Tom Pickup is one of Reform UK’s Lancashire County councillors. In November 2025, he was exposed for being a member of a WhatsApp group which was calling for genocide against Muslims. In February, the party quietly reinstated him, and has now promoted him to a new position:

He’s also reactivated his account. Blocked us of course because @TomPickup is a bigoted snowflake. pic.twitter.com/GOxtVGdrkQ

— Reform Party UK Exposed (@reformexposed) June 3, 2026

Reform — “Tactical”

Comments in the WhatsApp group Pickup was a member of included:

• Calls for a “mass Islam genocide”.
• The suggestion that Keir Starmer “needs a fucking bullet”.

Pickup made unsavoury contributions of his own, replying to a comment that Starmer is a “DICKtator” by responding he was a “dicktaker”. When questioned on this, Pickup said:

99% of what occurs in groups, I don’t see. Based on my involvement in it and what I have seen, I’ve been my usual jokey self and it’s been twisted out of context.

Regardless of whether he meant it, you ideally want councillors to be mature enough to not think calling someone ‘gay’ is the height of hilarity.

Pickup also said:

Everyone in Reform is a lot more hardline on immigration than is typically stated publicly, to get a majority government we have to be tactical.

This is something we all know to be true, of course. It’s obvious in the sort of political candidates Reform attracts, as we’ve reported:

• Reform candidate suggests ‘melting Nigerians’ to fill potholes.
• Calls for Reform candidate who praised rape of Sikh women to face suspension.
• Another Reform candidate praises Oswald Moseley — A rite of party initiation?
• Reform activist said ‘Hitler was right’.
• Reform welcomes ‘shoot the p*kis’ scandal ex-Tory.

Pickup returns

As Blog Preston have reported, Pickup’s suspension ended in February following an apology from the councillor. Pickup will be the cabinet member for adult social care, which has proven to be a controversial position. As Blog Preston noted:

During County Cllr Dalton’s year-long stint at the top table at County Hall, he led a controversial review into the future of five county council-run care homes and five day centres, amid concern over the poor condition of their buildings. The potential closure of the services sparked protests and petitions – although the authority insisted no pre-determined decisions had been made.

Following a public consultation – during which the cabinet member urged respondents to “be emotional” in making the case for the facilities in their existing form – it was ultimately decided all of the homes would remain open, along with the three day centres that are currently operational.

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Reform’s threat to close down local care homes attracted significant controversy, with protests taking place in the city of Preston:

Position of power

Despite his denials, it’s a fact that Pickup was in a group calling for the most extreme form of violence against Muslims. Now, the man will be in a position of power over elderly Muslims who live in Lancashire’s already-underfunded care homes.

It’s far from a desirable situation, and it shows Reform UK doesn’t care if constituents trust the party to keep them safe.

Featured image via Nigel Roddis (Getty Images) 

By Willem Moore

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Israel’s minister of national security and genocide fanatic, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has called the potential ceasefire with Lebanon a ‘serious mistake’.

Importantly, the ceasefire would effectively surrender Southern Lebanon to Israel, with zero promise from Israel to stop attacking. Obviously, Hezbollah has declined the offer.

So the “ceasefire” would effectively cede southern Lebanon to Israel without any promise by Israel to stop attacking.

Hezbollah has declined this offer. https://t.co/RLXooXsPYb

— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) June 4, 2026

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Israeli terrorists

Israel Katz, Israel’s Defence Minister, said the U.S.-brokered Lebanon ceasefire declaration includes:

an unequivocal statement on the disarmament of Hezbollah, the removal of Hezbollah terrorists from the area south of the Litani River, the continued presence of the IDF in the security area, and freedom of action for Israel

Essentially, it would allow Israel to annex Southern Lebanon, which is a victory for no one except Israel.

Despite this, in a post on X, Ben-Gvir said:

The ceasefire with Lebanon is a serious mistake and the pipe dreams of advisors who are dragging the prime minister into incorrect decisions.

Hezbollah has not left the area south of the Litani, and the Lebanese army has no way to enforce its evacuation.

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Of course, we would expect no less from a man who advocated for the death penalty for Palestinians, has at least eight criminal convictions, including for terrorism, and has repeatedly called for the ethnic cleansing of Arabs.

His post also ignores one fundamental fact. Hezbollah is defending sovereign Lebanese territory, which Israel is illegally occupying. Under international law, it has that right.

The United Nations reaffirms:

the legitimacy of the struggle of peoples for independence, territorial integrity, national unity and liberation from colonial domination, apartheid and foreign occupation by all available means, including armed struggle;

Israel is an illegal, colonialist, occupying power. It has no ‘right’ to Palestine, Lebanon, the Syrian Golan Heights, or any other country.

Ben-Gvir added:

The state of Lebanon is a partner of Hezbollah. There are ministers in its government from Hezbollah, and relatives of Hezbollah members serve in the Lebanese army.

Crucially, Hezbollah is a legitimate political party in Lebanon. Israel, the US, and many other Western countries may have labelled it a ‘terrorist organisation’, but that’s only because it’s a threat to Israel’s colonialist goal of a ‘Greater Israel’.

Hezbollah has repeatedly said it would “confront any project that serves Israel”. Back in September, when a previous ceasefire was proposed, Hezbollah maintained that the disarmament plan, which the Lebanese government approved, only served Israel’s interests.

Ben-Gvir on saying ‘no’ to Trump

Ben-Gvir also claimed that Netanyahu should have told Trump:

We love and appreciate you, but Israel is a sovereign and independent state, and it cannot come to terms with the strengthening of a terrorist organization and with its very existence on its border.

Israel has zero right to exist. The genocidal terrorists have literally built their illegal settlements on stolen land and the graves of Palestinians. If Israel is so worried about people fighting back, maybe it should stop attacking, murdering, and bombing native people.

Colonisers will never accept the presence of indigenous people.

Colonisers will never accept the presence of the indigenous people around them, every southerner is a threat every, woman is a mother for future fighters, every old man links a younger man to the land, every child is a future threat and we surely are and will forever be https://t.co/yDBenZXRLF

— Mejid (@Ilmejid) June 4, 2026

This is Gaza all over again. Israel was supposed to fully withdraw its troops under the ceasefire agreement, which it signed in October. However, instead of withdrawing, the IOF has continued to steal even more land and even build military bases in towns it has flattened. During the ceasefire alone, Israel has murdered over 910 people in Gaza.

Israel has never kept to any ceasefire agreement in history, so what do we expect now?

Moreover, how can there ever be peace when openly genocidal people, such as Ben-Gvir and his cronies, are in power?

There is a pattern. Israel signs a ceasefire. The IOF kills more people and steals more land. Israel moans that people are fighting back. The IOF has to defeat ‘terrorists’. Unfortunately, the cycle will keep repeating until the international community grows a backbone.

Feature image via Erik Marmor/Getty Images

By HG

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A court in Geneva has confirmed that peaceful opposition to Israel’s genocide in Gaza is a legitimate right. As Palestinian exile Muzna Shihabi notes, the landmark decision:

•  Acknowledges that a genocide is underway.
•  Rules that nothing justifies sanctioning peaceful activists.
•  Confirms that freedom of expression protects non-violent civil disobedience and that repressing these mobilizations is incompatible with democracy.

A lesson for the genocide-enabling Starmer government and its war on free speech and peaceful protest, as respondents are already noting:

@Keir_Starmer @YvetteCooperMP Imagine how it must feel to finish your day in the knowledge that your actions let you sleep with a clear conscience. Not clambering on for money or power, just doing what is right. Just imagine.

— Lisa Alqatari (@LisaAlqatari) June 4, 2026

Genocide — ‘Routine’ shame

The UN’s international law and human rights expert for Palestine, Francesca Albanese, commented that:

Once again: justice for Palestine starts at home. It only takes people caring and applying Intl Law. And persevering.

Albanese knows about being persecuted for standing against genocide. In May 2026, the Trump regime re-imposed its sanctions on her despite a judge’s ruling that they breached her rights.

To the UK’s shame, a May 2026 report has described repression of pro-Palestine speech under the Starmer regime as now “routine”.

Featured image via Joshua Roberts/Getty Images

By Skwawkbox

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While the world’s attention has moved onto other horrors, Israel continues to bomb Gaza and burn families. The so-called ‘ceasefire’ is just a curtain to hide its atrocities.

As the people of Gaza tried to survive another night last night, Israel continued to bomb the open-air concentration camp it has created:

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A post shared by Ibrahim Nazmii (@ibrahim_nazmii)

At least nine people were killed and many more injured in four separate bombings. The attacks created horrors that are all too familiar – civilians burning in bombed buildings, including children, despite heroic attempts to help:

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A post shared by Omar Hamad 𓂆 (@omar.hamad7)

Israel — Residential targets

All of the buildings attacked were residential:

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A post shared by عين على فلسطين | Eye on Palestine (@eye.on.palestine)

It’s all too easy for horror-fatigue and the axis of evil’s other crimes to take our eyes from Gaza. We must resist and keep highlighting the ongoing genocide.

Featured image via Getty Images 

By Skwawkbox

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The Justice Bill currently passing through the Northern Ireland Assembly will allow the police to retain a person’s biometric data for a massive 75 years. This is despite the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) previously ruling that indefinite holding of such information is a violation of privacy.

75 years may not be indefinite, but it’s essentially a lifetime, meaning the difference is largely moot. More worryingly, the bill allows the state to keep information such as fingerprints and DNA for most of a century in cases of “terrorism-related” offences. This could include cases of inviting “support for a proscribed organisation”.

Such legislation has been grotesquely abused to criminalise peaceful supporters of anti-genocide group Palestine Action. The direct action collective sought to halt Zionist atrocities by smashing up the arms factories making the weapons used to murder Palestinians.

Legitimate protest is further undermined by the bill granting authorities the power to retain data for “breach of the peace” offences. These are typically minor matters stemming from low-level civil disobedience. In Stormont, Gerry Carroll of People Before Profit questioned whether this:

…quite loose term [breach of the peace] could be used to keep people’s data for quite a long length of time when, by most people’s definition, the person might not have committed a serious crime.

Carroll: ‘biometric surveillance being smuggled in through the back door’

The current plan is to operate biometric data retention on a 75/50/25 model. That means for offences such as murder, rape, severe violence and the aforementioned ‘terrorism’, data can be held for 75 years. It’ll be 50 for offences that result in a custodial sentence of 5 years or more, and 25 for those not involving time in jail.

Carroll has introduced an amendment to ensure people are informed that their data is being held, something not previously part of the bill.

The West Belfast MLA also criticised how the bill permits the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to create a “facial-image database”. He said in a press release sent to the Canary:

This is the architecture of biometric surveillance being smuggled in through the back door, with a promise to fill in the detail later.

The legislation does not treat photographs as biometric data in the same way as fingerprints and DNA. The PSNI are therefore permitted to hold images indefinitely, including those of suspects photographed at a police station. That means people who have committed no crime will potentially sit on a police database forever.

The Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY) expressed alarm at this in its June 2025 briefing, saying it could be used as part of rights-violating live facial recognition systems (LFR). The PSNI have previously expressed interest in introducing such a system, saying the police service:

…fully recognises the value this could bring to investigations and public safety.

Big Brother Watch have said such technology:

…discriminates against women and people of colour. 80% of people misidentified by facial recognition in London in 2025 were Black.

NICCY suggest the use of photos may again be a violation of European law. They cite the case of Gaughran vs UK, where the ECHR found that retention of photographs is a violation of the:

…right to respect for…private and family life.

Justice Bill — DUP want to keep jailing 10 year olds

The north of Ireland Policing Board’s human rights reviewer said in 2024 that:

…the PSNI continue to hold biometric data (fingerprints, photographs, and DNA profiles) on hundreds of thousands of people in Northern Ireland unlawfully and has been doing so since 2008.

Another contentious aspect of the bill is whether it will alter the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR). The north of Ireland has one of the lowest MACR levels in the world (see under ‘United Kingdom’), at an outrageous 10 years old. That means children not yet in secondary school can be put behind bars.

There are various amendments seeking to change this via the Justice Bill. Carroll has asked that it be set at 16, while Alliance MLA Sian Mulholland has introduced an amendment setting the level at 14 years. Doug Beattie of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) has sought to set it to 12, leading to a clash with UUP leader and ex-PSNI man Jon Burrows. Beattie has since resigned from the party.

The dinosaurs of the Democratic Unionist Party and Traditional Unionist Voice are determined to ensure dealing with youth offenders is kept firmly in the 19th century. They favour maintaining the status quo; i.e. jailing 10 year olds whose forebrain has barely started developing.

A June 2023 consultation on raising the MACR found overwhelming support for the obviously sensible and humane approach of raising the age to 14. MLAs will continue debate on this aspect of the bill next week.

Featured image via Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

By Robert Freeman

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The Pentagon is publishing fake AI ‘news’ across Latin America which mix financial advice with imperial propaganda. One article even celebrates the “precision” of the 3 January US raid on Venezuela. The operation recalls British fake media operations from the Cold War recently released from secret archives.

The project reflects the subtler side of American attempts to restore dominance in a continent the US ruling class views as its personal fiefdom.

Pentagon pushing fake news

The Intercept revealed on 2 June that a magazine named La Tilde was funded by the US government and operated:

as a military messaging platform for U.S. Special Operations Command South, or SOCSOUTH, which executes special forces missions throughout South and Central America as well as the Caribbean.

The outlet even got a sort of admission from La Tilde’s spokesperson:

When asked about SOCSOUTH’s role behind La Tilde, spokesperson Trevor Wild replied with the text of the site’s About page noting that it’s a government operation, but declined to comment further.

The magazine’s mix of normal stories with supportive articles about US imperialism recalls a similar British operation from the Cold War years. That operation was run by the UK’s Special Editorial Unit (SEU), part of the Foreign Office’s Information Research Department (IRD).

It served as a:

clandestine anti-communist propaganda unit which operated in the Foreign Office between 1948 and 1977.

According to a Declassified UK investigation from 14 May 2026, SEU produced deniable (or ‘black’) propaganda. Targets included nationalist and anti-colonial movements around the world:

Anti-colonial leaders such as Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser, Indonesia’s Sukarno, and Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah were a frequent focus of British propaganda operations.

Declassified writer John McEvoy added:

Elsewhere, the SEU orchestrated propaganda campaigns on such diverse topics as fishing rights in the North Atlantic, apartheid in South Africa, and European communist parties.

Fake media organisations of yesteryear

But here is a key parallel:

Running news agencies was one of SEU’s “core activities”. These are described as “controlled outlets” in the archival material.

The fake outlets then and now mixed everyday news items with overtly political material to appear less suspicious:

In order to look like bona fide news agencies, the SEU’s “controlled outlets” fused political with “anodyne” content in order to “sweeten the pill” of the propaganda material.

These “anodyne” articles covered such issues as women’s affairs, health, sociology, geography, history, and sport.

This US’ updating of an old method combines filler AI-content about investment and travel advice mixed with openly pro-US propaganda material with headlines like:

Operation Absolute Resolve: The mission that captured Nicolás Maduro and set a new standard for precision and coordination

And:

“A rare happiness, but a real one”: Venezuelans speak about the hope that resurfaces after Nicolás Maduro’s capture.

Different fading empire, virtually identical shenanigans.

AI content, no bylines, US denials

The Intercept reported that La Tilde:

carries no bylines, masthead, or mention of actual staff of any kind. Although the site claims it employs “dozens of freelance reporters and content creators,” at least some of the site appears to have been generated by a large language model.

Adding:

Running articles through Pangram, an AI-text detection service, produced multiple hits for both English and Spanish writing either partially or entirely written by machines (though such tools are known to deliver false positives).

Former Pentagon cyber-policy adviser Emerson Brooking noted the La Tilde website’s “shoddiness” and said it was:

AI all the way down.

Brooking said:

If you can generate new content and even news fronts at the flip of a switch, your influence operations can shift target and focus much more quickly.

That seems to be the thinking behind recent AI-powered Russian and Chinese networks, for instance.

The US military denied any connection to La Tilde:

SOUTHCOM [US miltary Southern Command] “does not fund, operate, or have any official association with La Tilde,” according to spokesperson Steven McLoud, who did not respond to further questions.

And La Tilde looks to be expanding operations. The Intercept found:

An analysis of subdomains hosted on LaTilde.co reveals the site plans to launch bespoke versions for readers in Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, and Peru.

Propaganda wing of Trump’s American Empire

Dominance in the Americas has always been US policy. President Trump has sharpened it in the 2025 National Security Strategy. The Canary has followed this process since Trump’s 2024 re-election:

The Monroe Doctrine, many Canary readers will be aware, basically means US political and economic dominance of the continent. The ‘Donroe’ doctrine, as the new version has been called, is Trump’s typically egotistical update.

As we noted:

The US started 2026 with an attack on Venezuela and various threats against neighbours like Greenland, Canada and others. Since then, it was steered — with the help of Israel — into a war with Iran. And spent the last few months getting an arse-kicking in a dramatically failing conflict there.

However:

the Americas have not been forgotten in Trump’s vision. The US military and US intelligence have been busy while Iran took the headlines.

You can read our 30 May analysis – ‘Trump’s American empire: US operations are firing up across the continent‘ –  here. You can read the full National Security Strategy here. The new US counter-terrorism strategy also mentions uses the coded language of cartel ‘narco-terrorism’ to build consent for US hemispheric power.

Influence operations like La Tilde are the flip side of kinetic US military actions, partner training and support for Trump-aligned right-wing politicians on the continent. The Iran war will end at some point. The US ruling class will return more fully to a core competency: bullying their neighbours into submission.

Featured image via Getty/Win McNamee

By Joe Glenton

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On 2 June, a white riot erupted in Southampton following inflammatory speeches from far-right figures Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson. Since then, residents in the area have spoken out about what these thugs subjected them to:

A British national living in Southampton had her car and property damaged. She said,

“I’ve never felt so unsafe in my house.”

She did not feel unsafe because of Sikhs, Muslims or migrants but because of other British nationals, a section of whom were far right. pic.twitter.com/Xj2RlZunZK

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— Zara Hussain (@zarahussain999) June 3, 2026

Farage white riot in Southampton

As Rose Cocker reported for the Canary:

On the 2 June, far-right bigot Nigel Farage put out a statement ostensibly aiming to avoid societal dissolution in response to police treatment of murder victim Henry Nowak. Roughly 24 hours later, rioters took to the streets of Southampton to throw wheelie bins at cops.

Farage tried to despicably weaponise the murder of Nowak to incite racial hatred. He specifically called for “pure, cold rage.” Lo and behold, fellow racists rioted in Southampton, and the riots trended on social media as #FarageRiots.

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The woman interviewed above described the situation as:

Carnage really, for four hours.

Sky News asked:

Just describe what you saw out of your windows, what was happening?

She responded:

Bricks were being thrown, a bin was set on fire and pushed through the police line. Yeah, bottles, cans. All sorts. I think a lot of walls and bins, chairs, all sorts.

Several videos captured the behaviour she’s talking about:

Dozens of bricks being thrown pic.twitter.com/VwPXkfZlmR

— Taj Ali (@Taj_Ali1) June 2, 2026

Right-wing commentator ‘Young Bob’ willingly uploaded a video of his pals pushing a flaming bin into the police despite the fact that some of the men’s faces are visible:

Protesters are now setting dumpsters on fire and pushing bins towards the police line.

This is the sort of escalation and civil unrest that happens during mass migration. pic.twitter.com/iNyuY2ePLD

— Young Bob (@YoungBobRB) June 2, 2026

When asked how she felt witnessing all this, the woman replied:

Terrified. I’ve never felt unsafe in my house and I just wanted to get out of there, but I couldn’t.

In the video, you can see there’s a car with the back windows taped up, because bricks were thrown through it. The woman noted that in addition to the damaged car:

I think one of the walls is missing. Someone’s missing a wall.

The aforementioned Young Bob would also visit the house where Henry Nowak was arrested, trespassing on the property and filming it:

This is absolutely repulsive. https://t.co/HmakR9Aszm

— Curtis Daly (@CurtisDaly_) June 3, 2026

Bob praised the thugs for not ‘desecrating’ the house, seemingly suggesting it was acceptable for them to terrorise the neighbours.

The scourge

Reform UK politicians are doing everything they can to not criticise the marauding louts they stirred up:

OK @TiceRichard I’m going to try one more time. This really shouldn’t be hard. You keep claiming you have specifically and unequivocally condemned the violence in Southampton on social media. Fine. Just present the actual tweet or post. https://t.co/JUGfma5LGj

— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) June 4, 2026

Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe, meanwhile, described the pissed-up Nazis who rampaged through Southampton as “patriots”:

I do not want to see patriots thrown in prison because they've had a beer or two, got fired up and acted stupid in the heat of the moment.

The state will make an example of you – they will show no mercy. Your life will be ruined.

Do not attack the police. Be smart. Stay calm.

— Rupert Lowe MP (@RupertLowe10) June 4, 2026

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Britain now has a firmly established far-right movement that constitutes political parties in Westminster and a violent street movement. In other words, it’s starting to look at lot like 1930s Germany.

Featured image via Dan Kitwood (Getty Images)

By Willem Moore

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Jewish Peaceniks UK will erect a large tent on London’s Southbank from 1pm on Thursday 11 June. The tent will bear messages concerning the children of Gaza. And a main banner will read: GAZA’S CHILDREN STILL IN HELL.

Attached on either side of the tent will be washing lines with children’s clothes and tea towels. On them will be messages to the public and to the UK government.

Some of the children’s clothes will be bloodied, small trousers will have a leg cut off to indicate amputation.

Inside the tent will be photo images of children from Gaza and a soundscape of the poignant things they have been saying to their families. Gazan theatre artist Hossam Madhoun has collected these. Here are some examples:

• Do children who have their legs amputated grow new legs?
• Do the Israeli pilots who bomb children have children?
• When a missile hits us, do we feel pain or die immediately?

Approximately 10,750 Gazan children have sustained life-changing injuries and 3,800 Gazan children are currently still waiting for a medical evacuation (World Health Organisation May 2026).

In 2025 the UK government pledged to allow 300 children to come here for medical treatment. To date no more than 50 child patients have arrived.

Visitors to the tent will be able to sign a postcard to prime minister Keir Starmer. It urges him to allow entry of a much more significant number of the most seriously injured children. Jewish Peaceniks UK hopes to deliver this by hand to 10 Downing Street.

The group will confirm the exact location of the tent on 10 June.

Jewish Peaceniks UK

Jewish Peaceniks UK is a grassroots organisation of older Jewish women – mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers – who curate events to highlight what is being perpetrated against the Palestinian population in Gaza and beyond.

A key part of its mission as a Jewish group is to communicate to the UK public that condemning Israel for its crimes against humanity and its ongoing genocide is not antisemitic.

Some of the group are children of parents persecuted by the Nazi regime, who are particularly devastated to be witnessing acts of dehumanisation and genocide being perpetrated by a Jewish state created in the wake of the Holocaust.

Since September 2023 Jewish Peaceniks UK has mounted four public actions, the first a silent performance piece on the Southbank illustrating the abuse of Palestinian prisoners. And the group has raised £10,000 for Medical Aid for Palestinians and two other charities through film screening events.

Featured image via Dan Kitwood / Getty Images

By The Canary

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Wings has today sent the following letter to the named recipients.

—————————————————————————–

The Chief Constable
Police Scotland
5 Fettes Avenue
Edinburgh
EH4 1RB

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service
25 Chambers Street
Edinburgh
EH1 1LA

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4 June 2026

.

Dear Chief Constable and Crown Office,

RE: REQUEST FOR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION — ALLEGED
MISAPPROPRIATION OF RING-FENCED POLITICAL DONATIONS

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I write to request that Police Scotland/COPFS open a criminal investigation into the alleged misappropriation of funds donated to the Scottish National Party (SNP) on the basis that those funds would be held and applied for a specific, designated purpose.

THE FACTS

Between 14 March 2017 and the summer of 2020, the SNP solicited donations from the public, representing — expressly and repeatedly — that the funds raised would be ring-fenced and applied exclusively for the purposes of a future independence referendum campaign.

Those representations were made through two dedicated websites (ref.scot and yes.scot), direct mail, press statements, social media, a video from the then-First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, and so on, and were a material inducement to donors. The SNP insisted in 2017 that this money would “only be used for the specific purpose of a referendum campaign”.

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It is now clear — and, given public pronouncements by the current First Minister over the last few days, not seriously disputed — that the funds so raised, totalling in excess of £600,000, were not applied for that purpose (ie a referendum campaign).

They were instead used as, to quote the current First Minister, “part of the ongoing activities of the Scottish National Party”. It goes without saying, I should have thought, that there is a material difference between a referendum campaign (which might be the aim of many people, regardless of political affiliation) and “the ongoing activities of the SNP”.

GROUNDS FOR INVESTIGATION

I respectfully submit that the following offences fall to be considered:

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1. Fraud (Scots common law)

If those responsible knew, at the time of soliciting donations, that the ring-fencing representation was false or that they did not intend to honour it, then the donations were obtained by fraud. The elements — a false pretence, made to induce a practical result, which did so induce — are plainly engaged. It is clear that a false representation of present intention will suffice for fraud: Richards v H. M. Advocate 1971 JC 29.

2. Theft by Appropriation

Even if the original intention to ring-fence was genuine, the subsequent deliberate decision to divert the funds for an unauthorised purpose may constitute theft by appropriation under Scots law. The donors’ proprietary interest in the application of their money to the stated purpose survived donation. The decision to override that interest without donors’ consent constitutes the necessary appropriation.

The law is clear that “the appropriation of goods by the person to whom they have been entrusted for a limited and specified purpose constitutes theft”: see O’Brien v Strathern 1922 JC 55. It does not matter if the appropriation is temporary (ie it is no defence to say that the ring-fenced funds will be paid back): as soon as appropriation occurred, the crime was complete. A repentant thief who returns stolen property remains a thief, liable to be convicted as such: Carmichael v Black 1992 SLT 897.

3. Embezzlement

I am not here talking about the actions of Mr Murrell, which have been fully aired of late. Rather, I am talking about the disposal of the “ring-fenced” funds, which can now clearly be seen to have been used for purposes other than those for which they were donated.

Scots law is clear that the ingathering of funds for an express purpose will result in the creation of a trust consisting of those funds. In the very recent case of Harper Macleod LLP [2026] CSIH 26, the Court cited with approval the comments of Lord Deas in Connell v Ferguson (1857) 19D 482 at 487:

“Where parties join in a subscription to effect a particular object, and place the money subscribed in the hands of certain persons to carry out that object, I think the quasi trust, thereby created, is for the alternative purpose of either carrying out the object of the subscription, or, if that cannot be done, of paying back the money.”

Those responsible for the custody and management of donated funds thus occupied a position of trust in relation to the donors. If there was a deliberate and dishonest decision to apply trust funds to an unauthorised purpose, that constitutes fraudulent breach of trust, which in turns amounts to the offence of embezzlement under Scots common law: see Moore v HMA [2010] HCJAC 26.

The same case shows that, once more, even temporary appropriation will suffice (as the fact that some of the money had been repaid in that case was held not to amount to a defence).

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4. False or Misleading Statements

If, following the decision to divert the funds, responsible persons continued publicly to represent that the ring-fence remained intact, those continuing representations may themselves constitute fraud by false pretence, with the relevant mens rea attaching at the point each such representation was made.

STATEMENT OF JOHN SWINNEY, FIRST MINISTER OF SCOTLAND, 3 JUNE 2026

Yesterday, 3 June 2026, Mr John Swinney, leader of the Scottish National Party and First Minister, publicly confirmed for the first time that the ring-fenced referendum funds had been applied to the general ongoing activities of the party.

Swinney says £660,000 independence fund used on SNP ‘objectives’

This admission post-dates the conclusion of the prosecution of Mr Peter Murrell and constitutes new evidence directly bearing on the questions posed above.

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I draw particular attention to the distinction between Mr Murrell’s personal embezzlement — which has been the subject of prosecution — and the separate question of whether those responsible for SNP party finances deliberately and dishonestly applied the ring-fenced donations to purposes outwith the stated purpose, without donors’ knowledge or consent.

Mr Swinney’s statement yesterday confirms the latter occurred. Whether it was dishonest, and who bears criminal responsibility, is a matter for investigation.

.

KEY EVIDENTIAL QUESTIONS

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I respectfully draw the following matters to investigators’ attention as central to any inquiry:

— The precise date on which a decision was made to apply the funds otherwise than for the ring-fenced purpose, and who made that decision;

— Whether any public statements affirming the ring-fence continued to be made after that decision was taken;

— The party’s accounting records for the relevant period, and how the funds were recorded and categorised;

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— Any internal communications — emails, messages, minutes — bearing on the decision to divert.

.

I appreciate that the question of if and when criminal intent crystallised is a matter for investigation and, ultimately, for the Crown. However, the public facts as presently known are sufficient, in my submission, to warrant a formal investigation.

If I were to “crowdfund” money on the basis that I needed it to pay for legal expenses to defend a claim which I said was threatened against me, that would be fraud if there was, in fact, no such threatened claim. And if there was such a threatened claim which, once crowdfunding was complete, was then abandoned, it would have been theft (certainly) or embezzlement (probably) if I had then used the money to go on holiday.

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The situation of the SNP is no different from that imagined scenario. Police Scotland would have no difficulty in investigating me in such circumstances, and by parity of reasoning they should have no such difficulty here.

I should be grateful if you would acknowledge receipt of this letter and advise me of the reference number assigned to this complaint.

Yours etc

Rev. Stuart Campbell

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