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The great unknowns

Posted on January 21, 2021 by

Sky News had a breaking report tonight about a person they couldn’t name.

Was it The Woman Whose Name You Can’t Say? We couldn’t tell you even if we knew, readers. And we can’t tell you whether we do or not. Sky carefully avoided even saying what sex the person was, and you’d have to be quite an alert viewer to notice any of the hints they dropped in the piece. We’ve said enough. You’re on your own now.

As ever, please do not commit contempt of court in the comments.

But also, get some popcorn in.

Get a lot of popcorn.

223 to “The great unknowns”

  1. Hugh Jarse says:

    Are you sure the cabal would like to see a prosecution on this matter?

    Desperate move, from despicable people.

    Reply
  2. Dave Llewellyn says:

    I wonder if Davie Clegg knows who it is

    Reply
  3. Bob Mack says:

    OT,

    Martin Keatings twitter giving updates on court case today.

    Not a mention on any media.

    Reply
  4. Pete says:

    I understand that Andrew Neil is going to take up the challenge to let the truth see the light of day.
    Great investigative journalist.

    Reply
  5. Fionan says:

    Shared on FB along with Sheridan/Dangerfield interview. Little by little we can spread the facts out there that the msm in general are ignoring.

    Thank you again Stu for keeping us up-to-date with events that we otherwise might have missed. It all seems to be gathering speed now indeed. We sure do live in interesting times!

    Reply
  6. JSC says:

    Nicola is toast….100% toast

    Reply
  7. Astonished says:

    The wheels appear to be coming aff the bogie. Great.
    .
    .
    If I was one of the nine I’d be turning Queen’s evidence ….pronto. In case one of the others beats me to it.

    Reply
  8. Daisy Walker says:

    Holy wow. My guess about the non person from the previous articles was incorrect.

    Oh dear, it’s really, really bad new when a uk wide main stream news outlet starts breaking ranks and disclosing bits and bobs of the story, isn’t it.

    Reply
  9. Rev. Stuart Campbell says:

    “Martin Keatings twitter giving updates on court case today.

    Not a mention on any media.”

    TBH I don’t blame them. I followed all his tweets and as usual ended up without the faintest clue what had occurred.

    Reply
  10. Cath says:

    The MSM is going to be zero help to the indy movement or Salmond on this. Their reporting is still very much along the lines of “a cover-up of what Sturgeon, government officials etc knew about complaints about Salmond” before they said they did, Nicola trying to cover up Alex’s terrible crimes in other words. The precise opposite of what is actually happening.

    Reply
  11. Morag says:

    “It it The Woman…”

    This from your regularly scheduled proofreading service.

    Reply
  12. Socrates MacSporran says:

    Who is running this whole case on behalf of the Scottish Government – Chief Commissioner Meikelson?

    Reply
  13. Name (required) says:

    its so much more fun not knowing what i am not allowed to know. i mean i might know it but how would i know if i knew.

    it would be more fun if it wasnt the future of indy at stake mind.

    i spy with my little lie

    corruption

    Reply
  14. Fairliered says:

    Socrates MacSporran says:
    21 January, 2021 at 9:09 pm
    Who is running this whole case on behalf of the Scottish Government – Chief Commissioner Meikelson?

    Boss Hogg.

    Reply
  15. Republicofscotland says:

    Good God almighty, it must be a cold day in hell, for I find myself agreeing with what the reporter said, that Douglas Ross said that its a cover up by the SNP government.

    In this instance the enemy of my enemy isn’t my friend, but he speaks the truth.

    Meanwhile even Donald Rumsfeld would have problems with the convoluted lies of Sturgeon and her clique.

    Known Knowns, Unknown Knowns, and Unknown Unknowns

    known knowns — obvious context. In the obvious context, you know what type of situation you are dealing with and you…

    known unknown — complicated context. The “known unknowns” are things you know you need to know but are not yet known. It…

    unknown unknowns — complex context. The unknown unknowns are things you didn’t even know you needed to find out. They…

    finally, unknown knowns. Unknown knowns are those moments when you say, I feel like this is the right thing…

    Reply
  16. Peter N says:

    The only good thing I see in this is that now it looks like part of the MSM are starting to get involved in this by way of reporting some of the corrupt goings-on with Sturgeon and Co. Don’t know how that will pan-out but the show looks like it is starting now.

    Reply
  17. 100%Yes says:

    I was looking up Sturgeon on the search engineand I can across this,

    link to duckduckgo.com

    “Leaked Scottish Government emails raise further questions over what Nicola Sturgeon knew about Alex Salmond bullying allegations
    Holyrood|2 days ago
    In response to a freedom of information request, the Scottish Government accidentally sent Sky copies of internal,” but when you click on the Holyrood article it states 404 – Page not found.

    Reply
  18. Colin says:

    In all seriousness, whoever this person is must be focusing on this more than their job. Might be best for them to take a leave of absence or do the right thing and start telling the truth.

    Reply
  19. Daisy Walker says:

    OT and obviously in no way connected with anything really, just a bit of general knowledge…

    A Super Injunction (high covers England) can be legally breached in the House of Commons and House of Lords and is covered under Parliament Privileges.

    An Interdict, which deliv3s much the same level of confidentiality under Scots law makes no mention of Parliamentary Privilege.

    They are not cheap, I recall researching them a bit in 2014, and at that time they cost in the region of £200,000. from memory, they last a couple of years and then Ned to be renewed, and paid for all over again.

    Reply
  20. Davie Oga says:

    Fairliered says:
    21 January, 2021 at 9:13 pm
    Socrates MacSporran says:
    21 January, 2021 at 9:09 pm
    Who is running this whole case on behalf of the Scottish Government – Chief Commissioner Meikelson?

    Boss Hogg.

    Fairliered says:
    21 January, 2021 at 9:13 pm
    Socrates MacSporran says:
    21 January, 2021 at 9:09 pm
    Who is running this whole case on behalf of the Scottish Government – Chief Commissioner Meikelson?

    Boss Hogg.

    Joseph Fitzgerald O’Malley Fitzpatrick O’Donnell The Edge Quimby, nicknamed Diamond Joe.

    Reply
  21. 100%Yes says:

    link to holyrood.com

    Reply
  22. Colin Alexander says:

    Maybe Nicola Sturgeon will go into hiding…just like the Indyref funds.

    Reply
  23. Republicofscotland says:

    100% Yes getting the 404 message page not found.

    Reply
  24. MaggieC says:

    O/T but not O/T ,

    Re Harassment and Complaints Committee ,

    The Committee will next meet on Friday 22 January at 10:30am when it will consider its work programme in private. This meeting will be held virtually.

    .
    This has just been published on the Committee page tonight that they’re having an extra meeting on Friday , Hopefully the Committee will be discussing just what’s being going on with evidence being withheld from the Committee .

    Reply
  25. 100%Yes says:

    If we could get rid of Sturgeon quickly and a new leader in place who is prepared to embrace the idea of corporation of ISP and the SNP to obtain as many Pro-Independence MSP as possible this would be fantastic for our country.

    Reply
  26. Al Ba says:

    When realistically will this be all out, or all over?

    Just wish the bubble would burst and then everyone could maybe move on and watch how the SNP recovers (or not).

    With 12 weeks to go to May’s elections, let’s see how the senior SNP MSPs regroup and handle themselves for the cause of independence.

    #thatsthespirit(or not)

    Reply
  27. Alan Mackintosh says:

    Sky seem to have quite a bit of detail of this unpublished document, and what it says. One might think they have seen a copy or an extract.

    In other news, Geoff Aberdein’s submission is unpublished, which probably relates to his pre-arranged meeting in the Parliament

    Given both these documents are unpublished, is it not quite interesting that these unpublished documents seem to be quite contentious. Perhaps like buses, there will be another one along in a minute…

    Reply
  28. Rev. Stuart Campbell says:

    “100% Yes getting the 404 message page not found.”

    It’s probably this story:

    link to archive.is

    Reply
  29. Terry says:

    Are they still barking up the wrong tree though they still might get a result? Ie wanting to still hound Alex as well but the only one who stands to get scuppered on this is Nicola?

    Excuse me if I’m wrong here but Sky seems to be researching all the previous harassment HR since was it 2010? At that time it would be the deputy first minister who would have known about this (I think) – wasn’t that Nicola? And wasn’t that the time that the only one incident with Alex was resolved and the woman concerned didn’t want the transfer she was offered. She wanted to stay on and work for him. The jury found it not proven – well Nicola would have known. Then it was resurrected in 2018 – well she can’t say she didn’t know about it if she was in the loop with stuff since she was deputy FM when it happened?

    Sorry about perhaps missing the point but if Nicola said she didn’t know anything about Alex until then and she was privy to that before then that doesn’t add up does it?

    Reply
  30. robertknight says:

    The dam begins to break?

    Reply
  31. Liz g says:

    Daisy Walker @ 9.18
    Is that the same thing as those D notices, do you know Daisy?

    Reply
  32. 100%Yes says: link to holyrood.com…. etc.

    Returns a 404.

    Reply
  33. Gerard McGhee says:

    i’m not always sure i know where I am in this tangled web of inconsistent information (in spite of your exemplary work to inform me Stu). in layman’s terms: is this good or bad?

    Reply
  34. Lilibet's corgi says:

    So, Aberdein’s submission has leaked has it?

    Reply
  35. Muscleguy says:

    As it happens I have 500g of popcorn kernels being delivered with a supermarket order tomorrow night so I should be very well set up. Though the butter is unavailable so it may not be as palatble as maybe.

    More seriously this is dynamite. It speaks very strongly to the fact of there has been cover up which is clearly still ongoing.

    I can see a motion being introduced in the parliament on making this a judge led formal inquiry under court evidence rules as the parliamentary majority lose patience with the SNP. The only thing is that puts it even further out.

    But surely Sturgeon would know her goose was thereby be cooked and jump ship. We can only hope.

    Reply
  36. 100%Yes says:

    Thanks Rev, I’ll have a read.

    Reply
  37. Republicofscotland says:

    Cheers Stu, I read the link you provided.

    Reply
  38. Quietly Optimistic says:

    The wheels are coming off
    every time they try to sellotape something back on the bandwagon three other bits slide of the other side

    It’s almost funny, if it wasn’t so deadly serious

    Reply
  39. Cath says:

    in layman’s terms: is this good or bad?

    None of this is good. Nothing good is coming out of it short term. It’s unbelievable we’re even in this situation. There are some least worst scenarios I can envisage and that’s about it.

    Reply
  40. Cath says:

    Although saying that, it’s quite amusing in a very dark, droll, Kafkaesque kind of way. People on Twitter are now skirting dangerously close to potential prosecution because they know one thing but not another thing.

    Reply
  41. shug says:

    As I said earlier at some point the spaghetti women will reach the point when they will have to take the shilling and break the story.

    There is no way Nicola can survive as they throw shit at the fan.

    It surprises me that the Tories took so long

    Reply
  42. Samuel says:

    For those getting 404 on the holyrood page, go and hit this and enter in the URL you can no longer find – link to cachedview.com

    I’ve tried and it works with the link given by 100% Yes Scotland

    Reply
  43. Daisy Walker says:

    @Lizg

    A D notice is issued by the security services for reasons of national security, and I doubt if it’s covered by parliamentary privilege (but don’t quote me on that). It was widely used to cover up Cyril smiths sex offences against minors back in the 60’s and 70’s – so open to abuse unfortunately.

    The wuperinjunctiosn/interdicts are taken out by private persons, using civil court procedures, for which they pay a fee. Ryan Giggs is one famous purchaser of one, when he didn’t want his wife to find out about a recent ‘friendship’.

    Reply
  44. robertknight says:

    Gerard @ 9:40

    “in layman’s terms: is this good or bad?”

    Depends…

    If someone was looking at a charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice, attempting to pervert the course of justice and/or perjury, they may just decide to bring the whole fucking diseased corrupt temple down on all their heads – it’d be biblical!

    Reply
  45. Saffron Robe says:

    We who know nothing are starting to understand everything.

    Just as a flower seeks the light of the sun, so does the truth seek to be revealed.

    Reply
  46. Skip_NC says:

    The commenter at 9:11pm need not have typed anything in the comment box and it would still have been a substantive post.

    Reply
  47. As more and more coverage occurs, I wonder if we’ll see a “John Leslie” moment?

    Just wish it was all done and dusted, but it’s going to drag on and on.

    Reply
  48. Alan Mackintosh says:

    I seem to have lost the place, can anyone remind me which episode of Borgen this is meant to be…?

    Reply
  49. Colin Alexander says:

    Blinkin’ Eck!

    Or will it be blinking Nicola as she tries to bluff that all is well in her Bute House ivory tower.

    Reply
  50. shug says:

    even stranger than the Tories only being pushed to action now I just visited the BBC – not a whisper

    ???????

    What do you make of it

    Reply
  51. PeterV says:

    Jesus God Almighty,,,

    Is James Mathews (who is a bigger House Jock than Andrew Neil), going to be the saviour of Scottish Independence?

    The world had gone crazy.

    We are now looking to Unionist Parties and the Unionist media to help us heave Sturgeon out the door.

    Just resign Nicola, and save us all going through this muck raking.

    You are nothing but a selfish, self serving, lying little bastard.

    That’s about as complementary as I can get about you.

    Reply
  52. Lynne says:

    Here’s the disappeared 19th Jan Holyrood article. I just archived it from Google’s cache.
    link to archive.vn

    Reply
  53. Alain Mack says:

    Wow Rev……brilliant investigation….As Pvt Pvt Fraser would say”DOOMED”…….will she be gone before March ????

    Reply
  54. Hugh Jarse says:

    The D notice on Dunblane, protecting senior officers and officials still has 70 odd years to run.

    Reply
  55. PeterV says:

    Liz g

    Does the D not stand for Dug, as in Ginger Dug?

    Reply
  56. shug says:

    Astonished

    how long will it take us to get a new bogie with 4 good wheels and get it moving again?

    Reply
  57. Effijy says:

    The Monty Python team could have used this sketch.
    We can’t name the person although everything relived around them,
    although they may be liars, misappropriating the public purse,
    abusing power of office, wasting police time.

    We must protect this person at all costs or
    we could be doing the decent, obvious, moral thing?

    Bloody pathetic!

    I can see Boris declaring that he is closing Holyrood due to corruption
    It should be Tory corruption ruling Scotland.

    Reply
  58. PeterV says:

    “The Bitch of Bute House”,

    There’s a Netflix series to be made out of this Rev.

    Get that novel started!!!

    Reply
  59. robertknight says:

    Effijy @ 10:11

    “We must protect this person at all costs or
    we could be doing the decent, obvious, moral thing?”

    This person knows where the bodies are buried – because the were instrumental in wielding the pick and shovel themselves.

    Of course they must be protected.

    Reply
  60. zebedee says:

    James Matthew’s account sounds highly consistent with Salmond’s submission in which he detailed Geoff Aberdein’s meetings in March 2018.

    Aberdein’s evidence has been knobbled as we know.

    Someone may not be named.

    It may be reasonable to conclude an interdict has been served, of the super-injunction variety, or even the ‘hyper-injunction’ variety (in the last named, apparently it is ordered that no MPs or members of the media are allowed to be told of the existence of the injunction).

    Whether it succeeds is a different matter. The press may figure Sturgeon’s fatally damaged by now, publish, and once she is gone, no one is going to sue them.

    Reply
  61. Achnababan says:

    Forgive me – I am in the slow lane but does Mr Matthews introduce a new piece of the puzzle here? He says that a meeting record was actually altered to give a false impression of what was discussed.

    Flabergasted thrice over!!

    Beginning to sound very Baldrick ‘ cunnung plan ‘ and all that

    Reply
  62. PeterV says:

    What I am totally surprised at is that being in the age of the “World Wide Web” that some journalist based in Timbuktu hasn’t ran with this story, revealing every single person involved in the case.

    Because as far as I know, it is only if you are based within the UK that you are forbidden from revealing details of the Salmond trial.

    Reply
  63. zebedee says:

    knobbled
    nobbled

    Reply
  64. David says:

    SEXIST ARSEHOLE KLAXON!
    PeterV has just set off the SEXIST ARSEHOLE KLAXON!

    FFS PeterV you need to use less sexist language to describe a woman.

    Try ‘arsehole’ instead of ‘bitch’.

    Reply
  65. Neil in Glasgow says:

    James Matthews has definitely been biding his time on this one and has seen his opportunity and pounced. The fact it comes off the back of last week’s wings/Craig Murray articles is no coincidence. You’ve done the hard work for him, guys, and he’s pretty much got an open goal. Just wonder how many of his colleagues will run to the corner flag with him for the celebration?

    Reply
  66. ahundredthidiot says:

    For all Her skills, she doesn’t know how to bow out graciously…….

    Reply
  67. Hugh Jarse says:

    RIGHT ON KLAXON….

    You bastards mis-abused her!

    Reply
  68. Donda says:

    It’s one of those they/them people.

    Reply
  69. James Horace says:

    Great report by James Matthews.

    Andrew Neil has now tweeted to say he will be making this a personal mission.

    This is it. She’s really done for, isn’t she?

    Reply
  70. Beaker says:

    Independence Taskforce? Going to need a fucking army to deflect all the incoming…

    Reply
  71. osakisushi says:

    If only there was a website in China or Russia, giving this story in plain English without [redacted]

    Reply
  72. Jim Tadgercock says:

    So where did the money for the injunction come from ? Or have I got the wrong end of the stick.If NS is looking for a new gig maybe Labour could help her oot as they are short of a driver at the moment.

    Reply
  73. Elmac says:

    There should be no question of NS bowing out gracefully. She does not deserve that latitude. The disgraceful actions of her SG abetted by an arguably corrupt Lord Advocate and compliant police force are ikely to prove ample evidence of criminality if brought before an unbiased court. If proven guilty she should be on a one way ticket to the clink accompanied by a few accomplices and the alphabet liars.

    For god’s sake will someone in the SNP please stand up and call out these cretins before their party is utterly discredited and destroyed and with it Scotish aspirations of independence for many years to come.

    Reply
  74. Annie 621 says:

    Funny, I bought LOTS of popcorn earlier for the wee ones for tomorrow,
    Ah well!

    Reply
  75. Alan Mackintosh says:

    Just a heads up to keep an eye on Gordon Dangerfields blog this evening or more likely tomorrow given the time. He had a wee post linking to his podcast with Tommy Sheridan and this was the last part of it…

    “I’m working on a post which I hope to publish later today or early tomorrow. It’s titled A Very Scottish Coup because if the evidence given to the Salmond inquiry by civil servants is true then a coup by unelected mandarins behind the backs of the democratically elected First Minister and democratically elected Government of our country is precisely what has taken place.”

    Reply
  76. Mist001 says:

    As I’ve maintained. Mrs. Murrell is bulletproof and is going nowhere, BUT…

    If she did, the most sickening thing to me personally that will happen is that all these SNP MPs, members, MSPs, all of them will pop up and say ‘we knew about this all along’, we were planning on taking action’ and all this stuff along those lines.

    But remember, WHERE are these fuckers NOW when they need to stand up and be counted?

    Fucking cowards, the lot of them.

    Reply
  77. as I think. Harold McMillan once said, ” Events! dear boy. Events!”

    Reply
  78. Mac says:

    What amazes me is that nearly all of the conspirators and false witnesses are women. Maybe it is all. It is close.

    Can you imagine if this was a cabal of men all colluding and targeting a female FM like we are seeing against Salmond.

    The mystery woman Miss Andry.

    Reply
  79. robertknight says:

    Elmac @10:51

    “There should be no question of NS bowing out gracefully.”

    Perhaps NS will try to bluff it out.

    Perhaps ‘she who must not be named’ may be persuaded to take the fall for NS? Or be ordered to do so…

    The climactic office scene at the end of the Kevin Costner movie “No Way Out” comes to mind, when Gene Hackman’s aid realises he’s going to be scapegoated over the Yuri spy/murder scandal.

    Not that the scene if played out by the Murrells in Bute House would conclude in exactly the same manner – our sensible handgun laws preventing such.

    Reply
  80. Christian Schmidt says:

    Worth pointing out that the opposition does not need evidence for a vote of no confidence. If they feel that Nicola Sturgeon ought to resign (whether they feel she lied to parliament, whether they feel she obstructed the inquiries, or for any other reason), they can force her a vote, and between they have the numbers. So while Stuart is a great reporter on what is going on, I wish there’d be a good source of what the four opposition leader think about it…

    Reply
  81. boris says:

    link to caltonjock.com

    Late Oct 2017: Allegations of harassment surfaced at Westminster. Scottish Government officials were concerned that similar allegations might surface in Scotland. This prompted the Deputy First Minister, John Sweeney to announce a new policy of “zero-tolerance to sexual misconduct”.

    31 Oct: Senior Holyrood based civil servants attended a meeting convened by Nicola Sturgeon for the purpose of reviewing civil service procedures for the handling of workplace complaints.

    James Hynd, Head of Cabinet, Parliament, and Governance, for the Scottish Government undertook to update long-standing civil service procedures on sexual harassment covering serving ministers.

    Acting on his own initiative and without any political direction, he decided to make former ministers the focus of his first draft of the policy, because he was in charge of the Scottish government’s ministerial code and he perceived there was a “gap” that needed to be closed.

    He conceded he was aware of gossip about alleged misconduct involving former First Minister, Alex Salmond, which Salmond had repeatedly denied, before choosing to include former ministers in the new anti-harassment policy.

    He insisted he alone decided to make former ministers the focus of his first draft of the policy.

    Reply
  82. Beaker says:

    @Gerard McGhee says:
    21 January, 2021 at 11:06 pm
    “as I think. Harold McMillan once said, ” Events! dear boy. Events!””

    Sky News and the Internet were not around during his time.

    Reply
  83. zsazsa says:

    we used to say that Thatcher as the first female PM set back by a generation womens’ causes and female representation in politics; these days in Scotland, I sense a dreadful deja vu of a similar backlash. I’d like to be wrong.

    Reply
  84. PhilM says:

    I think I can hear the fat ‘cis’ lady doing her vocal warm-up exercises…

    Reply
  85. Ian McCubbin says:

    Cheers Stu read the link you provided and confirms what I have thought for months.
    Also if anyone Googles which civil servant lied to the Alex Salmond inquiry, some interesting results come up.

    Reply
  86. paul says:


    Creator: Ernest Hemingway, U.S. author, winner of Nobel Prize in Literature

    Context: The character Mike Campbell in the 1926 novel “The Sun Also Rises” was asked about his money troubles and responded with a vivid description embracing self-contradiction: 1

    “How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked.

    “Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.”

    “What brought it on?”

    “Friends,” said Mike. “I had a lot of friends. False friends. Then I had creditors, too. Probably had more creditors than anybody in England.”

    A few weeks of hand (washing) wringing and we could be back on track.

    Reply
  87. Garrion says:

    If this lot were any sharper they would cut themselves. It’s degenerating into a clown car of a cover up.

    Tick, as they say, tock.

    Reply
  88. Bob Mack says:

    @Boris,

    Add to that list the Scottish government contacting the police in Aug 2017 seeking advice on route of referral of certain allegations if made by staff. This as outlined by the police statement to the Inquiry

    Reply
  89. Alan Mackintosh says:

    Ian McCubbin, given the number of “recollections”, “retractions” “omissions”, “amendments” given after the fact, to the inquiry, I would have thought the charge of “lying to the inquiry” could account for every civil servant who set foot in the place, and of course the ones who were too feart to even show their face… Yes, you, Judith MacKinnon, I mean you.

    Reply
  90. Derek says:

    @Dave Beveridge says:
    21 January, 2021 at 9:59 pm
    As more and more coverage occurs, I wonder if we’ll see a “John Leslie” moment?

    Maybe a lastname-as-firstname one related to him, though…

    (is she the one we cannae talk about?)

    Reply
  91. Davie Oga says:

    Bob Mack says:
    21 January, 2021 at 11:31 pm
    @Boris,

    “Add to that list the Scottish government contacting the police in Aug 2017 seeking advice on route of referral of certain allegations if made by staff. This as outlined by the police statement to the Inquiry”

    Metoo# never went viral and became what it was until Weinstein was arrested in early October 2017. It really took off when Paltrow and Alyssa Milano spoke out around the middle of the month. If they were setting something up in August 2017 then #metoo had nothing to do with it, despite being repeatedly referenced by key players.

    Reply
  92. Mac says:

    Let the truth be out and the chips fall will they may.

    This site does not fear the truth. Alex Salmond does not fear the truth. The Independence Movement does not fear the truth. We all know who fears the truth. It is Team Nicola and the SNPG and all their apparatchiks.

    Everything they have done has a common motivation, malice.

    The way they conduct themselves is very similar, mendacity. They all sing off the same lie sheet.

    It does not matter if you zoom-in or zoom-out on this mega-scandal. It is the Mandelbrot set of corruption.

    Reply
  93. paul says:

    While I deplore the activities that has led to this point.

    I consider a vital purgative

    Reply
  94. Captain Yossarian says:

    Forgive me but I’ve just watched ‘All the President’s Men’ on BBC4.

    Nixon said ‘I’m not resigning’ a few days later he agreed to go.

    A tipping point will be reached, maybe quite soon. I understand that Andrew Neil has promised to get involved now. He terrifies both Sturgeon and the vainglorious Swinney.

    Happy days (as they say)

    Reply
  95. Rev. Stuart Campbell says:

    “I’ve maintained. Mrs. Murrell is bulletproof and is going nowhere”

    “But this ship can’t sink!”

    “She’s made of iron, sir. I assure you she can.”

    link to youtu.be

    Reply
  96. James Horace says:

    An MP/MSP could easily blow the lid off this whole thing using their parliamentary priviledge.

    But are they too afraid, because of the #metoo side of things, and the context of Salmonds original trial? Is this too much for a party to be blamed for?

    Could this be why the SNP are continually (and shamefully) playing the line that the original trial was for a reason, and Salmond was no angel? Is this a way to ward off any parliamentarians from using their parliamentary privilege?

    Reply
  97. holymacmoses says:

    I think she’ll scuttle herself

    Reply
  98. Alan Mackintosh says:

    Another interesting point in the Sky article linked here
    link to archive.is
    which is a written version of the video at the top of the article

    “The involvement of the official, and their request for changes, is contained in a submission made to the ongoing Scottish Parliament inquiry into the government’s handling of harassment complaints against Mr Salmond.
    Sky News has spoken to four people familiar with the content of the submission, which has not been made public.
    All of the sources corroborate the details of the official’s request to change the account of what they said.”

    “Sky News has spoken to four people”

    Reply
  99. NellG says:

    As much as I’m no fan of Andrew Neil it’s quite possible due to their years of engagement he has a lot of respect for Alex so might be more than happy to take Sturgeon down. Her removal by any means and by any hand is No 1. priority.

    Reply
  100. Indyisnigh says:

    Hi Nicola – something keeping you awake !!!!!

    Reply
  101. paul says:

    The mysterious Alan Mackintosh character has not read the terms of reading and comprehension demended by our host.

    If “The mysterious Alan Mackintosh character” has that much powerful information, report to your local police station.

    Reply
  102. holymacmoses says:

    Thanks again and again Mr Wings. It is exhausting work. It’s quite ironic that according to the Times article I’ve linked on a previous page, Nicola Sturgeon was the ‘control freak’ who would trust anyone to do anything on their own . Mr Salmond was much more open and amenable to other opinions

    Reply
  103. CheeseNchive says:

    link to gofund.me

    Reply
  104. Ian McCubbin says:

    Alan Macintosh, no doubt, but the top civil servant and NS should be handing in their resignations. Both unfit to hold office representing a nation.

    Reply
  105. StuartM says:

    Mac says:
    21 January, 2021 at 11:07 pm
    “What amazes me is that nearly all of the conspirators and false witnesses are women. Maybe it is all. It is close.”

    Maybe not so amazing. The conspiracy was hatched within NS’s inner circle. From what I can gather at 12,000 miles distance Sturgeon surrounds herself with female advisers and civil servants. On the basis of Leslie Evans’ and Judith MacKinnon’s past performance in prior roles, they got their jobs on the basis of their sex not their competence. Those two are mediocrities and they know it, and they also know that without NS they won’t keep their jobs very long. Consequently they’ll do almost anything to stay in Nicola’s favour. The same probably goes for the rest of Sturgeon’s inner circle, they’ll do anything to please their boss. A bad leader surrounds themselves with weak subordinates who are not going to stand up to them. Mix in a dose of feminist “strike a blow against the patriarchy” ideology and anything can be rationalised. The only males involved seem to be civil servant James Hynd who is NS’s Bernard Woolley (Principal Private Secretary?) and NS’s husband Peter Murrell.

    Reply
  106. Morgatron says:

    Fuck sake, when weetabix heid is saying hes on a crusade to get to the truth you surely must know its time to throw in the towel. Say what you want about the old lothario he sure knows how to wear a vest and part his back hair comb over, that auld yoon fanny magnet.

    Reply
  107. Liz says:

    Those cowards who are keeping quiet in the hope of saving their careers.
    We will not tolerate a single one of you.

    Speak up now and you might preserve some integrity, otherwise your going down with the ship

    Reply
  108. Davie Oga says:

    I think I understand how Spanish people felt in 1975 during the months when Franco was clinging on for breath. Every night hoping to wake to the news that the bastard was dead.

    The FM needs to go now

    Reply
  109. Morgatron says:

    Not one of the SNP MPs or MSPs will speak out, as they know the press will do it for them. I think I will vote for no one this election, because no one deserves my vote and then I can disenfranchise myself from the whole political discussion and save a few quid for the GG’s on a Saturday.

    Reply
  110. Alan Mackintosh says:

    paul, oh dont worry, I am very much an “Alert reader” as required and desired by our host. And I have been here for a very long time, way, way back from 2012.

    As for going to the Police, at this point in time, I’m not sure that would be received in the appropriate way. It seems they may be compromised…

    But thankyou for your concern…

    Reply
  111. Saffron Robe says:

    “Do not fret about the freedom of the press. Freedom of the press, after all, is necessary only for bad writers.” Mario Missiroli

    The same could be said for a law which protects the anonymity of the guilty.

    A cypher can easily reveal the truth to those who hold the key.

    IgZg981cpq4V2lHKsAjdr7ganKc2ngE0pig39Ao+NeA=

    PS. The above is just a bit of fun. To crack the code go to the website below and enter the secret key.

    link to devglan.com
    Secret Key: 1236547896543217

    Reply
  112. Monastic Ned says:

    As chance would have it I’m watching Our Friends in the North on YouTube. One of the few honest cops says to another; “Everything points to widespread systematic corruption. You can smell it, touch it. How far up?” The episode set in 1970.

    I’m struck by how little has changed.

    Reply
  113. X_Sticks says:

    @Alan Mackintosh

    I can vouch for your alertness. Missed our usual catch-up at Bella this year and unfortunately looking like it might be 2022 before the next one.

    Reply
  114. I have a serious question for people. Why do you want She Who Cannot Be Named and the Alphabet Cur Coven unmasked? What good would the info do in your curious-to-know life? How would it improve your existence? So you would know not to hit on them if you saw them in a pub, or on an online dating site or something?

    Because it occurs to me that this cyber-torch-waving stuff just gives them ammunition for their spurious anonymous cyber-whining: “See? We are being hounded by blogger hordes just for daring to tell no truth, the half-truth, and everything but the truth! This will make women not want to come forward to report sexual assault!”

    And it would just give their idiot supporters more smug moral and ethical (not that they understand anything about these things, not really) told-you-so satisfaction: “Look at these Wings people, trying to out the defenceless (except for having the police and government and prosecution service behind them) women who had the nerve to stand up to the Salmond scum! Cultists the lot of them! Arrest them all and throw them in a PC gulag! Teach them manners and the Silence of the Lambs cock-between-the-legs trans dance! THEY MUST BE PROSECUTED AND PERSECUTED AND REEDUCATED AND CASTRATED!!”

    Curious to know what motives people have for wanting these women unmasked. Should say ‘unmasked’ figuratively speaking. Sure these women are adhering to social distancing, being the good, honest, law-abiding citizens that they undoubtedly are. Who would never, ever dream of breaking the law. Except if they thought they could get money or career boosts from it, FM backslaps and girlyhug airkisses, witchy sister benefits, having fun attacking men, gathering braindead anonymous Quisling idiot points as they go.

    Fuck them. Let them remain nameless.

    Reply
  115. PeterV says:

    It’s not just SNP MPs and MSPs who should hang their heads in shame, it’s also fellow footsoldiers within the Yes Movement who stand by Sturgeon 100%.

    What are they NOT seeing?

    That continues to baffle me.

    What are we seeing that our fellow footsoldiers are NOT?

    Reply
  116. Iain More says:

    Pete says:
    21 January, 2021 at 9:00 pm

    “I understand that Andrew Neil is going to take up the challenge to let the truth see the light of day.
    Great investigative journalist.”

    Are you being sarcastic?

    Reply
  117. Alan Mackintosh says:

    Aye, XSticks, it may be a while indeed. With any luck, in 2022 I will be sailing across the Baltic to St Petersburg in Havhingsten, my other home…

    Reply
  118. paul says:

    “And I have been here for a very long time, way, way back from 2012. ”

    Big deal

    I do think if you have been here all this time you would realise how reckless your comment was.

    Reply
  119. Iain More says:

    Some folk are forgetting that James Mathews is just one of Rupert Murdoch’s paid underlings and he will do what is in the interests of the Murdoch’s Empire to do. Mathews only does what his bosses tell him to do.

    Mathews is going after Sturgeon and Salmond both. Salmond wasn’t in court over mere bullying claims. The charges were way more serous than that. Still the smearing of Salmond goes on despite the fact that the jurors threw out every charge against him.

    Sturgeon hanging on can only damage the SNP in the run up to the May Election and the Brit Nats clearly fear Salmond by the continual attempts to smear him through the MSM.

    Where does the story go if Sturgeon does the right thing and resigns?

    Reply
  120. Alan Mackintosh says:

    paul, perhaps you could be a bit more clear on what your problem is? I have posted several comments on this and the previous threads.

    You seem concerned?

    Reply
  121. Dingo says:

    Well I don’t know about unnameable people, but I just happened across this concerning Salmond’s submission to one of the inquiries:

    link to inverness-courier.co.uk

    Reply
  122. David Ferguson says:

    We’re going to end up in the worst of all possible worlds:

    1. The truth. Known to a small number of people who read WoS etc: Sturgeon has been lying to cover up her part in a conspiracy to “get” Alex Salmond…

    2. The “truth”. Known to Wee Ginger Duggists: Saint Nicky is a Saint and anything else is a conspiracy theory…

    3. The lie. Peddled by Sky and the Yoon MSM and known to huge numbers of people: Sturgeon has been lying to cover up her part in a conspiracy to cover up the evil crimes of her pal Alex Salmond…

    Reply
  123. twathater says:

    SO brilloheid posted on twatter
    ————————————
    Scotland is awash with government-inspired gags on the media, vital documents redacted, important evidence/submissions censored or buried. Multiple threats pouring out from legal authorities. Even at The Spectator. I think it’s time to fight back. Watch this space.

    Multiple threats pouring out from legal authorities. Even at The Spectator .

    This piece is illuminating is andy pandy going to war against Saint Nicla and wolfie Oh I do hope so , and andy just to let you know even if you bring her down it does not affect our quest for independence , Nicla is JUST a politician who will be easily replaced , the fight goes on

    Reply
  124. paul says:

    And I have been here for a very long time, way, way back from 2012.

    Bid deal, and someone will thank and deorate you.

    Reply
  125. paul says:

    Big deal, and someone will thank and decorate you.

    Reply
  126. paul says:

    <i?Alan Mackintosh says:
    22 January, 2021 at 1:08 am

    paul, perhaps you could be a bit more clear on what your problem is? I have posted several comments on this and the previous threads.

    You used names

    You seem concerned?

    Of course I am.

    Ask me why

    i am

    Reply
  127. Davie Oga says:

    WhoRattledYourCage says:
    22 January, 2021 at 12:26 am
    “I have a serious question for people. Why do you want She Who Cannot Be Named and the Alphabet Cur Coven unmasked? ”

    There is no need to name the vast majority of them. One doesn’t know their circumstances (pressure, inducement/coercion/blackmail), maybe they are just arseholes, who knows, who cares.

    However

    1) The Woman Who Cannot Be Named has played multiple roles in this farce. Have you seen Coming to America with Eddie Murphy? He’s a Prince, a barber, a cheezy soul singer etc.

    Fuck her. She’s in the way of what needs to be done if we are to achieve independence anytime within the next decade.

    If one believes Sturgeon and Murrell were behind a plot to neutralize Alex Salmond using false allegations then the known unknown of The Woman Who Could Not Be Named needs to become a known known.

    Once it’s clear who she is and what she has done and when, all of the First Minister’s attempts at plausible deniability go up in smoke.

    They need to keep her hidden far from any scrutiny because she may well have the ability to eventually put The FM and her husband in prison.

    Reply
  128. Wullie B says:

    “Daisy Walker says:
    21 January, 2021 at 9:18 pm

    OT and obviously in no way connected with anything really, just a bit of general knowledge…

    A Super Injunction (high covers England) can be legally breached in the House of Commons and House of Lords and is covered under Parliament Privileges.

    An Interdict, which deliv3s much the same level of confidentiality under Scots law makes no mention of Parliamentary Privilege.

    They are not cheap, I recall researching them a bit in 2014, and at that time they cost in the region of £200,000. from memory, they last a couple of years and then Ned to be renewed, and paid for all over again.”

    WOnder if they ring fenced the funds to pay for the super injunction, should maybe get someone like Popeye Doyle to investigate it further for any connections

    Reply
  129. steve davison says:

    So we seem to be splitting into several groups
    Thenudgenudgewinkwinkers I know why this happened but I’m not letting on (these people are also the I told you this would happen in a post 3 months ago brigade)
    The bigbrotherists who know Mi5 mole Sturgeon aided and abetted by the moles in lord advocate and police and government thwarting independence and were planted just for this purpose and set the Salmond affair started just to scupper an election
    The weneverhadachancers who believe that the devolved system was set up by Westminster in such a way so that elected officials would be forced to turn into lying, self-serving elitist wankers but it’s not their fault it’s the system

    I personally think that A S read the writing on the wall that his SNP was floundering and some in it were becoming content with how things stand with no opposition or checks on them .He attempts to get back in the game and NS and her cohorts seeing that the game might be up start in motion a series of events that spiral out of control which if anything it just another example of how inept they are which anyone could see from there gov record .However this ends for me the SNP are dead and a new ISP party needs to be in place with checks and balances to stop this happening again
    OH and I forgot the it will all be sorted NS will be out and the voters will forgive and get the landslide result in a couple of months or as I like to know them the itwillbeallrightonthenighters

    Reply
  130. Highland Bill says:

    @steve davison, as far as I am concerned, this whole crapshoot started the day Alex Salmond said he was going to make a return to Holyrood after losing his seat in Westminster in 2017, I have stated time and time again , that I reckon NS felt her position as leader of the Gradualist Party aka SNP was in doubt as she knew that he knew that she would never deliver independence and was happy with the power she held over the people of Scotland, but I reckoned she might have threatened AS first and he called her bluff, reiterating his intention to stand in Mays election.
    NS knew she had to nobble him, and high ways have often been used to blacken political opponents over the years have always been by accusations of abusing kids, being gay or by sex crimes, well we know that being Gay wouldn’t be a problem nowadays so that leaves two ways, no one would believe any accusations of kiddy fiddling so the only plausible route left was by sex crimes , as if convicted would have finished him politically, him probably being jailed for a decade at least would have the hoped result, and according to a conversation I had with a senior SNP party official, at a burger van one winter night in 2018, this was what he reckoned would happened , after me asking this person if AS was guilty, he smiled away as he nodded yes, and reckoned AS would be at Her Majesties Guest for 5-10 years, but AS spoiled that for them, but he wouldn’t be able to return until enquiries regarding the case were heard so would be counted out of HR2021, this is where JC then made her move, stating her intention, and again NS felt her position would be threatened by a Salmond ally, so got the Wokeratti NEC to change the rules.
    One thing I forgot to mention, the senior party official when also asked by myself about their role in the party, gave the answer to protect NS at ALL costs, I won’t be pounding the streets come the next Westminster elections for the erse, and I hope if we are still party of the UK that the ISP stand candidates as I won’t be voting SNP either at that election, although I will hive them my final constituency vote in May as my MSP is a good one who has helped me and other family members out over the years, but the ISP will get my list vote, even if Spear doesn’t get the high list number, but I guarantee this, the SNP will not get another vote from me ever again

    Reply
  131. twathater says:

    Just donated again to Peoples Action On Section 30 the total needed is still quite far off if anyone can donate no matter how much PLEASE do so as this man has taken on the establishment in OUR name and has been frustrated and blocked by the same ba**ards who should have done it in the first place

    link to click.pstmrk.it

    Reply
  132. Twathater, chucked another tenner in a couple of hours ago. Good cause, sad and disgusting it’s necessary.

    Reply
  133. David F says:

    WhoRattledYourCage says:
    22 January, 2021 at 12:26 am

    I have a serious question for people. Why do you want She Who Cannot Be Named and the Alphabet Cur Coven unmasked?

    I want to know who they are so I can see exactly how closely they were linked with each other and with Sturgeon. That will make it much clearer to what extent this was a coming together of fellow sufferers, and to what extent it was a coming together of fellow conspirators.

    Reply
  134. Patrick Roden says:

    Andrew Neil is saying that he feels the Scottish government is blocking the media from reporting openly on the enquiry into the Alex Salmond accusations, so he will start a crusade to get to the bottom of it all.

    He will ‘print and be damned’ knowing that his ‘friends in high places’ will never let the uppity jocks jail a house jock.

    Nicola will find herself under constant scrutiny and she does not like bad press one little bit.

    There’s been a ramping up of coverage that is exposing those involved in the whole mess, over the past week or so, and I think this coming week will see some ‘Bombshell’ revelations that will cause panic and alarm in the heads of everyone involved in this conspiracy.

    Once that happens, anything might start to happen!

    Popcorn at the ready!

    Reply
  135. Name (required) says:

    WhoRattledYourCage 12:26

    we seek the truth dear boy. the truth.

    not a (redacted) truth, not a ‘terms of

    reference truth’, not a ‘convenient’ truth,

    nor a limited truth. a true truth.

    now had the matter been left to lie after the criminal case, then i (personally) can accept that the jury had been present with evidence and came to its conclusions.

    but it has not been and i am asked to judge again and again (buy some anonymous protected person, apologies if i accuse the wrong anonymous protected person, but how am i to know?). now before i judge i like to know the ‘whole story’ who, what, when, where and why. otherwise its a matter of faith.

    and i have no faith in this bunch of shysters

    Reply
  136. TJenny says:

    WhoRattledYourCage – we need to know in case any of them are standing for HR2021 and some of us unknowingly end up voting for them.

    Reply
  137. Al-Stuart says:

    .
    Stuart,

    Amongst the great unknowns are some absolute knowns.

    From professional experience I know that when you give an Oath and then break it, no matter who you are and who you know, you are at imminent risk of going to jail.

    At this precise moment there is sufficient evidence to merit a police inquiry. The CURRENT Scottish Governement appear to have too much control over Police Scotland, COPFS and the Lord Advocate.

    But truth will out. Fact.

    Stuart, you and many of us on here can BANK this bit of evidence given by this smug, over-promoted weasel of a little man, Peter Murrell. That he had the audacity and weasel words to say he does not use WhatsApp (after deleting the app quickly once his “Get Salmond” rallying call was outed), and God only knows what else under Oath, I am as sure as can be until a new Chief Constable and a new Lord Advocate are appointed, that Peter Murrell shares a great deal of his future with that of Lord Jeffrey Archer.

    Worth noting, Archer had bigger, more influential friends in the second video clip than Penfold WhoHe Murrell ever had.

    Nocola, this is how it ends and with the full measure of the law. Neither you nor your beard of a man can stop it…

    link to m.youtube.com

    As my old sergeant use to say about miscreants: Fly wi’ the craws and ye’ll aw end up in a pie full o’ craws. Well baked and in the Big Bar L.

    For full facts, this is what Penfold Murrell is inexorably exposed to once the evidence is properly examined. Likely after Ian Livingstone gets his knighthood and creeps off down to London to become Deputy Commissioner of the Met in a similar MO to that other, utter failure of a Police Scotland Chief Constable, Sir Stephen House.

    For sheer schadenfreude, here is a 2 minute clip of Lord Archer. First part invoking all the powerful people emir to protect him. Second part, on his way to a jail cell for FOUR years for LYING UNDER RUTH…

    link to m.youtube.com

    Reply
  138. Al-Stuart says:

    .
    Typo correction.

    Last post should of course have read: “Lying Under Oath”.

    Not “Lying Under Ruth”.

    Mea Culpa. Autocorrect is rampant this morning.

    Reply
  139. Hugh Jarse says:

    Just a quick ‘good morning ‘ to the unfortunate constable tasked with monitoring us here.

    Only following orders.

    Is this what you signed up for?

    Reply
  140. David F says:

    WhoRattledYourCage says:
    22 January, 2021 at 12:26 am

    I have a serious question for people. Why do you want She Who Cannot Be Named and the Alphabet Cur Coven unmasked?

    The other obvious reason for knowing exactly who the alphabet women are is so that every man in Scotland can protect himself, by never going within fifty feet of a woman who goes to the police and says:

    “Ten years ago he pinged my hair. Now I want him convicted and jailed for sexual assault…”
    “Ten years ago he touched my arm through my cardigan in a pub. Now I want him convicted and jailed for sexual assault…”
    “Ten years ago he touched my knee through my trousers when we were in a car. Now I want him convicted and jailed for sexual assault…”

    Reply
  141. Bob Mack says:

    Just pledged to Forward as one again. A wothry cause indeed which at least answers important questions fircus all.

    Even the presentation of the QC is keeping important issues at the forefront.

    Reply
  142. Effijy says:

    I want the Alphabet women and those who acted illegally
    and out with their remit to try and ruin an innocent man.

    They were proven to have meetings outside of the court,
    they lied about being at gatherings they never attended
    and they have no right to anonymity with these actions while
    the innocent party they attacked continues to be attacked and
    Vilified daily in the media.

    They should lose their jobs like anyone else who would abuse the powers of their office.

    Right now the cover up assures other women who would make false claims of this magnitude
    that they can ruin a man, waste police and court time and get away Scott free.

    Every bit as bad as actions that might discourage women with genuine claims from prosecuting.

    I want everyone named in this.
    The First Minister did not act appropriately.
    Nor the Lord Advocate, the Gov Advisors the Civil Servants or the police.

    They must all face charges against them.

    Reply
  143. Monsieur le Roi Grenouilleverteetprofonde says:

    seem to me the i.d. is reasonably easy to surmise, If, as Daisy up thread says it costs 200,000 for a super injunction, one must assume there are supporters, with corporate money. I guess a newspaper would see this as investment.But who has a fast track to a newspaper kindly disposed to spending that kind of money to keep a sweetheart sweet.

    Reply
  144. Robert Hughes says:

    Al-Stuart @ 7.36

    I note your reference the the euphemism ” Beard ” to denote the use of a wife/girlfriend to camouflage a man’s homosexuality

    In the reverse situation eg a female using a husband/boyfriend to deflect from her homosexuality , would the appropriate term be ” Fanny ” ?

    Ergo – Nickiii is Penfold’s ” Beard ” . Penfold is Nickiii’s ” Fanny ”

    ps Excuse the frivolity ; I’m just so scunnered by this whole sordid , shameful telenovela- scripted- by- Kafka-sceenplay-by-Pinter shitshow that rather than succumb to depression over it I opt for ridicule and scorn

    Reply
  145. Andrew Neil is one of the biggest House Jocks there are,

    if Nicola is preventing Indy why would a Brutish Establishment`s House Jock want to take her down and let, potentially, a pro Indy person take over.

    Reply
  146. Robert Hughes says:

    Scott – maybe because the taking-down of NS will serve his main purpose – f-all to do with journalistic truth-seeking – of severely damaging Independence .

    Reply
  147. Strathy says:

    Andrew Neil has a new project which is going to employ 120 journalists.

    That should be enough to get all of the details.

    link to news.sky.com

    Reply
  148. X_Sticks says:

    Conspirators have conspired and thus should lose the right to anonymity.

    What am am finding interesting reading between the lines is the lack of interest in this story from auntie beeb, They’re usually all over any story that damages the SNP, but they are pointedly ignoring this story and it’s not like they don’t know it’s happening because they will have seen the Sky coverage.

    Suggests to me that Sturgeon and her coterie are well in with them. The continued smearing of Alex Salmond by Kirsty Wark and Sarah Smith after he was found innocent would back this up IMHO.

    Where are we when the leader that is supposed to be fighting for our independence is in thick with the british establishment propaganda department, and still trying to wipe out the reputation of someone who really was fighting for indy?

    Reply
  149. Stoker says:

    From the article at the top of this thread. I see the Britnat media, in this case Sky News, demonstrating their ability yet again to get in touch with the Tories Scottish branch manager when it suits them. Just like they’ve always done, especially when the previous glorious failure ‘The Mooth’ was the manager.
    ________

    Sturgeon is a self-serving proven liar and she’s going to create more damage to the cause the longer she hangs on in the posts of SNP leader and First Minister. She has absolutely no intention of delivering indy any time soon. She is a dopamine junky more concerned with ensuring her numerous daily fixes of celebrity in much the same way those hooked on social media get their kicks from notifications etc.

    We desperately need another serious indy party fronted by a few big hitters and we need it now. Not just to get us there, if we ever get there, but also to be involved in the post-indy negotiations. It will be a disastrous mistake for Scotland to allow only Sturgeon & Co to dictate the negotiating outcome and setting up of any constitution etc etc.

    Reply
  150. Strathy says:

    Sorry.

    This should work.

    link to news.sky.com

    Reply
  151. Iain More says:

    Scot Finlayson says:
    22 January, 2021 at 8:59 am

    “Andrew Neil is one of the biggest House Jocks there are,”

    Who owns him now? Is he serving Murdoch once again?

    Reply
  152. @Robert Hughes,

    not sure how taking out Nicola ,when the general consensos is that she is the main block to Indy, is going to help prevent Indy,

    she can`t be both the main block to Indy and the main person to eliminate to stop Indy,

    some sort of schrodinger’s cat scenario.

    Reply
  153. Captain Yossarian says:

    I think the investigative journalist here is Kieran Andrews from The Times. Investigative journalism is almost non-existent now.

    Kieran Andrews has come-up with fabulous investigative stories wherever he has been, even with the Sunday Post, and that is why he is now at The Times.

    Andrew Neil is not an investigative journalist. He doesn’t spend hours on the phone to people, but he is well connected and can piece a story together. He can provide impetus and so too can The Times.

    I think we can all forget about the BBC and the Scottish press. This website appears to me to be at the forefront of the investigation and that is astonishing.

    There is more than enough information out there (Sky news are speaking to 3No people within the SG who can corroborate things, for example)

    The pressure at the moment is intense and it is not going away.

    This isn’t like Watergate where 2No journalists brought down a government. There are more than enough journalists investigating this now and it will not take long in this digital age of worldwide instant communication.

    Personally, I’m hoping that the Scottish legal profession get fucked. They have let us all down.

    Reply
  154. Boaby says:

    The “scottish ” legal profession are unionist to the backbone, along with police “scotland”.

    Reply
  155. Al-Stuart @ 7:38 am

    Typo correction.

    Last post should of course have read: “Lying Under Oath”. Not “Lying Under Ruth”.
    Mea Culpa. Autocorrect is rampant this morning.

    Too late. Put me right aff ma breakfast. 🙁

    Reply
  156. Captain Yossarian says:

    @Boaby – open your eyes….for centuries they have been respected. Under Sturgeon they have become crooked and are about to face public humiliation.

    How did we in Scotland ever believe that a crooked husband and wife team would be the answer to our problems.

    Reply
  157. 1971Thistle says:

    @Robert Hughes @07h36

    I think the word you’re looking for is ‘Merkin’

    link to en.wikipedia.org

    Reply
  158. X_Sticks says:

    Philip Sim thread from twitter re Martin Keatings S30 case:

    link to twitter.com

    Reply
  159. Pete says:

    Ian More 1.05
    Time you got up to date.
    Sky News is owned by Comcast.
    Rupert Murdoch has no connection!!

    Reply
  160. Robert Hughes says:

    1971Thistle says:
    22 January, 2021 at 9:43 am
    @Robert Hughes @07h36

    “I think the word you’re looking for is ‘Merkin ”

    LOL ! Aye , that’s a better name . less potentially ” offensive “

    Reply
  161. Bill Thomson says:

    Look on the bright side.

    Once this stramash is over and
    oor Nicola and familiar are on the dole,
    the Civil Service in Scotland put back in its box,
    Malfeasance in Public Office on the Statute Books as a crime,
    the role of Lord Advocate abolished,
    Police Scotland regionalised once more;
    Let us reflect on who foisted Nicola on us in the first place
    and never again be fooled by the cult of personality.

    Scotland needs this crisis to clear out the scum that has floated to the top and flush out the detritus blocking the drains.

    Reply
  162. David Holden says:

    In reply to Who rattled your cage . The identity of the invisible woman is not the real issue but if her complete involvement in the stitch up of the former first minister ever becomes public it is game over for the whole sorry group behind the conspiracy. Ask yourself why so much time and money is being used to protect her.

    Reply
  163. Robert Hughes says:

    Scot Finlayson says:
    22 January, 2021 at 9:29 am
    @Robert Hughes,

    ” not sure how taking out Nicola ,when the general consensos is that she is the main block to Indy, is going to help prevent Indy,

    she can`t be both the main block to Indy and the main person to eliminate to stop Indy,”

    Yes , I take your point Scott . Maybe the calculation is that forcing the humiliating removal of NS will do sufficient damage in itself it would outweigh any other consideration .

    One has to constantly use qualifiers like ” maybe ” as the situation is so convoluted any certainty is impossible – at this stage

    Reply
  164. Davie Oga says:

    Captain Yossarian

    “Personally, I’m hoping that the Scottish legal profession get fucked. They have let us all down.”

    The judge who threw out Mark Hurst’s case is a member of the Scottish legal profession. As is Gordon Dangerfield, Dorian, who obviously gave Salmond a fair trial, and the the solicitor’s who refused to lie for Scotgov at the judicial review, because their ethics were more important than the favour of government.

    The main issue is having a Lord Advocate who sits in cabinet, and is also head of the COPFS.

    This can lead to problems in the event of a corrupt, amoral, government that is prepared to act ex judiciously in order to obtain their objectives.

    The Murrells’s acquisition of a pet Lord Advocate is only buying them time. I wouldn’t underestimate the backlash from the Scottish legal profession over this either. No one likes to see their professional reputation undermined from within in the way The FM, her wannabee puppet master husband, and Mr Malicious Prosecution have done.

    Reply
  165. kapelmeister says:

    Jackie Baillie has tweeted that it looks more and more like a cover up. Baillie should have been the inquiry convener, instead of Fabiani.

    Reply
  166. Robert Hughes says:

    Thistle 71

    Though I still think ” Fanny ” in the demotic sense is an apt description of P Murrell

    Reply
  167. Polly says:

    ‘ Nicola trying to cover up Alex’s terrible crimes in other words. The precise opposite of what is actually happening.’

    Yes, very well stated. Much as I want truthfulness and folk held to account these media revelations will only help unionist. Anyone who says different is either insincere or an idiot. They’ll manage to condemn Salmond too, or ignore him, and trash all our institutions even ones or areas which work very well.

    ‘maybe because the taking-down of NS will serve his main purpose – f-all to do with journalistic truth-seeking – of severely damaging Independence .’

    Exactly so, and anyone cheering them on as being good for our independence cause is deluded. They’ll expose her, good, but in exposing her they will taint our whole political and legal structures we have here and then use that as a means to interfere further, or take us over, and it certainly give them a huge stick with which to hold back Indy – but worse, to roll back devolution.

    Reply
  168. Captain Yossarian says:

    @Davie Oga – The legal profession cannot have it both ways. They have allowed free legal aid to be abolished by Sturgeon. Instead of free legal aid, we have spoof inquiries like ‘Edinburgh Trams’ and ‘Child Abuse’ which go-on for years and never seem to do anything. Is the legal budget being spent wisely? for the legal profession ‘yes’ but for the public perspective I think ‘no’.

    That, and the proliferation of ‘Scottish Government Partnering Law Firms’ is just abuse of the public purse. We have paid these people £300/hour for years without return. We are paying them to build a semi-authoritarian Police state. No-one wants that.

    What Andrew Neil is saying and what makes his words so attractive for the most of us is: ‘We’ve had enough of the your legal threats and it’s time to fight back’.

    I do not expect for a minute that our legal profession will emerge from this looking anything other than bent.

    Reply
  169. isleofskye says:

    Interesting post on Yours for Scotland today. It’s a proposed MANIFESTO FOR INDEPENDENCE: SCOTLAND’S FUTURE. Will Keith Brown take it on board? Should we send it to him? Needing some light in these dark days – maybe he does too.

    link to yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com

    Reply
  170. Polly says:

    Bob Mack says:
    22 January, 2021 at 8:46 am
    Just pledged to Forward as one again. A wothry cause indeed which at least answers important questions fircus all.

    Even the presentation of the QC is keeping important issues at the forefront.

    Yes indeed, Bob, and though Martin Keatings tweets from yesterday serve more to confuse then elucidate, the printed submissions I read last night were interesting.

    Reply
  171. Mac says:

    I am really looking forward to the day Nicola Sturgeon resigns in disgrace.

    She and her husband weaponized the SNPG, the Civil Service, Police Scotland and the Crown Office (to name just a few) to politically take-out a man who is a hero of the independence movement (in the most foul, underhand manner imaginable that was also massively damaging to the Independence movement).

    And she did this at the exact same time she should was failing to capitalize on BREXIT.

    I really cant wait to see her stripped of office and the ability to weaponize the state to bully and intimidate people she does not like.

    I want to see her back as a civilian, back on a level playing field with Alex Salmond amongst many others. We will see how ‘hard’ she is then.

    NS is a nasty little bully. Wee man syndrome is obviously not limited to men. Cant even to bare to look at her anymore. She disgusts me.

    Not fit for office. Get her the fuck out.

    Reply
  172. Polly says:

    @ Captain Yossarian

    ‘I do not expect for a minute that our legal profession will emerge from this looking anything other than bent.’

    Then it will merely join quite a number of other UK wide institutions and people, won’t it.

    Reply
  173. Captain Yossarian says:

    @Polly – that makes it OK with you? We’re heading in the right direction under the Murrells? Europe will be OK with that too?

    Reply
  174. Shug says:

    Still nothing on the bbc website

    How strange they miss the chance of taking a pop at the snp

    Reply
  175. Davie Oga says:

    Captain Yossarian.

    Lawyers don’t make these decisions. Government does. Scottish solicitors went on strike to protest the cuts legal aid. What else can they do? They don’t set the legal aid budget. Scotgov does.
    If someone is stupid and inept enough to pay you 300 an hour to do not much of anything, would you turn it down? I wouldn’t.

    Reply
  176. Bill Mackay says:

    If we think that sturgeon is holding indy back and I agree,well wouldn’t it be worth the jail time for someone to open the can on this,surely it would be worth it in the long term,by the way don’t ask me to do it as I don’t know.??

    Reply
  177. Surprised at Joanna Cherry still going all weak at the knees over the Bidden/Harris (she/her) election,

    one of their first acts as President and Vice President was to throw all American woman under the bus in his/her Gender Discrimination Executive Order,

    link to tinyurl.com

    Reply
  178. Polly says:

    Captain Yossarian says:
    22 January, 2021 at 10:29 am
    @Polly – that makes it OK with you?

    Of course it doesn’t. But on the other hand you’re just a bit too much of a gungho supporter of the always rather horrid and right wing, ultra unionist Mr Neil. He’s soon to have a platform with his 24 hour news channel and similarly Murdoch is also setting up his also very right wing news channel. I feel I have enough of right wing cheerleading here from you these days.

    He’s not doing any of this for our benefit, certainly not for journalistic integrity. It’s promotional for his new shows and, as usual, it’s him being out to taint and tarnish everything Scottish which might lead to independence. What concerns me is why a Scottish independence supporter such as yourself is so gleeful about it. I want this conspiracy exposed but it makes me anything but gleeful. I’m in some agony now until we get to the end of this and I fear what use the Westminster will make of all these revelations and how that will impact even devolved Scotland going forward, far less any hope of independence. There’s absolutely nothing to be gleeful about for independence supporters.

    Reply
  179. Polly says:

    ‘They don’t set the legal aid budget. Scotgov does.’

    Exactly, and Scotland’s budget as we all know only too well is controlled by Westminster. How is legal aid going in the rest of the UK or the comparison throughout the whole UK is a much more valid question.

    Reply
  180. Captain Yossarian says:

    @Davie Oga – That was a furious angry strike like the miners strike, was it? It went-on for weeks and weeks and weeks, did it? I cannot even remember them going on strike….did they all go on-strike or was it only the half-dozen with a shred of a professional ethic about them?

    If the government pays them £300/hour to do not much of anything, then that is ‘malfeasance’, isn’t it? Quite a commonly used word on this forum just now. It applies in England, not here. Here, the commonly used word for bent lawyers is ‘bent lawyers’.

    Reply
  181. Republicofscotland says:

    This is explosive stuff as Martin Keatings QC Aiden O’Neil bumps heads with the presiding judge in the S30 case Lady Carmichael.

    Sturgeon the betrayer’s minions the Lord Advocate and the Advocate General for Scotland QC Keith Stewart, are defending the case ( if you can call stabbing Scotland in the back defending it), claiming the proceedings are incompetent.

    Sturgeon and her attack dogs the Lord Advocate and the Advocate General for Scotland (or that should be against Scotland) are desperate for this to fail, keeping Scotland submissive in this God awful union is their goal, the b*stards.

    link to thenational.scot

    Reply
  182. Captain Yossarian says:

    @Polly – It’s what you spend the money on that I’ve been complaining about. Do you spend it on free legal aid available for all of the public….or do you spend it on ‘Edinburgh Trams Inquiries’

    It’s either one or the other, I’m afraid. Make your mind-up and let us all know.

    Reply
  183. robertknight says:

    I wonder what the penalties are for…

    * Defamation

    * Perjury

    * Wasting Police Time

    * Witness Tampering

    * Contempt of Court

    * Knowingly Providing a False Statement to a Committee of the Scottish Parliament Under Oath

    * Attempting to Defeat the Ends of Justice

    * Attempting to Pervert the Course of Justice

    * Conspiracy to Commit Offenses Outwith Scotland

    * Misconduct in Public Office

    * Breaching the Scottish Ministerial Code

    Just asking for a friend…

    Reply
  184. Republicofscotland says:

    So the Scottish government contacted Police Scotland via the Civil Service with questions that appeared predicated on a specific set of circumstances, rather than developing a generic procedure, which led to the fit up of Alex Salmond, its been described as wargaming.

    link to thenational.scot

    Reply
  185. David Wardrope says:

    I agree with Polly on this. Alex Neil and his band of journos are not some sort of device that can be used to focus on aspects of the SNP at our discretion, he’ll go full tilt at the SNP and the independence movement not just the bits we’d like.

    There’s been a shift in the attention the media are now giving, and although many have been shouting out for this to happen, we can’t just cork the bottle again when we think we’ve seen enough.

    I’m really disheartened by this whole affair, it’s necessary of course and absolutely right to get to the bottom of events, but I just can’t bring myself to being overjoyed or elated at what’s happening.

    Reply
  186. 100%Yes says:

    @robertknight

    And misuse of public funds £512,000

    Reply
  187. rob says:

    twathater says:
    22 January, 2021 at 3:45 am

    Just donated again to Peoples Action On Section 30 the total needed is still quite far off if anyone can donate no matter how much PLEASE do so as this man has taken on the establishment in OUR name and has been frustrated and blocked by the same ba**ards who should have done it in the first place

    Just donated…. hope more will contribute to meet the target.

    Reply
  188. robertknight says:

    @100%Yes

    I think that one comes under Conspiracy to Defraud

    Reply
  189. Polly says:

    ‘or do you spend it on ‘Edinburgh Trams Inquiries’

    It’s either one or the other, I’m afraid. Make your mind-up and let us all know.’

    See, what might the difference between us be – when I see that I remember the Edinburgh trams were not the SNPs choice.

    Reply
  190. robertknight says:

    Sorry…

    I thought you meant Indy Ref funds, not the award of costs to AS.

    My bad!

    Reply
  191. PeterV says:

    The “Bitch of Bute House” is still roaming freely across Scotland, destroying everything in her path.

    She needs taken down by any means possible.

    She cannot be allowed to take us down with her.

    Reply
  192. Republicofscotland says:

    Ilseofskye @ 10.21am.

    Don’t hold your breath on Keith Brown doing anything positive to forward independence, he virtually said of the poll that showed a majority of Scots want May’s elections as a plebiscite, that now is not the time, all very Theresa May-esque in my opinion.

    Reply
  193. Captain Yossarian says:

    @Polly – ‘The Edinburgh Trams Inquiry’ was the SNP’s choice and it has turned into a jamboree for lawyers to get paid for producing nothing. It has been running for more than 4-years now…..have they reported anything? are they going to report anything? How much has it cost already….do you know?

    So, can I say that you too would rather this money be spent on free legal aid? As I said before, it is either one or the other.

    Reply
  194. Effijy says:

    Many just look at the veneer in Scottish politics.
    If Nicola is held in high esteem by many to an extent
    where they would vote for an Independence Party, I would
    have accepted her being in post until the HR election.

    As soon as she is tainted officially that group will turn against us
    and U.K. media has all the ammunition it ever dream of.

    We could clean up our own cess pit once independence was gained.

    Reply
  195. Astonished says:

    David Wardrope and Polly : I agree that A.”yoon” Neil will do us no favours in reporting this. Better now than in May.

    Whatever happens we need to throw out the plotters and the enablers. This was a problem of the SNP’s own making. O.K. it may only be the upper echelons of the party. But the silence of existing MSPs and MPs taints them significantly – If they wont stand up to corruption why vote for them ?

    I was a Sturgeon loyalist and honestly thought that the January 2020 speech would call a date for indyref2. I was sorely disappointed. Things went from bad to worse. The NEC can never again keep meetings, members comments and votes secret. If we had known all they were discussing was GRA reform and Stasi hate crime we would have been alerted sooner.

    I am, at present, sorely disappointed by the lack of action from the new NEC. The old NEC have acted against members for far less than this – we need action – NOW.

    The yoon media are turning on Nicola because they know they can’t keep a lid on this until May.

    Reply
  196. Breeks says:

    This is British Media. Don’t be disarmed by it’s sudden lust for probity. Bringing these crooks to justice is Scotland’s work. Before we all sup with the Devil, we need to check the length of our spoon.

    We should refuse their help, because we all know it isn’t ‘help’ at all.

    Scotland has a sovereign Constitution which it’s own “Government” doesn’t respect.

    Scotland has a colonial aggressor encroaching on Scotland’s rights and integrity, and our own “Government” which colludes with it.

    Scotland has a legal system and fraternity which routinely ignores Scotland’s everyday unlawful subjugation.

    Scotland has a Lord Advocate who is meant to be the independent Expert Witness to arbitrate in legal disputes, but he is compromised by conflicting interests, serving the government he’s meant to be regulating.

    Scotland has a Police Force which will dedicate an army to investigate smears orchestrated against Alex Salmond, but which does nothing to investigate the criminal conspiracy which smeared him.

    Scotland has a News Media which doesn’t broadcast the news but manipulates it.

    Scotland has an Independence “Government” which obstructs and delays Independence.

    Scotland has an Independence “Government” which stands up for the Claim of Right then sits down when it’s told.

    Scotland has an Independence “Government” which frets at being trapped by Article 30, but undermines and obstructs the legal Test case which would free it’s hand.

    Scotland has a Fishing Industry which backs Brexit until Brexit shuts it down.

    Scotland has a Pandemic Lockdown which doesn’t stop free movement of people who carry the virus.

    Scotland has an Independence Movement which doesn’t know where the threshold for Independence actually is.

    Scotland has a World renowned Ancient Declaration of Independence and Constitutional Sovereignty which still physically exists, but has nobody to defend what it says.

    Scotland has a Treaty of Union with England which the Government of England and the UK can ignore, reinterpret, breach and violate with impunity, while Scotland won’t even challenge its punitive subjugation or make any stand for fairness.

    Scotland has a brave and noble History, but Schools which don’t teach it to our children.

    Scotland has island communities and Gaelic speaking communities crying out for new blood, but the call is answered by incomers from a different country and culture.

    Scotland is a nation of warriors who won’t fight.

    Scotland has Sovereign people who do what they’re told, and and are told what they can or cannot have by a third Country.

    Scotland prides itself in picturesue scenery of a barren dessert where our wildlife is persecuted and slaughtered for sport.

    Scotland has world class athletes and sportsmen who are British when they win, Scottish when they lose.

    Scotland has a Whisky Industry which markets it’s Scottish heritage and corporate image, but it’s revenue bolsters the economic performance of another Country.

    Scotland has a vast Oil Resource plundered daily to bolster the economy of another Country. Scotland’s oil pollutes the World, and our exploitation sees we don’t even profit from that exploitation.

    Friends, Scotland needs to smash the delusional looking glass it lives behind, and step through the portal into the real world. Scotland doesn’t needs a modern day Robert the Bruce or William Wallace lopping off the arms and legs of colonial Invaders. We just need a Leader who can unite and regiment the people of Scotland long enough to say “No to all of this”. Scotland is our land, not yours.

    That’s what we need, but sadly, for now, Nicola Sturgeon and her corrupt wee Parcel O’ Rogues is what we’ve got, and the whole weight and dark hand of the corrupt Unionist Establishment propping them up, keeping them safe, and lashing out at us when we demand nothing but transparent honesty.

    Reply
  197. Polly says:

    @ Captain

    Yes, the inquiry might have been their choice, but what necessitated it was the problems with the project itself, that project was not their choice. And they were in a minority government remember. Should an inquiry not have been held? To do that would have left them open to the braying of the unionists and newspapers. Should the Scottish government have the power to underpay the normal legal rate? Do they have that power as a colonial devolved entity? How much power do they actually have or could use which wouldn’t be attacked in one way or other. I understand Roddy has some ideas now though.

    Whatever professional institution you belong to it is obvious you have a chip on your shoulder about the whole legal profession and legal aid. We all here no doubt feel similarly about legal aid being totally insufficient but without more power it means hard choices must be made in Scotland by any administration. Independence might have allowed us to set out more ways and better ways of working, but the current newspaper articles you are so gleeful about are helping put paid to that. Good day Captain.

    Reply
  198. robertknight says:

    Effijy @11:21

    “We could clean up our own cess pit once independence was gained”

    Last thing you want when you resume your place on the world stage as an Independent Sovereign State is to be in the midst of what some will paint as a political witch hunt.

    Truth and reconciliation doesn’t come into it either, as the principal target/victim was a single individual as opposed to any group.

    Best to get the dirty work done beforehand, then you can at least start with a clean sheet and have the guilty find themselves in jail as opposed to on the front pages.

    Anything else is doing ourselves and our country a disservice.

    Reply
  199. Polly says:

    @ Astonished

    I agree with a fair bit of what you say and feel similarly. I wasn’t a Sturgeon loyalist since the Joan McAlpine thing before it, but I too noted the press conference that January and I feeling on it is she had planned to make some announcement but then something or someone changed her mind. There seems no other obvious explanation to me. Calling a press conference to say nothing and let everyone down does not fit. Why what who how? Who knows.

    @ Breeks

    Bravo sir.

    Reply
  200. Mac says:

    I don’t know about others but within my immediate family no one knows about all of this scandal. One relative in particular who is well into his current affairs and usually knows what is going on had no clue when I raised it.

    This blog is an oasis of awareness but away from it the general public are mostly still fully unaware.

    The fact this is so really tells us just how much help Team Nicola is getting from the mainstream media.

    When people in Scotland really comprehend what was done and is being done in their name by an SNP Government they are going to come unglued.

    Also we have digested this poison gradually over years as it has slowly unfolded. Joe Public when it breaks is going to get slapped in the face with the totality of it all in one go.

    They will struggle to take it in at first and then struggle to believe it but when it finally sinks in they are going to be raging.

    There was a lot of anger at the way Salmond was treated before any of this came to light. When people learn just how bad it really was / is… wow.

    This is a betrayal so vast and on so many levels it repels belief.

    Reply
  201. Breeks @ 11.25am

    That merits a post of its own and doesn’t deserve to get lost amongst the btl comments. Bravo.

    Reply
  202. birnie says:

    Astonished at 11.21 is disappointed in the new NEC.

    Regrettably, after the recent elections only about one-third of the NEC are reformers. The old guard are still firmly in charge.

    Reply
  203. James says:

    genuine question
    with Brent crude at $55 at present how do we run our economy
    last time was home I didn’t see much manufacturing activitie
    I need help here how do we do it
    Where’s the money coming from

    Reply
  204. Livionian says:

    Brillo pad sounding like a resistance activists at the end their but he is absolutely right.

    I’m still just struggling to grasp why the Sturgeon/Murrell duo planned all this. Surely if they weren’t such short sighted tubes they would have thought that trying to send an innocent man to jail and spinning a web of lies and corruption about it would inevitably be much more of a threat to their careers than a resurgence of the Salmond faction ever would.

    Reply
  205. Clwyd Griffiths says:

    RT the far right uknat Brexiteer Andrew Neil who wouldn’t know the truth if it jumped up and slapped him on the face isn’t a good look Rev.

    Reply
  206. @Captain Yossarian,

    Jeezo didn`t know the Tram Inquiry is still ongoing,

    the inquiry that is looking into why the trams took so long to build is now needing an inquiry into why Lord Hardie has taken so long to look into the time the trams took to build,

    jeezo Scottish judiciary is a fricken establishment joke,

    unfrickenbelievable.

    Reply
  207. James Carroll says:

    Perhaps we should consider a private prosecution against them all. In the Alex Trial there was clear attempts to pervert the course of justice. Why the hell are these individuals being allowed to hide behind a veil of lies and treachery.

    Reply
  208. Captain Yossarian says:

    @Polly – the contract with the German contractor was entered into by Edinburgh City Council and had nothing to do with the Scottish Government. That contract was put together by amateurs and has led to years of disputes which Edinburgh City Council will never win.

    The Edinburgh Trams Inquiry was entered into by the Scottish Government and not by Edinburgh City Council. That has gone-on for years too and appears to be to be entirely pointless.

    Agreed?

    Reply
  209. Captain Yossarian says:

    @Polly – one last thing…..law and policing are devolved to Holyrood. Don’t blame anyone else if they fall short of the standards expected. Blame Humza.

    Reply
  210. Prasad says:

    And still people believe her ‘my total focus is on covid’ bullshit.

    Right, nothing else on her mind i’m sure.

    Reply
  211. Stuart MacKay says:

    Polly @10:47am

    Neil probably see this as an opportunity to secure the financial and commercial success of his new network. He probably can’t believe his luck. Sticking it to the separatists is probably a secondary consideration.

    One thing I found with the piece on Sky News was that Dermot Murnaghan’s introduction was rather laboured. Clearly there’s more going on than can be revealed. Super injunction anyone? I got the distinct impression that he was wondering “why are we presenting this when it’s all vague and ill-defined?” That could explain in small part why the mainstream media have only started sniffing around now – the story is simply too complicated and ill-defined to run with on a web page or in a bulletin or 60 seconds or less. If audience metrics run the show then why show something that right now people are going to scratch their heads and wonder what that was all about – moreso since the disconnect between St. Nicola of Covid and St. Nicola of the Immaculate Deception is too great for most to grasp.

    Reply
  212. Robert Hughes says:

    Breeks @ 11.25 .

    Bravo indeed my friend .

    Can we mass-produce THIS and put it through every door in Scotland , rather than the waste-bin fodder that the SNP ( and all other mainstream Parties ) insult us with when elections loom ?

    Reply
  213. Mac says:

    Personally I think the decsion to go after Alex Salmond was taken the day after the BREXIT referendum.

    2014 was nobbled and Independence had been put to bed, Alex was gone and Nicola was in place. But then along came BREXIT and gave the independence movement a second chance. BREXIT delegitimized the NO in 2014.

    Now if I was in charge of preserving the Union I would have considered Alex Salmond the most dangerous man in UK politics after BREXIT happened.

    If anyone was capable of exploiting BREXIT to get support for Scottish Independence up to take-off velocity it was Salmond. Look at how close he came in 2014 without the gift of BREXIT and Boris Johnson & Co. Where do you think we would be right now had he stayed in charge post 2014.

    Even if Salmond had no intention of coming back they simply could not take that risk.

    As for Nicola she has not been duped into all this, far from it, that is all I can say for sure.

    Reply
  214. Cath says:

    They will struggle to take it in at first and then struggle to believe it but when it finally sinks in they are going to be raging

    That was my reaction when I first pieced the jigsaw together. Total disbelief and a feeling that, ‘No, I must be missing something’. Then disbelief it could happen, then anger. I’m more or less past anger now and into almost finding the whole thing hilarious, except I can’t quite get there as it’s so serious and still being covered up. It should have been laughed out of court rather than prosecuted, and a prosecution service that didn’t laugh it out the court deserves to be laughed out of Scotland itself. Everyone still involved in this cover up is making themselves a joke right now.

    Reply
  215. Maolbeatha says:

    So is that our chances of Indy over for god know how long then?

    Because the only party capable or interested in Independence has destroyed itself with strange actions to cover up a meeting date? A meeting date!

    Why the hell would Nicola Sturgeon go after Alex Salmond like this? What is the point of it?

    What do we do now?
    We vote for the SNP in May, because they are the ONLY ones based in Scotland and the only ones saying anything positive about Independence.
    Or what?
    We vote Labour? Tory? Lib Dem? Knowing they would never support Indy. Or Scotland for that matter.
    We vote for smaller parties? New parties?
    No credibility, no record, no infrastructure.

    If We vote SNP and this whole situation is front and centre in every media source, enough to create doubt and put off as many voters as they can.
    Change the leader and leadership?
    Too late, for the dust to settle and confidence in the SNP to be restored and a new leader to take control.

    We shout about the state of corruption in Westminster to NO effect and we destroy one of our own for the same thing, and in doing so destroy our best chance of Independence for who knows how long.

    And no I am not saying we should let it go, wrong is wrong.
    No I am not saying that Nicola Sturgeon is the only leader that could get us there.
    I am saying she is the only one at five months before the election.
    Have a clear out after May?
    Assuming we can actually get the SNP into power, perhaps with a majority? With all this going on?!

    That way the main objective is in the hands of a party capable of getting us there. Once focussed.

    We’ve blown it.
    We imploded. For what exactly?

    Nicola Sturgeon set out to destroy Alex Salmond?
    Why?

    Reply
  216. Polly says:

    @ Captain

    Almost sounds like you saying Edinburgh council was wholly responsible for such a massive undertaking and not SNP ha! I remember the bill for tram network passed Holyrood in 2006, SNP minority later lost a vote and agreed to continue so long as no more public money was given. Transdev, if I remember right, was given the operating contract, then let go to save costs later when a council subsidiary company took over. German company was for infrastructure completion.

    Any public infrastructure project so vast that it costs hundreds of millions of pounds, probably close to tens or a hundred of companies with subcontractors, and thousands of staff is of a complexity where problems are just waiting to go wrong, that so much did go wrong means any inquiry is going to take time to fulfil its remit. I think I remember reading there were over 6 million documents the inquiry need to trawl through. I think not mandating there be a remit about when it needs to report back was a bad failure and should have been given a wrap up order a couple of years ago.

    I heard someone say recently since SNP there have now agreed another tram line, then everyone from all parties being involved in it means no one particularly wants it to report. But are you actually arguing there shouldn’t have been ANY inquiry as to what went wrong when so much did and it cost so much? It has gone on too long but it will probably come out sometime before May to blacken the SNPs name further. After all ‘that Alec Salmond said it would be swift and through’ just like he said ‘once in a generation’.

    I remember how horrendous Edinburgh was when work stopped/started/stopped. You are perhaps more knowledgable about the details of why there were delays and disagreements and details than I? I remember vaguely something about conflicts of interests being mention about lawyers?

    As for Humza, you can take potshots at him to your hearts content and I really couldn’t defend him, the police though by and large are duty bound to follow orders so they’re a different kettle of fish. He’s in the wrong job and though I thought him effective before I now would prefer him not to be in politics at all to be honest. You ask ‘Agree?’ But no Captain I don’t really see us agreeing on much. 🙂

    Reply
  217. Daisy Walker says:

    The Aberdein meeting on 29/3/18, had an official record of been kept, would have recorded all the people present at it.

    If one of the people at it, was at that time there in the role of being part of the investigation staff, later went on to become one of the complainers, then the non recording, or perhaps removing from the records of that meeting became essential, as it would have been the very first piece of evidence Alex
    Salmons would have gone after to prove biased process against him.

    In addition, if, a person, at that meeting, on the investigation staff, and later went on to become a complainer, IF, they happen to be a long standing member of NS’s close circle of friends and associates, a further reason is needed to keep the name away from that meeting, as it damages Nicla’s plausible deniability as to what she knew and when.

    We could waste a great deal of time wondering about NS’s motives for behaving badly, or analyse the evidence and if satisfied it does prove she behaved badly, use our energies elsewhere to get Indy. I doubt if we will ever know the real why of her behaviour, and if we ever do hear it, it will like be banal.

    Reply
  218. twathater says:

    Many on here are still advocating we swallow our anger and integrity and vote for Sturgeon and the SNP BECAUSE they are the ONLY party set up to get us to independence, unfortunately even if that were true there are quite a few flaws in that argument

    1 We have had at least 4 years to capitalise on the breshit situation and Sturgeon has NOT moved an inch in fact she has IGNORED any and all pleas by her membership even senior members of the party

    2 Scotland was PROMISED a referendum in 2019 if we were DRAGGED out of the EU etc, guess what NOTHING

    3 Sturgeon WASTED 3 years in trying to FORCE england and Wales to change their minds , whilst TELLING May that Scotland would be happy to trade with the EU , something that she DIDN’T have a mandate to agree to and was still ignored , while STILL Scotland waited for the promised referendum

    4 The SNP NEC of which Sturgeon is leader did not discuss independence at all in at least 2 years, no planning for institutions needed , no planning for infrastructure needed ,no education to enlighten or convince no voters and don’t know voters of the benefits of independence , but still they had PLENTY of time to install their WOKE comrades in the NEC to ensure the safe passage of the GRA amendments and the HCB in case anyone dared to oppose the GRA

    5 For months I pleaded with SNP members on numerous blogs to take back control of their party and force Sturgeon to ditch the GRA and HCB to allow people to vote SNP with a clear conscience , the NEC was partially reformed but Sturgeon carried on relentless

    6 There is SO much more to say ,but I will finish by saying when Sturgeon is voted into power again with her woke agenda and her woke diciples who we will be electing for another 4 or 5 years HOW are we going to get her to do the things WE WANT when she HAS REFUSED to since 2014

    Reply
  219. Wings of Scotland started out as a pro-independence site to balance the mainstream media for the 2014 referendum. But you are going to have to keep going after Scotland becomes independent. You are providing good, independent, investigative journalism that is sorely needed.

    Reply
  220. Iain More says:

    Pete says:
    22 January, 2021 at 9:48 am

    Ian More 1.05
    Time you got up to date.
    Sky News is owned by Comcast.
    Rupert Murdoch has no connection!!

    ——————————————————-

    I didn’t know that but it hasn’t made any difference. Well from the point of view of Content and BIAS it is still the same poisonous anti Scots Indy Institution that it was years ago.

    Reply
  221. BJ says:

    James Mathew will think he’s died and went to heaven. His hatred of Scotland evident in every smug grin and now he doesn’t have to hide it. Sky licensed little house Jock.

    Reply
  222. Pixywine says:

    Have alcohol with your popcorn. Nicola Sturgeon…. Get it right up ye.

    Reply
  223. Pixywine says:

    Please excuse my intemperate language.

    Reply


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