Manni Singh Jailed for Organising Peaceful Independence Demonstration 243


My good friend Manni Singh has been jailed for 72 days – an incredibly draconian sentence – for organising an entirely peaceful political demonstration at which I was a speaker, on which there were zero incidents of violence or damage.

The harsh sentence is completely out of line with any recent treatment of peaceful protestors, for example from the Occupy movement or Extinction Rebellion.

People attended the Glasgow All Under One Banner march from all over Scotland. Singh made all the correct applications to hold it to Glasgow City Council. His application was for simply a repeat of the highly successful and peaceful event a year previously. As I reported at the time, it was the SNP group who control Glasgow City Council who ordered the start time be moved forward from 1.30pm until 11am, specifically in order to reduce the numbers on this pro-Independence march. 100,000 people attend AUOB marches from all over Scotland, including the Highlands and Islands, so an 11am start is simply not practical.

Manni went ahead with the original start time in close cooperation with the police. There were no problems whatsoever. Glasgow City Council is not only SNP controlled, it is controlled by a group specifically close to Nicola Sturgeon. It was the SNP on Glasgow City Council who pushed the police to arrest Manni Singh and initiated his jailing, as confirmed here in this tweet from NEC national executive member and Glasgow City Councillor Rhiannon Spear.

Many prominent SNP supporters – including the brilliant writer Paul Kavanagh – are baffled by the SNP’s hostility to the AUOB marches. As Paul wrote at the time of the Glasgow demonstration:

Yet Nicola Sturgeon, who was happy to attend an anti-Brexit march in London, not only didn’t attend the Glasgow event, she didn’t even tweet a supportive message afterwards. Other SNP figures went on social media to criticise the march for taking place. Because apparently demonstrating that there is indeed mass support for independence in Scotland in the face of anti-independence parties and press which insist there is not is a waste of time that could better be spent sticking SNP leaflets through doors, leaflets that invariably get stuck in a bin without being read.

In fact, the last time that the SNP officially supported a mass participation independence event was the rally at Calton Hill back in 2013. That’s simply not good enough. But worse than that, the SNP led council in Glasgow became embroiled in a dispute with the march organisers, and now Manny Singh of All Under One Banner has been charged with an offence under the Civil Government Act. None of this is a good look for the SNP.

Here is a photo of Nicola Sturgeon on that anti-Brexit march in London.

The vicious jailing of Manni Singh shows you just the kind of oppressive society Scotland is becoming under the Sturgeon government. The fact that diehard Independence supporters like Elaine C Smith and Brian Cox have had to come out and oppose the oppressive hate crime bill should tell you something. AUOB is a genuine grassroots, working class Independence organisation. That Independence is the genuine aim of the SNP careerists who try to sabotage it I very much doubt.

The jailing of Manni Singh for a peaceful demonstration should be a wake up call to all those who believe that the Scottish establishment will not jail me for publishing the truth about the trial of Alex Salmond. Precisely the same people are behind the political persecution of me as behind the jailing of Manni. That is why I am extremely keen that you should follow my trial, and dial in to listen to the hearing tomorrow morning. Please read my article from earlier today.

Manni was given the alternative of a curfew sentence which he refused because of his employment as a taxi driver.

You can see my account of the demonstration for which Manni has been imprisoned.

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243 thoughts on “Manni Singh Jailed for Organising Peaceful Independence Demonstration

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  • N_

    Rhiannon Spear sounds a right barrel of laughs. She refers to her victim’s “comments” (does she realise how patronising that word is in this context?) as “bizarre”, while peppering her own statements with little pictures as if she were at a f***ing kindergarten.

    God save me from c***s from local councils who use phrases such as “work with”. When they say they want to “work with” people, they mean they want to sh** on them.

    Every sentence from this joker illustrates her nature: “I can assure you”, “has been reported to”, “bizarre” … “unhelpful”, “I hope” (do you, girl?), “works with”.

    I reckon she points at herself menacingly in the mirror each morning and feels right impressed by how powerful and sophisticated she is.

    • N_

      I’ve a good mind to email her and ask her to get her butt down to this comments section so she can try to defend herself.

      • Penguin

        She is allegedly some sort of law graduate but is incapable of forming any kind of coherent argument and just sqweeums musogany and runs away!

        Unfortunately she is correct about one thing but swamps it with the rest of her insanity. If women have control of their own bodies then sex-work can not be illegal. Shame about every other word she has ever said.

        • Deepgreenpuddock

          That is probably quite a sexist comment. and the point about sex work is spurious. People have ‘control of their body’ when they sit and plan or execute fraud, murder, robbery, whatever but that does not mean it is acceptable or legal.

          The point about sexuality and control of one’s own body is more subtle than just straight free choice, its about ‘ownership’ and social context. Sex workers who are completely ‘free’ are rare. Even those few are arguably influenced by malign factors. The majority are vulnerable in some way, or made vulnerable by circumstances, or abused or intimidated.

          This may seem like a red herring to some, but at the heart of this case (Craig and the contempt charge ) is a very potent division about politics and its direction in Scotland and elsewhere. The SNP has divided somewhat along ‘gender’ lines, with many women obviously wanting to use political power, which they have relatively recently acquired, to redress some of the undoubted historical ‘misogyny’, embedded over aeons, in the legal and societal structures. This manifestation of feminism runs counter to a usually more masculine perception that the political power should be applied to another(also iniquitous) historical imbalance of power within the context of nationality, colonialism/imperialism and the act of union.

          At the moment these divisions are being degraded by the descent into petty name calling and resentments such as your feeble attempt to denigrate Rhiannon Spear. However this is further complicated by a tendency for ‘power’ (or sense of power) to distort realities and lose sight of real priorities and balance. There is a case for Rhiannon Spear to answer, over the way she has (ab)used power in some underhand or vindictive or spiteful (petty) way to harm a relatively minor and powerless individual like Manny Singh.The punishment most certainly does not fit the ‘crime’. The hardline approach of Rhiannon Spear to pursue Manny to the point of a prison sentence for what is at worst a misjudgement, or small breach of protocol (or even just poor communication), reveals a poverty of thought and good judgement.(Not good in a person in that position)

          This intractability, compounded by a rejection of the implicit authoritarianism in changing the schedule to a less favourable time, has polarised the opposing factions to this point of a face off in court.
          I personally despair that important political matters are dragged down to the level of a playground squabble.It does not give a sense of mature and reasoned thinking.

          One fears that the same petty power dynamic is driving the court case against Craig, where like Rhiannon, the people wielding power are prepared to skirt with egregious injustice to the point of ridicule, to assert their petty importance. It’s almost as if the legal profession are saying”how dare this upstart outsider have the temerity to pass comment on our (unquestionable) procedures and judgements. Feeble minds seem to prevail in Scotland.

          • Deepgreenpuddock

            Random Onlooker
            Thanks for your photo.Unfortunately I couldn’t tell who was who.There were a couple of pudding faces on the right-on must be Councillor Cannon.The blonde on the left is wearing what looks like a lanyard with a council ID.Is the foreground person the fiendishly edgy sex worker-Megara Furie?When you look at the website Megara the dominatrix seems to be blonde or fair so I am a wee bit confused.Plus there is a spare person.
            Exploring the website feverishly cause an attack of giggles. I thought it was (accidentally) hilarious. About as threatening as a beating with a feather duster.But how interesting that the odd male participant looked like a confused teenager.Not a naked judge in sight.It reminded me a little of the description of the Findhorn ?Foundation as ‘inspirational capitalism’ although I would be compelled to describe this little confection as inspirationally
            capitalism on teenage peccadilloes for a group of developmentally/emotionally suspended juveniles. OK call it sex work but I think it looks like 21st century racket.It is offensive not for its sexual content but for its shabby ,exploitative money grubbing. I’ll have to reserve judgement to let this wild experience subside (I mean the uncontrolled laughing).
            To think that Rhiannon is ‘something in both the SNP and Glasgow city, beggars belief. The world is surely ending. Your expression ‘vapid’ is about right.

          • Ray A

            “Sex workers who are completely ‘free’ are rare.” if by ‘free’ you mean as free as other wage slaves then this is not true. Sex workers without pimps are at least as common as those with.

      • A. Bruce

        If you know her email address, pass it on. I would also like to give this obnoxious character a bollocking. Spear and her ilk in the NEC, the ridiculous GRA nonsense, the Hate Crime Bill are the reasons that the SNP and I have parted company.

      • Mishko

        Why? She enjoys her mad Twitter skills and you enjoy putting forth arguments and opinions after some consideration.

    • Black Cab Driver

      Rhiannon Spear sit on the God-awful woke, political correct, feminist Licensing and Planning sub-committee. Her decisions and pronouncement from the hallowed hall of the Burgh Court are, shall we say, bizarre.

    • Random Onlooker

      I am of the view that if anybody uses the risible, sneering ‘crying with laughter’ emoji that you can safely disregard pretty much anything they have to say on anything at all. And the sneering Spear certainly proves this axiom.

  • N_

    Manni was given the alternative of a curfew sentence.”

    There are some strange judicial things going on on both sides of the border.

    @Craig – I wonder whether they might give you the choice between prison and discontinuing this blog. Maybe not likely, but just a thought.

    • Monster

      I suppose a curfew could be enforced by confining him to his taxi, thus preserving his income. But I suppose the Barlinnie governor is itching to get his turn to kneel before his monarch and receive his OBN.

    • Big Jock

      It’s horrible that innocent people should spend one day in jail. Just think if Nicola’s Salmond stitch up had been successful: Salmond would be joining him.

      Disgusted.

    • Phil Espin

      Surely in a freedom loving country like Scotland; independence supporters will be organising marches in every town in Scotland to show their support for Manni. And then holding them at a different time to stick 2 fingers up to the SNP. We’ll then see what solidarity there is for Manni and how out on a limb Glasgow council are.

  • Mark in Mayenne

    If the SNP is not what it claims to be, you are quite right to publicise its failings. I hate liars in authority.

  • Goose

    Wrong kind of march?

    L.G.B.T.Q demo, BLM, and the SNP would’ve been right alongside, or tweeting in support.

    • Mighty Drunken

      The kind of things people feel challenge authority, but which are no threat to authority.

  • Ken McDonald

    Your headline is misleading. Manny Singh wasn’t jailed for organising a peaceful independence demonstration. Permissions were granted for the march, he was jailed for breaching the agreed terms of the march, which he regularly has done. I’m disappointed that you, Craig cannot grasp this.

    • zoot

      jailed for breaching terms of a march? that sounds reasonable, ken. you should be feeling pleased rather than disappointed.

      • Ken McDonald

        I’m disappointed that the headline doesn’t relate to the courts decision to Jail Singh for whatever reason it certainly wasn’t for organising a peaceful march. If we can’t make that distinction in reporting then we’re no better that our MSM. I made no judgement whether is was just or otherwise.

    • craig Post author

      I am disappointed you are such a fascist, but there you.

      The SNP group deliberately, and after the march had been organised for months, moved the start time forward at ten days notice to stop people being able to come from all over Scotland.

      The freedom to demonstrate should not be subject to deliberate hassle by anally retentive control freaks trying to disrupt demonstrations. The police were perfectly fine with arrangements and the demo was a huge success.

      • Ken McDonald

        Craig, Why the need for the invective? I made a fair and reasonable comment about your headline that bears absolutely no relevance to the reason for Singh’s incarceration. The why’s and wherefores have no bearing to the point I raised.

        • Alwi

          Not reasonable at all. Are you just being a pedant, and do you actually agree that the time of the March was moved deliberately?

          • Ken McDonald

            The heading is inaccurate. Changing the time of the march has bugger all to do with the heading of this article or the original post of mine.

        • Ken Kenn

          It’s wonderful that Democratic Parties are all for freedom of expression ( unlike those nasty Russkies) but will jail you for not expressing your freedom at the choosing of their times.

          Despite the police being OK with it: i.e . the ones’ keeping any eye on things.

          If the Belarussian president did that the Guardian would be crying into their Cabernet.

          Then again Extinction Rebellion are in the same league as potential terrorists – so these things creep up north.

        • John+Thatcher

          It wasn’t a “reasonable reply” was it McDonald,it was a gross distortion,and you should be ashamed of yourself.As I have said below,the picture above of Sturgeon with a known war criminal tells you all you need to know about the direction the SNP is taking,never mind this disgraceful affair.

          • Ken McDonald

            Aye, right. So next time you get done for speeding you can tell everybody you were unjustly done for merely driving your car. We have enough yoons spinning and lying about events, we don’t need our own side making stuff up.

      • Ilya G Poimandres

        I would use the term sabotage capitalist – as competition through hurting your opponent is acceptable!

    • Paul Mc.

      So he got a day in jail for every three minutes he deviated from schedule. The time and motion experts would be pleased.

  • Jimmy Hutton

    It’s hardly a vicious jailing; he was offered a tag and refused it……leaving the court with little option. Frankly, given the in-fighting and rumours of financial malpractice, I’m amazed you’d think the party front-benchers should cozy up to AUOB or Manny.

    • Richiard

      Disgusting comment. Why should he wear a tag?. With awful state attack robots like you the government can be assured the innocent know their place.

  • Kempe

    Any SNP hostility to AUOB is easy explained. Aside from the allegations of financial irregularities and infighting (wasn’t Singh fired?) they don’t control it. It’s probably seen as a threat.

    However this could just as easily be a council being its anally retentive, bureaucratic self. It’s what they do best.

  • Peter Nicoll

    The SNP did not convict Singh. Nicola Sturgeon did not convict Singh. Singh chose to break the law of his own accord. Singh pled guilty to the charges. Singh was sentenced to serve a custodial term. Singh refused to accept the courts curfew sentence. The court had therefore no option but to invoke a custodial sentence. But dont let the facts get in the way of a further attempt to create division, which certainly appears to be your raison dêtre.

    • U Watt

      While the unifiers go virtuously about their unifying business — like trying to get Alec Salmond put away for life.

    • Penguin

      The court had the option of laughing at the council and telling them to GTF! Please to be explaining why a council with MHairy Hunter as a member should be so virulently hostile to people with whom they claim to be aligned?

    • nevermind

      I’m sure that this Scottish court will cream itself with best Jersey cream, what a marvellous judgement to uphold. No doubt that any reason Peter can think of, could be/ will be used to ensure his full sentence.
      There is no reason to accept a curfew and a dog collar, you try it, soon you will have no option either.

      pleading guilty is self preservation and the custodial sentence will end, but dispensing seriously dodgy justice is not going to have a future!
      nor is lick spittleing.

  • Alwi

    Steady on. He did not actually need to be reported to the PF. The March went peacefully and successfully so this can’t be anything else but malice.

  • Peter Barton

    Why not curfew him during the day then?
    Are courts that inflexible these days?
    Then he could still make a living…

  • Mags

    Absolutely outrageous! Why weren’t the likes of Aamer Anwar and Robina Qureshi arrested for organising ILLEGAL gatherings in breach of the Health Protection Regulations (Scotland) Act 2020. Oh, forgot, even though admittedly so, it was Robina’s “civic duty”, wonder what
    Aamer’s excuse was.

  • Doug

    Manni has the guts to fight for independence unlike many supposedly pro-indy politicians.

  • Bob Leslie

    I share quite a lot of your postings, but lately it has been impossible to do so without also sharing the sound of the Julian Assange video which automatically starts up every time I access your page. It’s impossible to concentrate on what you’ve written with a soundtrack on an entirely different matter (and which is now buried WAY down the page and thus takes time and searching before I can mute it). I am entirely sympathetic to Julian’s plight, but the soundtrack issue isn’t helping. Can you fix it, please?


    [ Mod: Yes. Thanks for pointing that out. The autoplay behaviour depends on your browser settings and isn’t intrinsic to the video itself, so unfortunately the only way for us to “fix” the problem for everyone with those settings is to remove the video and replace it with a link. ]

  • Chris Downie

    Krankie MacMerkel and her cabal are becoming ever more tyrannical and I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if it actually puts more people off independence. For all the talk of support getting to 55%, I can only wonder what it would be at, if they had actually bothered their arses to campaign for independence since 2016, as opposed to virtue signalling, authoritarianism and trying to thwart the democratic will of England and Wales.

  • Jon

    I would be willing to accept that individuals in the council are operating out of malice, but presumably Manni Singh has been jailed by a court. I agree also that the sentence is punitive, but it would be a court judge who decided on a jail sentence and set the term. I’m sympathetic to Singh’s plight, but are indie supporters saying the courts are biased in favour of SNP bigwigs?

  • dearieme

    I was rather sceptical a few years ago when two friends, quite separately, told me that they’d retire to England rather than live under the SNP.

    One has already done it. The other might feel he’s still a bit young to retire, but …

    Everyone’s used to the idea of bright, young Scots going south, but it’s a bit bloody much when bright middle-aged Scots flee.

  • Mist001

    Manny Singh was hung out to dry by the AUOB organisers as soon as the police became involved the next day. His name has never been mentioned on Wings Over Scotland since then, apart from by me when I used to post there.

    Anyway, people are easily confused by AUOB. They think it’s some political movement. It’s not. AUOB is simply a social gathering for those who wish to recreate the feelgood factor in the run up to the 2014 referendum.

    If AUOB was in any way a serious outfit, then they would take their huge numbers (which social distancing will shortly expose as fakery anyway) and march on Bute House.

    But they don’t and never will. Why is that?

  • Glasshopper

    Sturgeon and her gang are slippery globalist Brussels knee-takers.

    I’m astonished that any self-respecting Independence supporters give them the time of day.

    If Scots are serious about independence, they need to get out of the EU with their laws and fishing grounds intact first.

  • Squeeth

    The Snats are burning their bridges with anything remotely respectable and are convincing London that they are reliable subordinates, content to slurp at the trough.

  • Richiard

    Very worrying indeed. I think it will get worse before people are forced to unite to fight back. When you have nothing left to lose..you have everything to gain. As politics are stuffed with ex law people and lawyers have a disgusting reputation there should be no enquiry as to why politics stink to high heaven.

  • IanMc

    I don’t think the lack of support is anything but a gutless unwillingness to commit. Worried how it may play out and worried thing like this would stick to them. They are too self righteous to cause a fuss. They’ll never fight with the tenacity to defeat a lowdown durty UK dog. Righteousness and Sunday Vicars win out.

    Also I condemn the sentence but Manny has been a dick to the cause too.

    • Shatnersrug

      Isn’t that the point? That there won’t be in independent Scotland is Sturgeon is first minister

      • andic

        I wouldn’t want to live in Scotland the way things are going. The signs are all there (persecution of Mani, Craig, Salmond et al. Hate bill. Single national police force (so big it can only be accountable to central government and is in intrinsically political)). Scotland is on the road to fascism.

        • Nell G

          It’s already here, this version we’ve never encountered before but in essence it is the same minority controlling the majority. “Rainbow Fascism” I call it. Everyone is invited unless you are Straight, White and Male.

          It aligns itself with those who are impossible to criticise because of their sexual preferences and the PC direction the world has shifted towards which has offered a platform for narcissistic victims to force their agenda unchallenged. The sole aim is to smash the Patriarchy and bring chaos to the ingrained fabric of society which is thousands of years in the making, ultimately leading to the end of free speech and control of the masses. Very dangerous times.

        • Squeeth

          All states are fascist, the only difference is the lies they tell about the people they kill.

  • Ian

    It would have been quite sufficient, as is normal in cases like this, to give him a slap on the wrists, ie a fine, or a suspended sentence. Given that there was absolutely no harm done, this is a very trivial offence, and a waste of police and court time. It is unbelievable that it even went to court, but even worse that it resulted in jail. So farcical it is impossible to see how the SNP think this is a good or credible idea. What is with these people, sabotaging the independence movement because it threatens your comfy jobs and your absolutist empire? I hope he appeals, is freed and awarded generous compensation.
    It is clearly designed to stop other marches, the organisers of which will be threatened with all manner of bureaucratic obstructions.

    • Alf Baird

      I agree, this decision is an absolute scandal, it reflects no more than an oppressive political persecuting colonial justice system. Scotland needs to end this despicable colonial/legal abuse and oppression of its own people. Its just one of an increasing number of oppressive politically motivated court actions that are now starting to pile up, not least yours Craig. We can all too readily see the ‘pattern of behaviour’ of the abusive oppressive British state in aw its mankit naitur! Your British colonial prisons are not big enough for all of us!

    • Jen

      An appropriate sentence would be to have been to defer sentence for six months and then admonish him. And, importantly, what happened to Humzat Yousaf’s presumption against prison sentences of one year and under? Also offenders under 21 and those who have not been jailed before can only be jailed if there is no other alternative, and after a Social Enquiry Report has been prepared. Not sure if this applies to Manni, but taxi drivers are subject to strict background checks. In any case, was there no other way of the Sheriff ‘disposing’ of this case. Or is there a ‘hidden hand’ somewhere?

      *the maximum sentence on a Sheriff Summary charge is 12 months in any case (5 years on indictment before a Sheriff & Jury), so effectively no one should getting imprisoned at the Sheriff Summary court.

      • Kempe

        Singh was handed down a 72 day, 1800 to 0600 curfew which he said he’d refuse to comply with. This didn’t leave the court with any option but to send him down.

    • Sam

      People are being knifed, having their ears bitten off, permanently disfigured, having bottles smashed over their heads and yet the offenders ‘dodge jail’. Jeez, Manni Singh hasn’t even offended anyone, or perish the thought, hurt someone’s feelings. Sent to prison over the start time of a march. And yet we had ‘Extinction Rebellion’ blocking roads with upturned boats, a wholly criminal act, and yet no action was taken by Police Scotland. Police Scotland, COPFS and the courts are utter joke!

  • Jon

    Apologies for the off-topic note, thought readers would want to see this.

    Bill (William) Binney, ex-NSA, was invited to do an “AMA” (Ask Me Anything) interview on social media site Reddit yesterday, and he particularly wanted to discuss the fact that the DNC was not hacked in 2016. This interview format normally allows any Reddit member to ask conversations of the participant, and AMAs can often attract thousands of commenters. However on this occasion it was shut down early, with moderators citing the following reason:

    “OP is making very bold claims with insufficient proof. This AMA has devolved into a significant vector for disinformation. We have removed and locked it.”

    https://twitter.com/Burke4Senate/status/1298266017303470087

    https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/igeixp/i_am_william_binney_former_nsa_technical_director/

  • Willie

    There are now clear similarities between the SNP and the Unionists who ran Northern Ireland.

    Indeed there are now clear similarities between the how the state of Northern Ireland treated civil rights campaigners and how the statelet of Scotland is treating Scottish Independence supporters. The AUOB March was attended by over 100,000 people who peacefully walked in a line through Glasgow to show support and for the aspiration of independence. Like the shooting of innocent civilians on a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association marchers in Derry in 1969, the jailing of Manni Singh is a message to all the AUOB or other independence marchers that the state will use force against them.

    Like Alex Salmond, Craig Murray, Mark Hirst and now Manni Singh are testimony to that and the parallels with Northern Ireland clear for all too see.

    • U Watt

      Interestingly you won’t find Orangeism mentioned in their Hate Bill. Those aren’t the types of marches they want to discourage.

  • Antonym

    “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”; a lot is rotten in Sturgeon’s state of Scotland.

    • Sarge

      She has also penned eulogies to several others, like Kissinger, and ol red hands McCain. She has a serious weakness for them. I fear a day may come when she starts droning irritants like Craig and Alex as Hillary wanted to with Julian Assange.

  • Robert Graham

    wondering whos side some SNP officials are really on sometimes , good administrators of the northern outpost thats all

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