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We are four 236

Posted on November 07, 2015 by

So, it’s our birthday. It was exactly four years ago today, on the 7th of November 2011, that Wings Over Scotland published the first post of what was supposed to be a pretty insignificant spare-time blog picking out interesting politics stories in the day’s Scottish media and challenging any inaccuracies in them.

4yearstats

It got a bit out of control, frankly.

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The mushroom farm 162

Posted on April 12, 2014 by

Have you seen the film of the coronation? I’m not talking about the grand televised extravaganza in Westminster Abbey with the young Queen Elizabeth done up like a wedding cake – I mean the Scottish coronation, in Edinburgh, three weeks after the glamorous London ceremony of 2 June 1953.

It’s not easy to locate. You’ll struggle to find a picture of it, or even a documented reference – a brief casual mention squeezed in right at the end of this article on the monarchical website is the best we could do.

honours

Acting on the advice of her ministers, Elizabeth attended the ceremony dressed in an ordinary coat and hat. The honours of Scotland were presented to her, and she held them as if they were volatile explosive devices, standing stock-still until they were taken back again by be-gowned flunkies. 

There would be no actual official crowning. It might give the natives ideas.

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On our own two feet 182

Posted on December 22, 2013 by

As a civil servant in London in the 1960s, and being part of the establishment, I always accepted the general view that an independent Scotland would not be able to survive on its own without financial help from the London Exchequer.

However, when in 1968 I was able to closely examine the UK’s “books” for myself in an official capacity, I was shocked to find that the position was exactly the opposite: that Scotland contributed far more to the UK economy than its other partners. And this, of course, was all before the oil boom.

treasury

I realised that the Treasury would wish to keep this a secret, as it might feed the then-fledgling nationalistic tendencies north of the border. I decided to keep an eye on the situation to see how long it would take for the true facts to emerge, which I felt would only be a short time. However, the machinery of Westminster, aided and abetted by the media, did an excellent job of keeping the myth about “subsidised” Scotland alive.

In fact it took another 30 years before the first chink in their armour appeared.

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Contributors 24

Posted on January 29, 2013 by

A list of guest contributors, with links to all their articles.

Adam Ramsay

Al Harron

Aled Job

Alex Clark

Alex Neil MSP

Alex Salmond

Alistair Davidson

Allan Grogan

Allan T Moore

Andrew Leslie

Andrew Morton

Andrew Page

Angus MacNeil MP

Angus McLellan

Benjamin Harrop

Calum Craig

Calum Ferguson

Cath Ferguson

Catriona Moffat

Charlie Hebdo

Chris Cairns

Christopher Silver

Cindie Reiter

Cllr Chris McEleny

Colette Walker

Colin Campbell

Dave McEwan Hill

David Barratt

David Hooks

David Pickering

Denise Findlay

Donna Babington

Douglas Carswell MP

Douglas Daniel

Douglas Lennox

Dr Craig Dalzell

Dr EM

Dr EM and Henrietta Freeman

Dr Malcolm Kerr

Ed Millington

Eric Joyce MP

Fiona Quinn

For Women Scotland

Gabriel Neil

Gavin Barrie

Gordon Macintyre-Kemp

Graham Linehan

Greg Moodie and Rose Garnett

James Forrest

James Kelly

Jean Muir

Jean Urquhart MSP

Joan Hutcheson

John Demmery Green

John Jappy

Jonathan Cook

Jonathan Edwards MP

Julie McDowall

Justin Anderson

Keith Aitchison

Kenny MacAskill MP

Laura Jones

Lauren Reid

Lindsay Bruce

Lorna Miller

Lynn Blair

Magi Gibson

Mar Vickers

Mark Frankland

Math Campbell-Sturgess

Mia Hughes

Michael Greenwell

Miguel Boronha aka WG Saraband

Morag Kerr

Natalie McGarry

Neale Hanvey MP

Nick Durie

Nina Welsch

Pall Thormod Morrisson

Paul Kavanagh

Pete Sinclair

Peter Thomson

Prof. Brian Ashcroft

Prof. James Mitchell

Rab Dickson

Ray McRobbie

Robert Bruce

Robert Knight

Robert Louis

Robert MacDonald

Rod McLaren

Russell Bruce

Ryan Miller

Saffron Dickson

Scott Lewis

Scott Minto

Senator Claire Chandler

Shaun Milne

Simon Varwell

Siobhan Tolland

Stephen Noon

Steven Griffiths

Stewart Bremner

Stuart M Darling

Sue Lyons

The Rt. Hon. Alex Salmond

Thomas G. Clark

Tim Sandys

Tim Turner

Uncle Remus

Wattie Grieve

Will McLeod

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