The Eve Of War
So, it being Good Friday, we’re definitely not going to receive our legal opinion before Monday now, so Wings Over Scotland will be shutting down, at least temporarily, on Sunday evening. No posts will be visible on the site and our Twitter account will be either locked down or deactivated while we await advice on whether either can return.
In the meantime you can hear of any developments, or get in touch, on my personal account @RevStu or on @TheGhostOfWings, both of which have had, or are about to have, all their old tweets wiped.
We’re not going to overdramatise, because we hope this is only for a few days. We’re optimistic that the Scottish Government’s abysmal, sinister and totalitarian Hate Crime Act, opposed across every sector of Scottish society and even by the police charged with implementing it, will not put an end to 12 and a half years of political journalism.
But you can’t write or tweet from a prison cell.
The Scottish Government and judicial system have repeatedly shown their eagerness to jail those whose views they consider troublesome. The SNP, driven insane by too many years of power, fundamentally consider ANY dissent to be a hate crime, and they and their client groups are champing at the bit to weaponise this law to that effect, and explicitly and specifically against this site.
Our confidence in the police to apply any sort of sanity in the face of a deluge of co-ordinated complaints is essentially zero. Even if the vast majority of vexatious and malicious reports are ignored, it only takes a single face-painted rainbow cop who’s been “trained” by a hardline transactivist pressure group to take one of them seriously, and boom, you’re in a cell, with every electronic device you own locked up in a police-station cupboard for the next few months.
And face-painted rainbow cops are not something Scotland is short of – not least because a whopping 500 officers (3% of the entire force) are to be deployed as “hate crime champions” to make sure everybody’s thinking correctly.
(Have you ever seen a Scottish polis attending an event with their face painted or their car bedecked in the suffragette colours for International Women’s Day, or flying a flag for Disability History Month, readers? Only one minority gets this sort of fawning.)
The image below, taken at the Police Scotland training centre at Tulliallan in 2021 and tweeted by the Police Scotland College, is not Photoshopped. If you find that flag a symbol of hostility and hatred, as a significant number of people do, you can no longer expect fair and impartial treatment from the law.
And we probably can’t expect much support from the media, who rather alarmingly this week announced that not just the site, not just our content or views, but my continued personal existence should not be tolerated.
(There’s no other rational interpretation of the suggestion that a person, one who has committed no crime and holds mainstream views explicitly protected by the law and shared by the vast majority of the population, should not be tolerated. And what’s the justification for our imminent extermination? An incomprehensible beef about a two-paragraph throwaway article from more than ELEVEN YEARS AGO.)
So that’s the situation. We hope we won’t be gone too long, but Scotland is no longer a country where free speech is permitted, and even not living there may not afford much in the way of protection. Make no mistake, folks – even as we enter summertime in the early hours of Sunday morning, the lights will be going out all across the country.
It’s obvious that the Bill is designed to allow the SNP and it’s supporters to suppress any verbal comments, articles or social media content that they don’t like.
Perhaps they’ll be renaming those in Police Scotland who will be handling complaints ‘SNPtapo’!
There but for the grace of God go I.
This is insufferable Stu. Disgusting Police Scotland |Hope to see you back soon.
I will be submitting a complaint against Tulliallan Police College on Monday morning for displaying and supporting the flag of Stonewall ideology and of the hate that it represents. Hatred towards women. Hatred towards free speech. Hatred of biology. Hatred of facts. Hatred of homosexuals who refuse to agree they must be in the wrong bodies. Hatred of anyone pointing out the dangers of Queer theory. Hatred of those who still believe “Queer” is a derogatory term for homosexuality. I somehow think the complaint itself will be treated as hatred.
I hope at least you’re going to leave some placeholder page stating why the site is not available for now?
Since it’s wordpress, it should be simple enough to replace the blog with a static page.
Also make sure you actually disable/remove the blog posts, so they can’t be accessed via a direct link.
I know this is all obvious, but time is short and there’s a lot to do.
I will miss you, Stu, Wings has always kept me going.
The polis will apply their ideologically motivated discretion to every means at their disposal (the law) to silence any criticism of the government. The law means nothing. The law will be used to mean whatever thegovernment want it to mean. Same as it always was. Its a farce. Might is right. Bad day at Black Rock, indeed. What a gift for lawyers.
I really don’t wish anything draconian to come of this, on anyone.
Better safe than sorry Stu. Good luck and hopefully you will be able to return at some point.
Ok Wings closes.
And! And! And!
Does the freak show think it’s all fa fa now!
Bad MEN gone away.
It’s all Sparkles ,Unicorns and STD’s now?
Just to add one old guy’s personal thanks for all you have unearthed and posted over the years.
In the present state of the Scottish legal system (remember when it was once the envy of the world) you’re very wise to be cautious. We’ll look forward to seeing you again in the future, meantime have a well earned wee break and take care of yourself.
Dear God, what a horrendous state of affairs.
I am so full of hatred right now I can barely contain myself – the red monster is taking over.
Have a holiday, we will clear them out and get back to normal.
see you when you get back.
I can imagine that the rainbow coalition will have ordered additional internet bandwidth and will be consuming phenomenal quantities of black (that’s all the negative colours, isn’t it?) coffee as they try to archive everything anyone who has contributed to WoS over the years in the BTL comments.
Will see you next week (all my digits crossed) back in the halls of sanity.
This suppression of free speech comes from the SNP that most commenters here voted for and supported.
This suppression of free speech comes from of every party in Holyrood (SNP, Labour, Lib Dems, Greens, Alba (Ash Regan)) that voted for it.
This suppression of free speech comes from the political parties that 75% of Scots voted for.
This suppression of free speech comes courtesy of the same Humza Yousaf and Nicole Sturgeon that Alex Salmond promoted into power.
Two things – first, I (and every fair-minded person) hope the site returns within a few days at the very most (followed, within a few months, by the demise of this vile legislation). And second, must you make us sign up to god-awful Twitter to hear updates? More often than not, since the X thing, it seems that even trying to look at a public tweet or a profile page immediately pings you away to a landing page that tries to get you to sign up, log in blah blah blah. How about creating fluffykittensoverscotland.com as a stand-in? Turn comments off and keep the posts factual anodyne until normal service can resume.
“But you can’t write or tweet from a prison cell.”
Not that I want you banged up, but on the above.
Oh but you can, I know at least two guys who have android phones in the nick, infact most cons in Scottish prisons now have a phone.
As for our very own Keystone Colonial Cops which are a fuckin disgrace to Scotland, they are nothing more than enforcers for the SNP/Union, these corrupt bunch of bastards even manage to make England’s Met force look reasonable and that takes some doing.
Scotland is in some state with this SNP government in power they’ve done, and will continue to do untold damage to our cause and economy. The Hate Crime Laws are designed to shut us up whilst they tear Scotland apart and if we speak out about it, their attack dogs the Keystone Cops, aka Police Scotland come a calling at your door, what an oppressive country Scotland has become a draconian state with its own Stasi, and we’ve still got three years of those bastards in power, dark days lie ahead.
Vote the SNP out at every turn Police Scotland MUST be broken up again and an public lead independent body must oversee complaints it when the time comes that we can ditch this bucket of piss union.
What an embarrassment the cops are. I can only hope some are cringing. Good luck everyone!
Who was it that wrote ‘for evil to prevail all it takes is for good men to do nothing’?
I am scared for the young , how do we protect them from the spiteful , the vicious and those who pervert justice?
P.S I didn’t realise that the police force was so very into it’s purloined from the NHS rainbow flags.
Sophie Sparkles reminds one of an accident one might have in their pants whilst holidaying abroad.
Good luck Stu.
😉
Sincerely, Rev Stu, anybody dobbing you with their polycule is dobbing me too.
I’ve never marched for or against anything in my life, but this year I’m thinking I’m gonna need stout footwear.
Not just for protest marches either. Anybody threatening me or mine with their polycule is gonna cop a portion of Doc Marten.
They’ll be dobbing nobody and nothing for some time afterwards.
Handy tip from @Glinner..
Log any hate crime stating you identify as a woman (even if you are one). Selective persuit of reports from the polis would then be tricky.
As for WoS.. I can’t believe we find ourselves in the situation where free speach is no longer tolerated..
I sooooo hope that some of those that are pissing themselves at the silencing of others find themselves in the cells.
Sad news but necessary given the circumstances. We can but hope that the response to this legislation will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
If not, “Apres moi, le deluge”?
Good luck Stu. We haven’t always seen eye to eye, but you’ve had a great run. All the best, Cavey.
“I hope at least you’re going to leave some placeholder page stating why the site is not available for now?”
It in fact appears remarkably difficult to do that, which is why I’ve put this piece up now to give people time to read it.
We are all Happy to keep contributing. I feel quite sure you’ll be watching and writing.
” I’m sitting in this cell for something I didn’t do
And all I can think of is baby I think of you
Don’t worry baby coming back for you
There’s gonna be a borstal breakout
There’s gonna be a borstal breakout
There’s gonna be a borstal breakout
There’s gonna be a borstal breakout
Well now I’ve got the chance I don’t care about what I do
When I done them things I done them just for you
And now I’m getting out coming back for you
There’s gonna be a borstal breakout
There’s gonna be a borstal breakout
There’s gonna be a borstal breakout
There’s gonna be a borstal breakout
There’s gonna be a borstal breakout
There’s gonna be a borstal breakout
There’s gonna be a borstal breakout
There’s gonna be a borstal breakout
Well now I’m over the wall I’m nearly home
I’m coming through that door coming back for you
Now I’m nearly home nearly back for you
There’s gonna be a borstal breakout
There’s gonna be a borstal breakout
There’s gonna be a borstal breakout
There’s gonna be a borstal breakout.”
Hopefully Stu this won’t be the last time I have the opportunity to say a heartfelt thank you for all you’ve accomplished so far. I will be watching this space with bated breath.
Take care ?
Jim Sillars has posted elsewhere that he has no intention of shutting up. Hopefully this is short term but thank you, Rev, for about the only honest news in Scotland for at least 5 years. I am a unionist who is deeply unhappy with the union, and who started reading nationalist blogs to see what alternatives there were for the future. I have loathed the SNP since childhood, based on the members I encountered, but Wings has shown that it is possible to believe in a different future for the UK and its bits without having to join that vile cabal. Scotland: Home of the Endarkenment. Goodnight, Rev, and good luck.
I’ll see you in another life, brother
Gentlemen, (and ladies) this is democracy manifest. Or possibly a succulent Chinese meal.
Thank you, Stu, for everything you have done and will hopefully continue to do. As for the crybullies, fuck these people (not literally.)
Fucking tragic state of affairs BUT you absolutely have to protect yourself. This will end very badly at some point for these arseholes. The police will also run this law. If policing is by consent. I for one do not consent.
I don’t understand the strategy. Closing down is what they want. Wouldn’t it be possible to temporarily unpublish materials and articles that would fall foul of their bullshit law?
I went on to the Scottish parliament website to try to register a complaint against Fulton MacGregor under the ethical standards commissioner for bringing his profession into disrepute as a minister, by stating spurious and unproven allegations on a national broadcaster.
Allegations that he provided no evidence to substantiate, Allegations designed to justify the introduction of the reviled HCA without any evidence of its requirement
Allegations designed to demean and denigrate Scots to the rest of the world as hate filled monsters with no care or compassion for others
Allegations that were left unchallenged by the broadcaster due to their proven bias despite their assertion that they constantly fact check claims
Unfortunately I didn’t get to lodge my complaint because the website is a maze designed to send you round in circles and frustrate you to such an extent that you give up, Would it have made any difference
Closing down is what they want WOS to do.
Instead, why not offer the HCA mocking support?
Quote Stalin or Hitler or Maduro or Castro as praising censorship.
Make a 10-page “critics say” argument against the HCA–and then put in one (silly) sentence saying in your opinion those arguments are wrong.
Praise the HCA for exactly the wrong reasons.
I predict a flood of spurious and vexatious claims, and I would encourage all wingers to liberally use the service – make 10 a day. When there are 10s of thousands of utter fucking nonsense, then it must be the case that some “adult” will turn up and pull the plug.
If it turns out that the police will have to drop everything else to deal with hate crimes, and if they investigate them all, it will take 50 years, then it’s over. But then they might restrict their targets to SPECIAL PEOPLE of interest, or easy targets, to make an example of them. Also, when something -real- happens to you, make sure you tag along the hate crime aspect too; garden shed tanned … ? – if you spray paint a swastika on it, you will get a bit more attention, believe it.
– you could use the chatbots to help you with this, and maybe brush up on your python scripting skills. Use a VPN when you post though.
In general, everyone should identify as “trans” now, just for cover; accuse people you don’t like of bigotry and oppressing you. Get in first. Enjoy the hilarious spectacle of people with delusional ideas of their own identity say that your identity is “not real” and “just some rubbish you made up to gain an advantage … ” (- why, really? where did I get the idea) – I mean, I would be shocked … shocked … that anyone would do that.
Sad to think we all went to the rocky horror show all those years ago thinking it was all “a bit of a laff”.
some links of more seriousness –
a decent writeup on a good guy
https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/24218707.man-sparked-operation-branchform-makes-tick/
the first wank is pushing it here
https://www.thenational.scot/news/24220418.humza-yousaf-organises-islamic-call-prayer-bute-house/
read it and weep
https://www.gov.scot/publications/energy-statistics-for-scotland-q4-2023/
this made me laff
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1773123613379498261
– between the bouts of tears
soon I expect “wanting to vote in person” will be seen as FAR RIGHT and a danger to the democratic process
The act works both ways so use it to report every single LGBTQ person who is offensive online. The moment they call a woman a TERF report them While at the same time be very careful yourselves
Jim Davidson has his say.
https://www.tiktok.com/@mcartier1/video/7349483705930419488
What a shocking situation. I can hardly believe it has come to this, and truly hope that Hate Crime law is found to be so unsound and unworkable that it will be abandoned – even by its current proponents..
Personally, my thanks for your sustained voice in opposition both to openly-trending madness and to sleekit goings-on. I hope that your prudent withdrawal will turn out to be unnecessary, temporary, and short, so that Wings may long soar freely Over Scotland.
In case you haven’t checked, probably worth seeing if you are in any way liable for publishing other people’s comments too, even if you can’t control what commenter’s say.
Like others I thank you for your continued sanity and the exposure of corruption and evil and I sincerely hope it will prevail, BUT your care and caution is earned through the experience you have had in the past, be very very careful you are a target of the corrupt lunatics and their henchmen
See you on the other side
I see the Anglican church today dismissed charges against a priest who referred to a transexual archdeacon as “a block who thinks he is a woman”. From Monday, despite this happening in England and being reported in the English press, if I open the report in Scotland it is subject to Hate Crime legislation. The priest in question can be reported and charged, despite not living in Scotland. Expect chaos.
29 March, 2024 at 3:51 pm
“’I hope at least you’re going to leave some placeholder page stating why the site is not available for now?’
It in fact appears remarkably difficult to do that, which is why I’ve put this piece up now to give people time to read it.”
Rev Stu, if you own the domain name, which I presume you do, all you need to do is host your placeholder page somewhere (anywhere really), and redirect the root domain to the new page. If you don’t directly administer the domain yourself but rely on a third party, it can take a little time, but it should be fairly straightforward.
I am English. I don’t agree with the politics of Independence, if only because much of it seems incoherent and too paranoid. MI5 sets the rules, apparently, if the posters here are to be believed. That the Scottish government could fuck things up so comprehensively on their own is not a notion that some of the more extreme respondents could consider.
However.
Irrespective if all that, Wings is here, should stay, and I should continue to be annoyed by it. That’s democracy. If Scotland were to vote to leave the Union, so be it. That’s democracy.
What is overtaking Scotland now is deeply distressing. I conside the Scots my fellow countrymen, even if many here do not. But Unionist or Independence supporting, everyone has the right to speak out (or should). I hope to God this madness will pass.
There’s always a silver lining, however…
A DUP statement said: “The party chairman has received a letter from Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP confirming that he has been charged with allegations of an historical nature dating back to 1690.”
Oh! the paragons of virtue! A knight of the realm and a fundamentalist wee free bible basher/creationist to boot.
Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
What a tragic state of affairs we find ourselves in BUT you are doing the correct thing Rev. I am beyond rage so the Hate Crime bil has certainly backfired for me. I still believe we will come out the other end with our heads held high but we don’t expect you to put yours on the block in the meantime.
You will be back and we will still be here. Awrrabest.
Hopefully , this is not the end , but , just in case …..
” Not under foreign skies
Nor under foreign wings protected –
I shared all this with my own people
There, where misfortune had abandoned us. ”
( Anna Akhmatova ) .
Scotland The …….Whit ?
Thanks for all your clear factual journalism. I am sure you will return Stu.
The nu SNP are doomed to farce and failure with this attempt to shut down free speech.
The hope is they are defeated at GE 2024.
Time to take quiet stock until the hate bill traps its self.
Hope it’s not an end to the best by far blog . If it is, thanks for the great investigative journalism over the years, for opening my eyes(reluctantly it must be said) to Sturgeon and for your unfailing honesty and dedication to the Independence Movement in Scotland.
Through Wings I have met some great people at the Wings get togethers and still keep in touch and meet up with some.
Let’s hope the Sovereign People of Scotland say away with your Shite SNP and we can get back to uniting for Independence.
Best wishes with this Rev.
Scotland will be poorer for it if your voice is silenced.
So English PM Rishi Sunak snuck in a few folk into the HoC at Easter which is unusual for this time of year, one guy is a £5 million pound donor to the Tory party, he’s now a knight of the realm.
Cronyism is rife at Westminster and Holyrood isn’t much better.
Stay strong Stu and hopefully have you back sooner rather than later.
From Salmond and hope to this. You couldn’t make it up.
1st April is a dark day for Scotland all all who believe in freedom of speech. Let’s hope light soon returns.
Unfortunately the public at large won’t understand that they are now in a dark place until the law starts to be used against them.
I suppose the choice is to accept it and button your lips or challenge it?
They’ll be hoping that any challengers will be of the spittle flecked variety who will go to far and enable the government to say, ‘Look how right we were’. They’ll be cautious at first to show that concerns are misplaced.
I look at the world and have little hope for the UK or Scotland. If independence was meant to escape government by malign self-serving fools, the prospects are not looking great.
Stu, fingers crossed ?. I will be devastated if this happens.
Stu, fingers crossed ?. I will be devastated if this happens.
Saw this comment in the Herald this morning, sums it up perfectly! What the hell is Scotland is turning into??!!
1. 2. Humzas coming for you
3. 4. Get a syringe and score
5 .6. Hide your crucifix
7. 8. Not allowed to hate
9. 10. Go to jail again
A government that perecutes free speech is not one that should be in power !
There’s always an upside, Rev: from Monday we will be able to report every political leaflet we receive through our letterboxes and every canvassing politician’s representitive that knocks on our doors because we don’t believe in their views. If they say one word that is against my beliefs………….
To end the war on Scotland then take the SNP out of Scottish politics. Its easy don’t vote for the SNP in any election and never ever donate to the SNP, if we all follows these simple rules we can rid ourselves of a party who’s become public enemy number one.
Humza playing President for the Media. President of Fa Fa land the independent state of Bollywood.
Being Trans is dependent on the subjective reality that you feel at that moment. There is no objective, legal or scientific method to determine that you are Trans. If you say you are Trans then you are Trans.
It doesn’t matter that you are say a heterosexual man who was born a male and haven’t any form of surgery to change your gender or changed your physical appearance in any way, if you identify as a woman than you are Trans. This type of Trans is called Transfeminine.
Say for example, you are investigated for a Hate Crime by a Trans person and taken down to the Police Station for an interview. You can say you are Trans and if the interviewing police officer tries to argue that you are not and playing the system then technically you can get that police officer charged for a Hate Crime as the individual is stirring up hatred by questioning your identity.
This is how this legislation will eventually fail. The authorities can’t determine a victim so how can they prove that a crime has been committed against them?
In any sane society, this type of legislation would never have seen the light of day, never mind be put into law. However, we don’t live in a sane society so the only way to get rid of it is to let it play it out to it’s logical conclusion.
This legislation is going to affect all parts of society, not 18-30 poor, white males and they have the means to fight back. Expect the Scottish government to be paying out millions in compensation claims in the years to come.
Police Scotland Announces!
All sick leave canceled!
Stephen says:
It doesn’t work that way:
https://www.parliament.scot/bills-and-laws/bills/hate-crime-and-public-order-scotland-bill
If say, a woman identifies as Transmasculine though and was called a Terf, it will be seen as a hate crime. Transmasculism is part of the Trans umbrella and is a protected characteristic.
We put up this wee poll earlier.
Not even 50 votes yet but these things don’t tend to change a lot.
Off-Topic Scotland
@offtopicscot
Whether you agree with him or not, are an independence supporter or not, how do you feel about Wings Over Scotland having to shut down?
Sad 89.8%
Happy 0%
Not bothered 4.1%
Other (detail below) 6.1%
49 votes
2 days left
https://twitter.com/offtopicscot/status/1773742137571471659
Re static placeholder site.
Your DNS A record only has a TTL of 5993 (when I viewed it), so your should be able to point the name to a different IP address (assuming your provider can offer that), being say a VM with just a static page. there is no AAAA record.
So you should be able to place the static page online now, on a different IP, even if only as a http rather than a https server. Then flip the DNS entry on Sunday.
I suppose, as we take our lead from the USA in all things we are relying on the worm turning their first.
Thank God they didn’t manage to take the guns from the American public (through no lack of effort).
Keep calm and don’t comply.
The saddest thing about this whole shambles Stu is that you are now doing exactly what our Government!! wants to happen. Job done!
In saying that, I perfectly understand why you feel you have to adopt this course of action, however reluctantly. Most of us would do the same.
Most complaints to the Poileas will be filed in the bin, despite what is being said. They simply do not have the manpower/womanpower/itpower to follow up each complaint but they will have been instructed to look out for those against certain individuals. You clearly know the score.
It is a sad day for Scotland when the truth has seemingly now evolved into perceived hate to suit certain individuals and groups. Somebody, somewhere has to make a stand against this lunacy. Who will it be?
What do we want-INDEPENDENCE
When do we want it-NOW
Doesn’t sound too great now. Does it?
Haste ye back.
Pacman, the bit you want is this:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2021/14/section/11
Probably 11(7)(c) or 11(7)(d)
“(7)A person is a member of a group defined by reference to transgender identity if the person is—
(a) a female-to-male transgender person,
(b) a male-to-female transgender person,
(c) a non-binary person,
(d) a person who cross-dresses,
and references to transgender identity are to be construed accordingly.”
Presumably ‘a’ and ‘b’ refer to folks who either possess a GRC, or maybe are post operative “trans-sexuals”.
Whereas ‘c’ is a state of mind, and ‘d’ is simply a sartorial selection.
I guess both men and women can use ‘c’. Whereas since there aren’t really any ‘men only’ clothes*, only men can ‘cross dress’, so only men can use ‘d’.
* Unless one is going to argue over kilts and sharp pleats.
Sad , scary times , this is the only site plus glinner that tells the truth
Surely this will all turn out to be a big April fools joke by scot gov right? Right?
Now the interesting piece from that set of definitions in section 11 is the religious one:
“(5)A group defined by reference to religion is a group of persons defined by reference to—
(a) religious belief or lack of religious belief,
(b) membership of or adherence to a church or religious organisation,
(c) support for the culture or traditions of a church or religious organisation,
(d) participation in activities associated with such a culture or such traditions.”
Of those ‘d’ looks interesting.
How far can ‘religion’ be stretched? In the Maya Forstater EAT ruling, we have “philosophical belief” equated with “religious belief”, and the view that one “cam change sex” as well as “one can not change sex” being protected philosophical beliefs.
So rather than victims of process abuse identifying as “Non Binary” or “Cross Dressers” could they identify as ‘d’ for the “religion” of believing that “sex is immutable”. Possibly call this the J.K. Rowling defense?
I’m finding it difficult to accept it has come to this, but here we are. I can’t believe it will last, but it’s alarming to realise how long it may take to return to a sensible regime once this system has been brought to its knees, as it must be.
I’m old enough that if it comes to it, I can cocoon myself away from this and mostly ignore society, but that’s not a good way to live. I have no children to worry about, but despair for all those who will suffer the effects of this lunatic legislation. I can’t see how anything less than some kind of revolution will improve things effectively, and that is a truly depressing thought. We need a cleanout of those who lead us, but I’ve no idea who could replace them. I don’t think I could do it. (It’s probably as well that this comment won’t pervade as I think what I’ve just said will probably be viewed as a hate crime)
I hope you will get positive legal advice soon and some normality can resume.
Thank you for all you do Stuart.
“Hatuey
Ignored says:
29 March, 2024 at 4:10 pm
I don’t understand the strategy. Closing down is what they want. Wouldn’t it be possible to temporarily unpublish materials and articles that would fall foul of their bullshit law?”
How about you engage your brain before spouting off?
What an absolute idiot you are. Too many boosters have destroyed your cranium.
Why don’t YOU set up YOUR OWN site and gamble with your own liberty, you absolute coward?
Everyone has gone from thinking this will never happen in Scotland to thinking like you that it wont last.
The future is not looking bright.
Scotland has become a very dark place.
Lets face it, the rot needs to stop in Scotland and the only way is via a revolution, this happened in Sri Lanka a few years back where the folk got fed up with their corrupt government and they decided to kick them out of office literally.
If the Scottish government and MSPs from other unionist branch offices at Holyrood are allowed to produce such draconian laws in Scotland and get away with it (Scots put up with it) then god only knows what other freedom of speech/ liberty restraining laws these vile bastards at Holyrood will produce and force upon us.
We make a stand now, or there will be no room left to manoeuvre later.
Hypothetically speaking how many Scots would it take to storm our parliament and kick out these corrupt bastards, and surely if the number was high enough they’d be fuck all the Keystone Cops aka Police Scotland could do about it, hypothetically speaking of course.
JB @ 29 March, 2024 at 6:27 pm
Thanks for providing further information.
TBH, even after all this time, I’m still confused as ever about this whole Trans thing.
The funny thing about the cross dressing part is that a trend in fashion is gender neutral clothes that can be worn by both sexes. If somebody wears those clothes couldn’t they fall both under c & d?
Graham Linehan has paid a very high price to bring us the truth.
I think Stu has made a wise decision to close everything down.
I don’t think he’s being paranoid in thinking he might be targeted.
You have done amazing work, Stuart, for all these years. Make sure you do all you need to do to keep safe. I hope it will be temporary. What a disgraceful situation this government has created.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RDyot2Gh0g
Helen Joyce on TalkTV – Scottish Hate Crime Bill
Helen Joyce will definitely be on the list.
Stu, question for you and if you don’t know maybe ask your legal eagle.
Under Scots Law anything read in Scotland on digital media is considered to be published the day it is read , hence why you are closing down the blog as anybody reading historical posts are deemed by the law to be reading them on that day.
What about Wayback machine archives, most Web Pages are archived, so if somebody goes into the Wayback Machine site and reads an archived post and is as they claim offended by it
What’s the law say on that circumstance.
Tried to send em on twitter but said I had to upgrade to premium to be verified before I could do so !
Scotland is f***ed
Independence is f***ed
Come the next election…
SNP is f***ed
I hear Nero and his violin warming up.
Craig Murray should be OK.
I spotted this on his Twitter.
https://archive.is/B84Bl
Transgender judge seeks leave to intervene in UK court case over legal definition of ‘woman
He said regarding the above:
Craig Murray
@CraigMurrayOrg
I actually met Judge McCloud at an administrative phase of Jake Wallis Simons’ libel case against me.
A lovely, graceful woman.
A genuine trans woman who has been through all the correct process and obtained a GRC should not be subjected to abuse or discrimination.
I understand better now the real risk of sexual offenders posing as trans women. I have always opposed medical intervention in children.
Extreme positions on both sides should be rejected by people of goodwill.
I have said it before and I say it again – thank you so much for your honest, thoroughly researched journalism that has exposed so many wrongs committed by the SNP and parts of the establishment against the independence campaign/ers.
I do hope that you will be able to return to the fray.
I am not alone in wishing this – spare a thought for all those press “journalists” who rely on your work for “their” scoops!
Tranny’s can masterbate and play with their own titties at the same time.
That’s progress for ya!
Will you be publishing Operation Free Speech before you temporarily close down.
It’s a very good initiative, and completely legal.
Be very good if folk understood its principles and started to use them.
Best wishes Stu. Be seeing you soon. Thanks for everything.
Your no awa tae bide awa. Right just now, it’s our turn to do the heavy lifting.
@ruby , very much agree
I do hope jkr has lawyered up as she is very much the first target
Botox Chucky is definitely going after her , sad little scrote of a man
@Frank Gillougley 4:39
dating back to 1690
WTF!
Where do I sign up for some wee free bible bashing and creationism?
If the allegations are true, it obviously makes for an extraordinarily long and eventful life.
Ah well, it’s Wings BTL, so even such obviously trumped up charges as these are given gospel credence because the face doesn’t fit.
Keith B says:
29 March, 2024 at 6:42 pm
With the state of the economy and cost of living, a lot of people is doing that at the current time anyway. I can’t help but feel that such draconian legislation will kill off a lot of the hospitality industry. I mean who wants to go out in a social setting for a few drinks and have some busy-body reporting them of a hate crime based on tiny fragments of conversation they were eary-wigging on?
Surely we should respond by mass complaining about Sophie Sparkles – it works both ways.
Interesting that https://twitter.com/S0phieSparkles has deleted his account.
It’s good to see the STV staff standing up for Open Honest Journalism.
Thanks Stu for all the many detailed articles you have produced over the past decade.
It is / was (if the site is to be taken offline 🙁 ) an incredible array of informative works covering many aspects pertaining to Scotland.
Your, and occasional articles produced by other guest authors are a country mile better journalistic content than anything printed elsewhere in the mainstream media.
It is also not forgotten that you have also had to endure considerable flak and the resultant stresses during the shift you have put in.
It’s one thing having the Wings site output restricted when your pet rats gnawed through computer cables, but on another level when forced to do so through the curtailment of free speech by an administration with no democratically approved mandate from the electorate to implement such restrictions.
Thanks also for providing the btl comment section, and thanks to all the commenters too, which over the years has allowed many folks with various differing knowledge and outlooks a space to add their input to discussions.
Aye, it may have gotten a bit tetchy and tedious at times, but surely in the scheme of things it’s better to have had the argy bargy of such “lively” discussions than us all just sitting in silence, which it looks like the powers that be with their imminent actions would prefer.
A query on this Hate Crime subject:
How will this play out and impact the future of political campaigning with for example, independent candidates and their activists trying to express opposing views and policies to counter what we now have, as that will without doubt in relation to certain subjects be regarded as hateful by some and get them reported.
Murdo Fraser has already been impacted by this, and he has some considerable back up to attempt to address this. A member of the public standing as an independent candidate is unlikely to have have access to such resources.
Are we absolutely certain about what’s happening on April 1st?
I’ve just paid a visit to WGD and there’s no mention of it at all.
Not a scooby.
@ Dan, good point about how independent candidates may suffer. They are women’s rights supporters, so far, and therefore vulnerable to being reported under the HCA.
Good luck, Stu. I hope to see you back again. I read on Iain McWhirter’s substack that Andrew Tickell is now defending the Act, whereas your article in 2020 had him criticising the Bill.
And no surprise at all to see the Scottish MSM are not at all bothered by it.
O/T CRAIG MURRAY fundraiser – Craig has been landed with the costs of his appearance at the UN on behalf of Julian Assange – see his blog.
Crowdfunder is for Swiss francs 40,000, roughly £35,000. It opened today and has raised nearly SF3,000.
Given that the act of publishing in Scotland is now an essentially involuntary act, as anyone who puts anything on the internet is publishing in Scotland as soon as someone in Scotland opens their website… meaning the whole world is publishing in Scotland whether they choose to or not.
A ridiculous position (as most of the moronic legal positions of the SNPG are and have been all the way back to 2014).
I think one solution here is agreeing to well crafted legal disclaimers to access the site.
Scotland can’t make the whole world bend its knee to our legal system. Only morons would think so. Alas morons are in charge.
As it seems to me the UK Government has three choices;
1. Allow this fascist legislation to stand or
2.Intervene and quash it or
3.Legislate to reduce the jurisdiction of Scots law to Scotland and legislate away the validity of a Scots warrant, writ or grant of bail outwith Scotland so that no-one outside Scotland would give a monkey’s
Any one of these choices will lead to a predictable uproar on the basis that Scotland’s ‘democratic will and legal system’ is under attack, etc etc.
Might be quite a clever move to sow disunity and stir up the remaining SNP base ? I suspect that the thing will collapse under it’s own weight once exposed to reality.
Stu,
I’ve used the Contact form to offer a suggestion for hiding the site and leaving a placeholder. It’s quick and easy.
Are you going to set up a fundraiser? We are all counting on you fight this shite.
Stuart,
I agree with many of the commenters above. This whole Hate Bill was designed to kill off you and folk like Craig Murray and many others. So if you quit it feels like surrender.
I believe there is a flat coming free next to Edward Snowden. I am joking but I am not joking. Is Craig still in Greece?
Make no mistake if you jack it, it is a hammer blow to the independence movement, while it is already on its knees.
No pressure…
I, too am disappointed that Wings will have to closed. I agree that it is too early to know whether the closure will be temporary.
Wings has been the highlight of my week and the best start to my weekend.
The exploitation of our Country’s assets by our “masters” in Westminster has recently ramped up with the soon coming creation of Freeports, further abusing community control of our ports and removal of our Sovereign Territory got me angry enough, but the HCA is positively Orwellian, and most definitely totalitarian.
When I was growing up as a baby boomer, it would never have entered the mind of my peers or parents that Thought Crime would ever become part of the Law of Scotland.
I hope to read Wings again.
John
Do you know what the differences are between
The Hate Crime and Public Order Act (Scotland) Act 2021 and the
Hate crime, England and Wales?
Tommo says:
29 March, 2024 at 9:00 pm
Ruby posted a YouTube clip from the TalkTV channel. In that clip, the male panelist tried to defend the legislation and in doing so, put himself in a position where he looks like a right nasty, woman hating piece of work.
Given that this will potentially pull a lot of people into the judicial system that aren’t into politics, never mind the Trans or constitutional debate, it might temporarily galvanise SNP support but will end up as a form of phyric victory.
Depending on how it’s implemented in practice and lack of intervention by the UK government which they have done quickly with previous ones that affected the rest of the UK, it could be the start of the end of the SNP.
It is best for the Rev and other bloggers to temporarily step back and await how events unfold.
All the best Stu. Who would have thought that the party of 2014 has come to this. Even if Jesus became first minister I could never vote for that party again.
Aquarius says: at 9:18 pm
“The exploitation of our Country’s assets by our “masters” in Westminster…”
Like EGL2…
https://www.renews.biz/92173
“Closing down is what they want WOS to do.
Instead, why not offer the HCA mocking support?
Quote Stalin or Hitler or Maduro or Castro as praising censorship.
Make a 10-page “critics say” argument against the HCA–and then put in one (silly) sentence saying in your opinion those arguments are wrong.”
Because I’m not going back and editing 6,000+ articles to do that.
Tons of people saying goodbye to Wings like it is a done deal.
The KC has not even delivered their opinion yet…
“I don’t understand the strategy. Closing down is what they want. Wouldn’t it be possible to temporarily unpublish materials and articles that would fall foul of their bullshit law?”
Who knows what’ll trigger these pricks? The police won’t ask – the perception of the claimant is all that counts under the law.
Dan @ 8.08pm
“A query on this Hate Crime subject:
How will this play out and impact the future of political campaigning with for example, independent candidates and their activists trying to express opposing views and policies to counter what we now have, as that will without doubt in relation to certain subjects be regarded as hateful by some and get them reported. … A member of the public standing as an independent candidate is unlikely to have have access to such resources.”
——————————
I’ve asked this a couple of times now. The answer probably is that nobody knows, and we’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out. Kellie-Jay Keen’s Party of Women might be one of the first to test this as I think she might be standing against Keir Starmer in the next GE. She’s a brave woman and might need some of those resources.
https://www.partyofwomen.org/
Keep a hold, Stu.
Rev, if you need a crowdfunder, will you be able to tell us via Facebook? [Sorry if you have answered this already.]
What I was wondering re intervention by the UK Gov was if there was a great deal of difference between
The Hate Crime and Public Order Act (Scotland) Act 2021 and the
Hate crime, England and Wales?
From what I’ve read things don’t seem great in England vis a vis hate crimes.
If the bills are more or less identical then the UK Gov would have no grounds to intervene.
Agreed re block on Talk TV. He was not happy that it was perfectly legal to say transwomen are men.
India Willoughby is a man and women are not just being mean by saying that they are saying that because women do not want men in women’s only spaces.
Helen Joyce is brilliant.
Interesting that Helen Joyce quoted Hansard at the time the GRA was being discussed. It said
‘The law doesn’t impact on other people’s perceptions.’
I was surprised that the journalist at Talk TV didn’t know about ‘something read in Scotland means it’s published in Scotland.
moixx
Kellie-Jay Keen v Keir Starmer will be very interesting. Do you think Starmer will chicken out and stand in a different constituency? Can he actually do that?
If I remember correctly Kellie-Jay did suggest that she would be free to saying anything during a political campaign.
Kellie-Jay like Helen Joyce refuses to say ‘transwomen are women’
Transwomen are men with a certificate.
@ Ruby at 10.40
The “journalist” at Talk TV is the Right Honourable Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Con), moonlighting. He was a lawyer. Surely you don’t expect him to know things?
https://www.report-it.org.uk/hate_crime_during_an_election_period
The top 5 things to know about freedom of expression during an election campaign.
Freedom of expression is a fundamental right, protected under the Human Rights Act and under common law.
Freedom of expression is protected more strongly in some contexts than others. In particular, a wide degree of tolerance is accorded to political speech and debate during election campaigns or referendums.
This can extend to the expression of views that may shock, disturb or offend the deeply-held beliefs of others.
We will miss you Stu. Particularly us women who you’ve helped so much.
“The new groups are not concerned
With what there is to be learned
They got burton suits, huh, you think it’s funny
Turning rebellion into money
All over people changing their votes
Along with their overcoats
If Adolf Hitler flew in today
They’d send a limousine anyway
I’m the all night drug-prowling wolf
Who looks so sick in the sun
I’m the white man in the palais
Just loo- lookin’ for fun
Only lookin’ for fun”
You have never sold out and never would. Thank you
Thanks for all you have done over the last 10+ years.
So much time, effort & meticulous detail/reference in each & every article. You really are the only journalist we have. It’s a crime to have yer whole site go into slumber. It’s a wealth of info. Our very own enciclopedia on every topic of indyref.
It’s a shame that it’s come to this. Who’d ever have thought the SNP would lose their fcking minds & turn Scotland into something akin to North Korea over jumped up charges? Soon we’ll just have government propaganda press releases. (BBC)
I can’t see this lasting but you never know. Keep safe & keep in touch. Take some time out until we see how fast this fcks up & is pulled for wasting police resources. They already struggle with real crime but who knows, as yer pics show, they’re fully onboard the Rainbow bus & already didnt follow instruction from Braverman.
I already follow all yer twitter accounts, ta.
PS How do you delete all yer tweets at once? Is that feature only available to verified accounts? I haven’t been over there for a while.
Chin up & summer is coming. Enjoy what I hope will be just a temporary sabbatical x
Ruby says: 29 March, 2024 at 10:40 pm
My perception of the TalkTV journalist learning ‘something read in Scotland means it’s published in Scotland’ was more of shock that he could be potentially be investigated for his views rather than of ignorance.
I suspect on Monday morning, the same will happen to a lot of people who had supported this legislation and in particular, some SNP and Green politicians that they could potentially fall foul of this law themselves for example running their mouths off in public about current events in the Middle East.
I am most likely be proven wrong by this though as these individuals lack the self awareness to realise their actions will involve consequences.
It does look like we will have to wait and see. I can’t help but feel that if other people in the UK are affected by this legislation then the UK government will have to act.
As you say, there isn’t that much difference between the HCB and the equivalent in England. Like the devil dug legislation, Holyrood after some huffing and puffing will fall in line and introduce emergency legislation to stop cross-border investigations.
These new laws, in both Scotland & England, are by instruction from on high.
The Tories have been champing at the bit for years to come up with their own version of Human Rights with a fancy new Bill of rights which commentators claim take rights away & government decides who has rights & who doest.
http://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/issue/3-facts-that-expose-the-governments-bill-of-rights-as-a-rights-removal-bill/
@Geri, and Eire. It would be interesting to see where these bills originated, who suggested, created and implemented them.
Ruby
Thanks for that link, hopefully she’ll have some additional protection as she’s now the leader of a registered political party. I expect Keir Starmer would just avoid getting into a debate with her at all costs.
Got Roddy Dunlop on speed dial, Stu? He has a bit of experience dealing with Police Scotland when is makes ‘malicious’ arrests.
Perhaps this is what we need to clean out the Augean stables, one almighty balls up and Police Scotland being unable to operate due to the avalanche of unmerited complaints – after all, they did say that they would investigate every single complaint. They should have thought that one through.
Aye, give ’em enough rope and they will hang themselves!
Anton Decadent says:
30 March, 2024 at 12:13 am
I’m not sure there is any ‘conspiracy’ but just the logical conclusion of a society based on unfettered capitalism built on cheap, foreign labour and obsessive adherence to individuality regardless of the harm it brings to society in general.
You simply can’t have a society that is multi-racial, multi-cultural and everyone has rights based on certain characteristics where there is no overarching ‘bond’ or shared commonality to hold everyone together.
It looks like the solution to this is continued socially authoritarian legislation that restricts these ‘rights’ to a managed level.
Stu… a very heartfelt thanks from me for all you relentless work over the past few years!. Take time out, recharge the batteries. We need you back ASAP!
Dear Stu,
As your stats have shown WoS has, since its inception, been one of the few blogs that’s had a long time international following. This following has grown and been maintained by WoS’s well deserved reputation for veracity and astute political analysis.
I’m one of those non Scots who’s been a regular lurker here since late 2012. You’ve brought Scotland’s contemporary politics and culture to the world and have been one of too few who’s responsible for building Scotland’s reputation internationally, garnering support for Scotland’s necessity for self determination. Along with fostering people’s love and respect for Scotland you’ve high lighted issues in Scotland that mirror those Societies are experiencing throughout the democratic world. You’ve widened our perspectives.
I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me a Masters class education on Scotland, her people, their struggles and their accomplishments. You’ve created a blog where respect and civility is the norm and where all people have been welcome as long as they adhere to your well defined rules of conduct.
The issue you’re facing now has more to do with the power of your success that’s exposed and threatened
the corrupt and the socially harmful. Whether they win by permanently shutting down WoS is unknown at this point, however the long term damage those involved have caused by destroying WoS is irrefutable. Those responsible for the demise of WoS bring down distain, disgust and shame upon themselves that will be an indelible stain that will have ongoing repercussions for them. However your reputation for developing one of the first, premier, globally popular blogs that’ll pave your path to your future projects.
Again my thanks for your diligence, your outstanding record of accurate analysis, your steadfast support of Independence, good governance, social justice and sexual equality, protection of women and children and not least of all, for your humour. I know fortunately, we haven’t heard the last from you.
Fondest Regards,
J Holmes, Canadian
Republicofscotland
Ignored says:
29 March, 2024 at 7:08 pm
Lets face it, the rot needs to stop in Scotland and the only way is via a revolution, this happened in Sri Lanka a few years back where the folk got fed up with their corrupt government and they decided to kick them out of office literally.
Before Revolution, why not at least use Scotland’s historic Constitution to assemble a modern style Convention of the Estates, and thereafter impeach Holyrood as a Vichy style Colonial encroachment on Scottish Sovereignty?
Scots Law exists. Scottish sovereignty exists, the colonial encroachment exists. A modern day Claim of Right would reinforce the constitutional right of Scottish people to protect their sovereign birthright from usurpation by a foreign government. IPEACH THE DAMNED ASSEMBLY! Take the fkg wheels off it.
At a stroke, we would rid our nation, (or at least the political landscape), of these Holyrood imbeciles and their litany of incompetence; not by Revolution or rebellion, but by the rudimentary application of Justice under Scottish Constitutional Law.
Over the years you have had a spookily accurate take on how things tend to pan out, so if this is your take, then not only the fans of this site (and actual Scottish independence) should be deeply, deeply concerned, everyone in Scotland who values their democratic rights and freedoms should be deeply concerned as well.
It seems that the useful idiots, mentally ill and personality disordered have done their work.
Anyone who thinks this is a triumph is, and I really want them to remember this when the time comes, and it will, a complete fucking idiot.
No more shite. Enact a Claim of Right!
Depose Holyrood for abdicating Scotland’s Rights in just the same way as a case was made against James VII that he’d failed to defend Scotland’s Rights.
We have the Right. What we need is only the apposite Claim put upon it.
To Rev Stu (and others). I’m not tech savvy so I apologise if I’m talking mince. What if you banned Scotland (or UK) from accessing your website then people could use a van in another country, e.g. Germany, to access your site. Would this be a workaround? I know they would still physically be in Scotland but legally would it be published in Germany?
Again I apologise if I’m speaking rubbish.
Sorry, meant vpn, not van.
Well on the assumption that there may not be another opportunity after Sunday… and it is starting to feel like there may not be… thank you Stuart.
This blog was (and is) vitally important.
I honestly believe without your and Craig Murray’s reporting Alex Salmond would be in jail right now. (I don’t think he really appreciates that but I do.)
Good luck man, not that you will need it. I am sure you will be successful in whatever you turn your hand to.
What a disgraceful shoddy country Scotland has become that you are having to erase history. All of the stuff relating to the Salmond stitch-up etc all gone…
It is truly disgraceful what is going on in Scotland. Pure Stasi-land stuff with grassing centres set-up all over the country to turn in your fellow citizens for thought crimes…
No wonder they are using porn shops etc to facilitate their putrid bill… that is the level of morality they are at anyway.
I am now at ‘spitting in the face’ level of contempt for the SNPG.
Two days left.
Will Authoritarian Andy Ellis manage to say something remotely interesting before the site closes?
Will Genocide John Main manage to say something historically or factually accurate?
I won’t hold my breath.
The secret mandate of SNPG has always been to pitch Scot against Scot by what ever means.
Now that the walls begin to crack they are committing Scorched Earth on our social structures.
Damm them to hell.
I’m still intrigued by the revelation that there’s been a pilot running for years yet instead of using the data to inform publishers (and consumers) of any surprises in advance, its still all bit of a big secret.
Hopefully all that that means is that the details of everyone on HCB related lists (and everyone that put them there) will be accessible as soon as the project goes live.
But even if that turns out to be too much to hope for (yet?), it’s probably worth observing that since at least one MSP is known to be on such a list, despite no charges of an actual crime being revealed (or any evidence of a serious investigation into an alleged one), the (ahem) true value in the legislation could yet be in making spurious accusations (even/ especially anonymous ones) far more more litigable than they are at present (at which point Kezia Dugdale’s lawyers might want to consider making a goodwill payment in advance lest you inadvertently re open any of her more hateful defamations next week)
On that note, as hateful, bigotted, or even racist, as some may perceived it;
Happy Easter Scotland
Even if the official Wings site is taken offline as a precautionary measure, most of the past articles over the years have been archived on the various archiving sites so are still viewable.
How does that factor in to all this?
I’m in the ISP in advance of the GE we have been advised to sign up to Tweet Delete so my tweets older than 2 weeks will be disappearing.
I have also joined the Free Speech Union for what that is worth. Help with legal costs is one of them.
The main difference between Scotland and England’s legislation in this area, is that due to Harry Miller taking them to court and winning, it was deemed illegal for the Police to be ‘warning’ people about non crime incidents and keeping files on them for that purpose.
As a result in October 2020 the English college of policing changed its guidelines to the following:
Hate Crime Incidents will only be noted by Police if… the complaint presents a real risk of significant harm to individuals with particular characteristic/s and/or REAL risk of future criminal offence may be committed against individuals or groups with a particular characteristic.
Jo Fallon was a senior officer in the North of England at this time and would/should have been fully up to speed on this developement… which makes one wonder what advice she fed back to Scot Parl on the matter.
Mr Campbell, I’m not really your target audience, being both English and a Unionist, but I hope you and your site don’t suffer due to this ridiculous piece of law making.
Democracy is about being able to have different opinions; being able to exchange views and, by doing so, arriving at the truth.
I’ve read Wings on and off for the past couple of years and have always enjoyed both your writing and the quality of thought you bring to the independence debate. I hope you are able to continue to do so.
This is so depressing. Stu, a huge thanks for all your efforts and I sincerely hope this madness ends sooner rather than later.
Sane Scotland needs you.
@Johnlm 6.51 am
I imagine few will miss the contributions of Johnny-come-lately’s like you, particularly given their content. I disagree with much of John Main’s politics, but the’s bang on the money in most of his responses on here to the usual suspects.
Indeed it is those usual suspects who have done a lot to drive folk away from the site with their foul mouthed contributions and woo-woo conspiracy theorising. There was always a leavening of zoomers of course, but they used to be diluted in lots of other comments with many and various opinions. Now it’s a sink of nativist bigots, friends of the Kremlin and apologists for Hamas and other islamo-fascists.
I will miss your fantastic journalism but hopefully it won’t be for long.
We are about to go through a dark period for sure but we will win in the end. Those who have put Scotland and her people through this will be held accountable for their actions. Keep safe Stu.
Andy Ellis.
With ‘zoomer’ you appear to have reached the end of your little dictionary of insults.
Poor stock.
#AskAndy
Does a poster who likes to include words such as fluff, carpet biter and BBC suggest an unhealthy interest in homoerotic p0rn?
So they win for the moment! However everyone should scrutinise every statement by a politician over the last 20 years and report them to the police for hate speech. If we can’t stop the malign then we can at least turn them up in knots!
PacMan 1:09
I dunno so much about that. You’d expect a slow drip if it was just society changing attitudes. Who even knew, less than six yrs ago, there were over 150 genders & this pronoun shit would be enough to cause a nuclear fallout in the workplace up & down the country. I’m guessing but I’d assume the vast majority.
This TRA crap sprang from absolutely nowhere & it was implemented immediately. No debate. No questions allowed. No dissenting voices allowed & immediate intimidation & cancellation of livelihoods if you didn’t follow along.
A joke “consultation” (that was open to the whole wide world for comment to shape OUR laws) & passed through parliament, schools, universities, police, NHS ect with lightning effect.
Across all public walks of life & in all public institutions. Have you ever known a movement get such instant results across the whole Western world so fast?
I’ve said for yrs that England were moving us towards a fascist state. There was no better example of that than BoJo. Complete disregard for procedure, protocol, parliament, rules, international law & even the Monarchy as he implemented changes across the board to meddle in the judiciary, independent organisations that hold government to account & across parly & HoLs. Democracy was such a bore to him.
This is an instruction from somewhere for it to take root so fast & have parliament reps fall into line with such ease. The West is in real trouble clinging onto being top dawg. This TRA stuff has been a Trojan horse for a lot of authoritarian shit to be implemented & deviants to have free reign.
Sven @ 2:57 pm
“In the present state of the Scottish legal system (remember when it was once the envy of the world)”
I’m afraid not. Scots probably need to go back before 1707 to make any such claim, though doubtful even then.
As Freire suggested, elites tend to protect the interest of the oppressor, more assuredly in a colonial society, and together they make and implement the law.
And, as Fanon wrote, a complicit dominant national party in a colonial society ‘ruptures the independence movement’ and instead ‘becomes an implement of coercion’.
@ Geri
Aye, pretty much none of this highly divisive and diversionary stuff came about from the wishes of majority of the Scottish electorate. That similar is happening in other countries around the world at the same time is the tell that it is being foisted onto us by globalists pushing an agenda.
Was the previous First Minster uttering that women’s concerns over gender recognition were “not valid” in itself an act that could be perceived as being hateful to some.
It’s notable in the comments that the spanners in the works still seem fixated not on the articles but on the ‘types’ of contributors BTL, how they perceive people and how they try to categorise us into narrow, silly stereotypes. What a giveaway.
Meanwhile, amongst true contributors and nae doot a great many Wings readers, the sense of loss will be running deep. It’s losing Rev Stu’s genuine, honest, gutsy and relevant journalism that is shocking as is the loss of the informed and colourful BTL.
Haste back, the Scottish sanity we know and love and haste ye back, Stu. As MacDiarmid said, “Let the lesson be to be yersel’s and to mak’ that worth bein'”. You’ve certainly done that, Rev, and helped keep the enlightenment going. Thank-you.
“Before Revolution, why not at least use Scotland’s historic Constitution to assemble a modern style Convention of the Estates, and thereafter impeach Holyrood as a Vichy style Colonial encroachment on Scottish Sovereignty?”
Sounds good Breeks, however I doubt the Scottish government or the unionist MSPs at Holyrood would recognise any authority of the Convention of the Estates, those vile bastards clinging to power at Holyrood will do anything to remain in power, right now they are attempting to shut us up or if need be lock us up.
Even the Great Satan (US) has the 1st Amendment which protects free speech, but not here in Scotland, here those vile bastards at Holyrood want to shut down free speech under the guise of hate crimes.
Starting for April 1st they’ll be an aura of fear in Scotland as people will be too afraid to speak on certain (possibly any) topics incase they feel that they are breaking these evil draconian hate crime laws.
And they’ll be plenty of grassing b*stards such as Main, Ellis and Chas to get the ball rolling in the new Stasi Scotland.
Over the next few months, there will be lots of hate posts against you Stu, on other sites. I hope you will report them all.
The police are just going to get swamped. It can’t last, not in a “civilised” country, but it will be interesting and entertaining to watch.
But where will it all get reported?
Stu,
For a good many months now I have been changing my mind on what I post or join in with regards to sex or gender topics,
And resumed a commenters position of finding alternative subjects that relate to different ways to gain Scottish independence through quoting material from Hansard and the MSM and UK government, and the Scottish government and politicians political comments.
To rid ourselves of Racism, Colonisation, segregation of Society, attacks on family life, and the assault against ageism to name a few, by both governments.
It occurred to me that by stating and investigating of any comment all laws that have been passed and are still in place cannot be a crime unless the the governments themselves are charged as being the perpetrator’s and instigators of those acts.
There is definitely more than than one way to free Scotland from the Madness of a power Crazy madness of the Scottish Devolved Government that is preventing the democracy of free speech of the majority of Scots.
This is selected Racism in particular against stymie of Scottish free speech in the Country that is meant to be united kingdom of Great Britain.
And the Monarch should not have given Royal Assent for it to be an act to apply racism and laws to Scotland and not include Wales, Ireland, England and the other Commonwealth Countries,
When researching Amnesty International and ECHR laws On ” Women and Girls Rights” it is at the moment the forefront of these Committees.
But the Scottish Hate Crime Bill, as it is also a public Order bill generally, as it stands does indeed Stop “Scottish Women and Girls their Rights” to be able defend their protected rights for fear of being imprisoned for up to seven years.
A political war on Women and Girls rights that could find them physically imprisoned.
I am very sorry to see how much they have attacked you and your site for trying to protect Women and Girls Rights that are noted and mentioned in Amnesty International and ECHR,
But also foryour brave attempt at trying to protect other children in families against a Hate Crime Bill that does not put these protected Categories first in the Hate Crime bill to be in accordance with the rest of the Worlds policies,
As a public order bill, the Scottish Hate Crime bill also targets ” Women and girls rights” with the threat of imprisonment. For defending their right” as Women and Girls but also any other member of the public that attempts to bring notices or highlight in commentry to injustices perpetrated against Women and Girls. Without the threat of losing one’s freeom,
This is incompatible with the international laws regardless of the devolved Scottish governments wild Claims.
It actually targets discrimination and Racism towards a section of women and Girls in Scotland, under threat of imprisonment. As a public order.
@Johnlm 9.29am
Not quite the end: it has been pointed out to me that I missed one beginning with “y” which is rather apposite in your case: you’re being a yutz*. Mind you, that could be said of most of the xenophobes amongst the usual suspects. (See what I did there….?) 🙂
I’m not sure where your fascination with “things homo-erotic” comes from, or indeed that it follows from the epithets named: sounds like classic DARVO to me.
*”Yutz” noun. Yiddish for someone who is believed to be foolish or useless.
If the Scottish police arrest Women and Girls for defending their “protected rights” to enable them to have freedoms, mentioned in Amnesty International and ECHR,
there could be a large amount of women around the World that could challenge them, as the Hate Crime bill could prevent tourism and work visas for fear that women visiting Scotland may be arrest for up to seven years. If they commented in their own Countries on women and Girls protected rights,
It not just “Scottish Women and Girls rights” that may be imprisoned in Scotland.
The Hate Crime bill covers all ladies and will wait to all women and Girls set foot on Scottish soil, by train, boat, plane or Car.
Imagine coming for a planned holiday and suddenly your mother, wife or sister are met by police and suddenly imprisoned.
We may not be able to comment nor indeed need to mention any other binary Groups, but by law we can and should be able to speak up against threatening, harrassing and imprisoning Women and Girls in Scotland under their “International protected rights” by threatening them for up to seven in Scotland.
This harrassing threatening behaviour would include the fear by most women of threat to remove or imprison and abuse their childrens rights to have theirs mothers imprisoned because they were not allowed freedom of Speech, or using the threat of imprisoning their partners or Spouses as a method and weapon of containing all Womens and Girls free Speech on Scottish Soil or from another Country coming to visit or work,
It does not matter wether your nationality is English, Irish, Welsh, American, the Isle of Man, Australian, French, Germain, African, Indian, Asian, etc women or Girls no matter what family you have if they can all be imprisoned for up to seven years. Once In Scotland.
The quote from G Campbell sums it all up.
This from a charlatan SNP councillor who has abused his position and every list system for his own career advancement ( so far failing dismally).
We live in dangerous times. Can we use the forms as well to complain about them and their hatred towards women ( though they are excluded from the protected category).
Andy Ellis
You’re so up yourself, you don’t need a fluffer.
Alf Baird.
It is confusing to many people regards what is Regarded as being Scottish Legislation.
The position that the parliament in Scotland is passing Scottish Legislation is Actually a Falsehood it would of course breach the 1707 Treaty of Union.
That hereafter the will only be one Parliament of Great-Britain,
DeVolved In Latin means ( Rolled Down)
All legislation in Scotland is “Rolled Down” from the Parliament of Great- Britain, through the Secretary of Scotland appointed by Westminster and the parliament of Great- Britain’s civil servants.
If Scotland had its own parliament of Scotland passing its own legislation and Statue’s in real terms it would Breach the Treaty of Union,
This is back door legislation changing Scots laws through a “rolled down system of devolved government” from Westminster parliament.
And the Monarchs Sovereignty to give Royal Assent to the Scottish Hate Crime bill resides in Westminster parliament lest we forget. According to Westminster.
Best thing to do for the time being
I look forward to the SNP being decimated at the GE
The troughers in WM will be distraught and Humza will face the backlash
Although who will replace him?
All the best Rev, hope to see you back soon
Really shocked it has come to this. Don’t lose heart Rev. We need you.
A sad day for the UK, for free speech and for the country that played a key part in the enlightenment.
There will be much joy and rejoicing when this horrendous SNP Green regime gets its just desserts. But we cannot bank on Labour repealing the Hate Crime Act
I suspect the new Hate Crime laws are going to bite the SNP in its arse.
I’m just waiting for the next politician to use stereotype hate words about white men.
Our confidence in the police to apply any sort of sanity in the face of a deluge of co-ordinated complaints is essentially zero. Even if the vast majority of vexatious and malicious reports are ignored, it only takes a single face-painted rainbow cop who’s been “trained” by a hardline transactivist pressure group to take one of them seriously, and boom, you’re in a cell, with every electronic device you own locked up in a police-station cupboard for the next few months.
I’ve seen that lunatics like ‘Sophie Sparkles’ and that horrendous Willoughby bloke are drooling at the prospect of reporting people or encouraging people to report ‘hate’ crime to the police. I’m almost certain that in the first week they’ll be a wave of complaints, and that considering the SNP have said all complaints will be investigated, we face a situation where the police are going to be clogged down in this while actual crime will probably end up being even less of a priority than it is now.
A decade ago the idea of this law or that so-called ‘progressives’ would leap to defend it in order to keep on the side of what their friends in government are doing to transform Scotland into an illiberal, authoritarian place.
There’s always been an element of the puritanical in Scotland not just conservatism with a small ‘c’ but this is unlike anything we’ve seen in modern times.
(Have you ever seen a Scottish polis attending an event with their face painted or their car bedecked in the suffragette colours for International Women’s Day this month, or flying a flag for Disability History Month, readers?
No, and in both cases the police have a load of work to do but yet one of the safest groups in Scottish society (remove the LGB group as well as they’re seeing a rise in intolerance thanks to what the TRA’s are doing) who have a disproportionate level of access and power is treated better than someone say, who is gay and fleeing one of those countries that execute people for homosexuality.
And here’s the thing. The likes of Stonewall could have turned themselves into an advocate group for LGB people in the likes of Iran, or places like Gaza but instead they barely mention the plight of LGB people worldwide, and if they do they tie it in as an afterthought to Transgenderism.
One thing to note as well outwith of those of online a lot or informed in Scottish politics, this isn’t a huge issue yet with the general public. Most people aren’t aware of it outside our echo chambers however that’s going to change once the cases start mounting up The other thing is I’ve seen many KC’s say that cases are likely to be thrown out under ECHR legislation, and Article 10 keeps getting mentioned though as Stu keeps reminding us, by that point you’ll have spent months, if not longer under the threat of prison and all your electronic devices will have been gone, plus you could have well lost your job.
We’re facing a situation where someone gets sent to prison with the rrobbers, crooks, muggers, murderers, etc for calling a man a man. It’s insane.
If the Quality Polis are going to be inundated with reports of
HateOften totes valid differences of opinion Crimes; To deal with this extra workload will they divert staff away from all the current investigations into the SNP eg Branchform.Congratulations, Rev.Your into-darkness post has made it into Eliza Mondegreen’s top reads of the week.
https://elizamondegreen.substack.com/p/top-reads-of-the-week-e80
See you on the other side, I hope.
One potential workaround is to run the site from a mobile. A Huawei or Google phone that’s easily and cheaply replaced if confiscated by thought police.
Each time you get jailed we all throw an extra fiver your way so you can go on holiday. You could end up with a fair few holidays? Might make up for the harassment?
“What if you banned Scotland (or UK) from accessing your website then people could use a van in another country, e.g. Germany, to access your site. Would this be a workaround? I know they would still physically be in Scotland but legally would it be published in Germany?”
No, it’s where the READER is that matters.
What is the situation if an individual reads a WOS page at archive.is or the Wayback Machine then makes a complaint?
If that reading constitutes “publication” under Scots Law, is that individual guilty of publishing in Scotland, or will plod pursue the original publisher?
Brotherhood of Man .
Thanks Ian Wee Annie phoned me will give you a bell
Take care Rev Thanks for all you’ve done .
They have big dirt on the biggest tractor in Scottish history and infiltrated all organs of the state.
Do you think favourable legal opinion will protect you? I don’t think so. They have their sights on you and will get you.
There will need to be an underground resistance to fight all this.
Will JKR shut up?
Rev. Stuart Campbell
“No, it’s where the READER is that matters.”
Thanks to the internet, readers in Scotland can read articles written anywhere in the world.
Someone who has no connection whatsoever with Scotland writes a blog, perfectly legally in his/her own country, attacking those protected in Scotland by the Hate Crimes Act.
A pervert pretending to be the opposite sex in Scotland happens to read it and makes a complaint to Police Scotland.
Are Police Scotland going to squander Scottish taxpayers’ money to bring that writer to Scottish justice?
What right in international law would they have to go after that writer?
How can Scottish laws be imposed on citizens of foreign countries who have nothing to do with Scotland?
What would we say if Russia passed a Hate against Russia Act, whereby any article attacking Russia if read by someone in Russia would be deemed to have been published in Russia and the writer deemed to be punishable under Russian law?
We would be laughing at and mocking them wouldn’t we?
Scotland is not even a sovereign state as far as international law is concerned.
Scotland does not have extradition treaties with any country in the world.
It is clear that this law is meant to be applied extremely selectively to persons like yourself to shut them up.
If you paid someone overseas with no connection with Scotland, who has no intention of visiting the UK, to publish your articles in their own name, legally in their own country, would Scottish police be able to go after you or after them?
I am talking about future articles. The past ones would need to be removed of course.
I’ve just read through the comments, and notice that in order not to fall foul of this new law, the ALBA Party would need to scrub from their manifesto their policy of supporting (real) women’s rights. No one seems to have mentioned this??
Anyway, let’s see what happens.
As a political cartoonist, I will certainly not be taking my substack or YouTube channel down, or my posts on spinster or GETTR.
Hope as many Scots here as possible can make the Let Women Speak rally in Edinburgh on Saturday 6 April.
See you on the other side, Stu. (Or at the Holborne)!
The only losers in this will be actual REAL gay (same sex attracted) people, and the police. The police will become despised, and lose ALL public trust.
When you start locking folk up for stating ACTUAL FACTS, or expressing opinions, you have totalitarianism, and a police state.
That is Scotland, 2024, courtesy of the SNP.
G-d bless, Stuart, you’ve fought the good fight and for that we shall be eternally grateful.
I think the purpose of the HCA is two-fold. The first is to stifle dissent and the second is to “unprotect” safe spaces for (biological) women and children by criminalising any criticism of biological males using these safe spaces. Furthermore, hate is an emotion and emotion cannot be criminalised since, in and of itself, it is unmeasurable and uncodifiable. (In actuality, emotion can often be a mitigating factor in a crime, as in crimes of passion.) For a crime to have occurred there has to be some measure of a physical component, otherwise it is a purely mental or imagined crime. A thoughtcrime in other words. The HCA takes us into the territory of crime as a perceived offence and not objective reality.
“The thought police would get him just the same. He had committed – would have committed, even if he had never set pen to paper – the essential crime that contained all others in itself. Thoughtcrime, they called it. Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed forever. You might dodge successfully for a while, even for years, but sooner or later they were bound to get you.”
George Orwell – “1984”
These are indeed dark days for our nation and our people. If you stand for nothing, then you’ll fall for anything. Haste ye back, Stuart, and keep in mind the inspirational words of John Maclean from the dock:
“I wish no harm to any human being, but I, as one man, am going to exercise my freedom of speech. No human being on the face of the Earth, no government is going to take from me my right to speak, my right to protest against wrong, my right to do everything I can that is for the benefit of mankind.”
I’ve tried really, really hard not to but I just blurted out this week, “I hate the SNP”. What is the fking point of this collection of crap ; simply not being as utterly shte as the Brit politicians doesn’t do it for me.
Useless twts – all the same, Salmond put Sturgeon into power : he’s to blame, he regrets it, as do we all. Knob move – blaming Humza won’t help – he was left this SNP…
Before the ‘witching hour’ dawns: The Tartan/MacTaliban equivalent of Ministry of Enlightenment and Propaganda, headed by Dr Joseph Goebbels
Wings is the truth. Thank you Rev. Come back soon. We will miss you.