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MACRAE INQUIRY
6 April 2005
The Mysterious Death of Willie MacRae: Time For A Public Inquiry
SIGN THE PETITION
http://www.petitiononline.com/macrae/petition.html
Background
Twenty years ago today (6 April) the Glasgow lawyer Willie MacRae was found unconscious in his car by the side of Loch Loyne in the Scottish Highlands. At first seemingly the unfortunate victim of a car crash it later transpired that MacRae had in fact been killed by a gunshot wound to the head. Just one of a series of strange events that set the backdrop to MacRae's last fateful journey. Willie MacRae had been an active campaigner for Scottish independence since the 1940s and a 'thorn in the flesh' of the British State. At the time of his death and for some years beforehand, MacRae had been heavily involved in various campaigns to prevent nuclear dumping in Scotland, including defeating Thatcher's plans for nuclear dumping at Mullwharchar. The authorities have consistently refused to release any information about the case. Furthermore the results of the post-mortem investigation, and an alleged second internal police inquiry, have never been released. Had this 'accident' happened in England it would have been subject to a Fatal Accident Inquiry. However the Scottish establishement has simply brushed aside all such requests. For many this only raises more questions as to what they could possibly be trying to cover up.
The MacRae Inquiry
The MacRae Inquiry has been formed to resurrect the campaign for an independent Public Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding MacRae's death. Twenty years is far too long to wait to get to the truth.
Our plans for the immediate future include:
* A Public launch at Holyrood with a cross-party group of MSPs,
* Motions been laid down in Parliament concerning this matter
* Launch of an e-petition to the Parliament.
More information can be obtained from our website at http://ceartas.port5.com/ (also see below)
PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY
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The Mysterious Death of Willie MacRae: Time For A Public Inquiry
Twenty years ago this April the Glasgow lawyer Willie MacRae was found unconscious in his car by the side of Loch Loyne in the Scottish Highlands. At first seemingly the unfortunate victim of a car crash it later transpired that MacRae had in fact been killed by a gunshot wound to the head. Just one of a series of strange events that set the backdrop to MacRae's last fateful journey. Willie MacRae had been an active campaigner for Scottish independence since the 1940s and a 'thorn in the flesh' of the British State. At the time of his death, and for some years beforehand, MacRae had been heavily involved in various campaigns to prevent nuclear dumping in Scotland, including defeating Thatcher's plans for nuclear dumping at Mullwharchar. The authorities have consistently refused to release any information about the case. Furthermore the results of the post-mortem investigation, and an alleged second internal police inquiry, have never been released. Many questions have been raised about MacRae's death. The North British establishment simply brushes these legitimate concerns aside, which in itself only raises more questions as to what they could possibly be trying to cover up. Twenty years is far too long to wait to get to truth. We urge you to DEMAND A PUBLIC INQUIRY NOW!
Some of the Suspicious Circumstances
· Willie MacRae was found unconscious in his car, some distance from the road, on the morning of 6 April 1985. He never recovered.
· During the recovery of MacRae and his vehicle nobody found a gun, nor noticed a gunshot.
· MacRae's gun, with which he was said to have shot himself, was found over 24 hours later over 20 yards from the crash site, two bullets had been fired. The Lord Advocate would later claim that the gun was found beneath the door of the car, but this was contradicted by the policeman who found the gun, and by those involved in recovering MacRae from his car.
· A small pile of shredded receipts, a credit card and watch were found 15 yards from the crash site.
· He had planned to spend the weekend at his holiday home in Dornie working on a forthcoming book on the nuclear industry. The papers he was working on have never been recovered.
· MacRae is reported to have stated to friends shortly beforehand that, "I've got them" without releasing any details of who, or what, he had got.
· A list of three car number plates alleged to have been following MacRae prior to his death was supplied to a BBC journalist. One apparently didn't exist and another was a 'blocked vehicle' from one of the secret services.
Much of the above claims can at best only be described as circumstantial. But in a matter where there is no hard and fast evidence, e.g. no suicide note, then such evidence is all we have to go on. Whether the real story of what happened that night is ever known will remain to be seen. However we believe that all of these questions, and much more, can be addressed in the course of any impartial public inquiry.
Some Unanswered Questions for the 'Suicide Theory'
The problem is that the lack of anything even remotely resembling a proper investigation to this case means that we are left with more questions than answers. The book "Britain's Secret War" highlighted some of these questions in 1990:
"While people die in car crashes and people do shoot themselves in cars in remote places, it is not even remotely credible that a man involved in an accidental car crash would then decide to commit suicide - unless, of course, the car crash was a deliberate suicide attempt. And, if it had been, why, knowing the road well, had he not chosen a steeper place where a clean death was more likely? "If I was going to do away with myself I'd have found a better spot. Along that road there are lots of gullies where you could put the car over and vanish for days," concluded the local ambulance driver.
The problem with the case is not the lack of clues but that there are simply too many clues: the car crash that didn't kill him; the gunshot which didn't kill cleanly; the gun itself being at least 20 yards from the car and yet McRae's hands being on his lap; the "neat pile" of papers where they could not have been put if the driver was unable to leave the car; the half-consumed half-bottle of whisky which had not smashed; no trace of alcohol - so often a feature of suicides - in McRae's bloodstream; the missing briefcase and the missing cigarettes - all clues pointing in different directions, all inconsistent with anyone theory. It is the very combination of all these clues which points inescapably to the conclusion that his death was planned -at least in part."
Far-fetched?
There is no escape from the fact that this is far from an open -and -shut case of suicide. Moreover the case of MacRae is unfortunately far from unique in Thatcherite Britain. The case has been linked before to the mysterious death, some months previously, of Hilda Murrell, a prominent anti-nuclear campaigner found dead in her home in what police concluded was a 'burglary' gone wrong.
Similarly the murder of Irish lawyer Pat Finucane three years later highlighted the extent the 'secret state' has been prepared to go to in order to further its political objectives. Whether MacRae was a similar danger for the British State is a question that any Inquiry will need to address.
Plans for the 'MacRae Inquiry'
The purpose of the MacRae Inquiry is to resurrect the campaign for an Independent Public Inquiry into the death of Willie MacRae - ultimately leading to the reformation of the now defunct Willie MacRae Society to spearhead this campaign. We see the initial strategy to make use of the newly formed structures within the Scottish Parliament Public Petitions Committee in order to petition the Scottish Executive to initiate the long overdue public inquiry. It should be noted that the Scottish Executive has recently announced its intentions to pass through Holyrood a range of 'Sewell motions'. Leaving asides the fact that this procedure is an affront to any notion of self-determination, one of these Bills from Westminster is the 'Inquiries Bill'. Although not yet legislation this Bill lays down what will surely become law for procedure in such matters - transferring all powers for such Scottish cases as MacRae's to the 'Scottish Ministers'.
This Bill will give "power to establish an Inquiry" in any case where: "particular events have caused, or are capable of causing, public concern" Or where; "there is public concern that particular events may have occurred".
While we doubt the extent to which the provisions of this Bill will be able to provide the full and open Inquiry that we would like to see we firmly believe that the MacRae case passes both these legal qualifications required for the establishment of a Public Inquiry, and invite all interested parties to join with us in the struggle to demand justice for Willie MacRae.
Finally we leave you with the words of Winnie Ewing on the matter after being asked to investigate the case some years later by the SNP NEC:
"I took precognitions from David Coutts, from Willie's neighbours, from some of his clients and his partners. I talked to the garage he regularly stopped at when travelling north. But when I asked to see the procurator fiscal in Inverness and to ask why there had been, remarkably, no fatal accident inquiry (which should have been mandatory considering the circumstances), I was up against a brick wall. The procurator fiscal had taken early retirement and would not talk to me, even in confidence. Then the Lord Advocate refused to see me too and would not respond to any questions. Given all this obstruction, which was clearly deliberate, I had to report to the NEC that I was not satisfied with the official account of the suicide, and that remains my position today. I do not know what happened, but I think it is important that the truth emerges, despite the time that has passed. Why the state refuses to let the truth be known is a pertinent question.
What You Can Do
The support you can give is critical. There are a number of things that you can do:
· Sign the petition
· Write to the Lord Advocate at Advocates Library, 21 Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1LA. calling for a public inquiry.
· Write to the First minister and the Justice Minister, at the Scottish Parliament HQ, Edinburgh EH1. e-mail them on scottish.ministers@scotland.gov.uk Write to your 8MSPS, MP and other elected representatives
· Inform other trade unionists, organisations and individuals about the campaign and ask them to pass resolution/ motions in support of a public inquiry.
Get involved in the campaign
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