’ll know what to do with…” Dec 5, 13:26
Hatey McHateface on The cost of failure: ““Mr el Nakla hails from Dundee, correct?” Sorry, Cynicus, perhaps it’s just me. Mr El Nakla was born in Dundee.…” Dec 5, 13:25
Cynicus on The cost of failure: “Hatey McHateface says: 5 December, 2025 at 7:50 am “The times they are a-changing, Cynicus.” ====== So too, yet again,…” Dec 5, 12:56
Hatey McHateface on The cost of failure: “20 years is all it takes: https://unherd.com/2025/12/the-revolt-on-streetings-doorstep/ How far do we think Scotland is into that 20 year period? 5…” Dec 5, 12:54
Hatey McHateface on The cost of failure: ““So upon the destruction of the SNP we need to immediately get behind the idea of Liberate Scotland” [SIGH] Which…” Dec 5, 11:02
Mark Beggan on The cost of failure: “Grooming gangs debate today. Will Constance resign?” Dec 5, 10:51
100%Yes on The cost of failure: “If our so called leader was a true Independence support he wouldn’t have sacrificed these 39 MPs at last years…” Dec 5, 10:34
100%Yes on The cost of failure: “The National Says “Labour unwilling to support Scottish industry, John Swinney says”. Here is a prime example of what I…” Dec 5, 09:45
Mark Beggan on The cost of failure: “The porn ban is having a positive effect on society. My eyesight has improved immensely. James watches the porn movie…” Dec 5, 09:41
Hatey McHateface on The cost of failure: “The times they are a-changing, Cynicus. What you state is rapidly becoming irrelevant. Plenty of ordinary Scots are of the…” Dec 5, 07:50
Hatey McHateface on The cost of failure: “See fit ye’ve done noo, Mark? Ye’ve goat James hame frae the pub, an reaching for his sock. Hope the…” Dec 5, 07:37
twathater on Ginger beer and fruit and nuts: “@ JCD If you want independence for Scotland and there is a candidate from Liberate Scotland standing in your constituency…” Dec 5, 03:20
Cynicus on The cost of failure: “Hatey McHateface says: 4 December, 2025 at 8:26 pm “To be fair to El-Nakla, they don’t have high buildings where…” Dec 5, 01:32
