Hunch. Highland Council's own report says the sale abroad will go ahead if the money is not found, and the 9 November meeting only notes that report.
The halt market resolves YES if, as reported by 8 December 2026, by the end of 1 December Highland Council stops, delays or withdraws the sale, the Scottish government or a court stops it, or the 1 December end date is moved later, and the museum has not bought the bust. It resolves NO otherwise, on the Highland Council news page and gov.scot for the Scottish government's own step, with BBC Scotland and The Guardian to confirm.
We looked for cases where a UK museum or gallery, other than the national and university museums, said it would raise the money to buy an artwork worth £1m or more that the UK had stopped from leaving, and so got extra months to do it. We found 14 such times since 2006 and kept the ten most recent, from 2012 to 2024, and checked whether the buyer paid before time ran out.