If you're reading this, it's overwhelmingly likely that you already know the story of Operation Branchform. The short version is that between 2017 and 2020 the SNP raised almost £700,000 from independence supporters for a second independence referendum campaign, promised not to spend it on the party's own interests instead, and then almost immediately spent it on the party's own interests instead.

Scotland's most esteemed King's Counsel, the Dean of the Faculty Of Advocates, Roddy Dunlop KC, has given an unequivocal professional opinion that such a misappropriation of the funds constitutes the serious crime of embezzlement. 

However, despite the very large sums involved, both Police Scotland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service have declined to investigate anyone for the crime, each blaming the other for the decision and both refusing to offer any explanation to the public.

The widely-respected Scottish Information Commissioner has described this situation as "not a good look" and in need of "further scrutiny", something we're seeking to emphatically deliver.

Because it currently appears that the powerful elite in Scotland are immune from the justice that applies to everyone else. The only meaningful option available to try to force the police and prosecutor to do their jobs is to bring a judicial review, which is what this appeal is for.

The costs of such an application - especially given the Scottish Government's propensity for deliberately running up huge legal bills for hopeless cases solely to try to dissuade people from holding them to account - are potentially enormous, and far beyond what my website, Wings Over Scotland (which broke the story in January 2020 that led to the Operation Branchform investigation), can afford. 

However, we intend to apply for a Protected Expenses Order (PEO) which would place a relatively low ceiling on those costs even if we lost (though counsel's opinion is that our case is all but irresistible), and we believe such an order would be appropriate and likely to be granted in such a case, given the considerable public interest in the integrity of, and public faith in, the government, police and prosecution service. 

Before an application for a PEO can be filed, though, the case must first be brought to the court, and it is that initial phase for which we are raising this appeal. Our KC is working pro bono and our solicitors at a greatly discounted rate, but nevertheless preparing and filing the application, and allowing a contingency for the other side's costs, will require around £30,000. 

Should we fail to reach that target, the matter will almost certainly have to be abandoned and all donations will be automatically refunded. Anything else would be just TOO ironic.