The last faint hope of any remotely positive or at least interesting outcome of May’s election just left the building.
It wasn’t MUCH of a hope, and it’s absolutely no surprise in the wake of the comically shambolic, belief-defyingly inept farce that has been the birth of Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s fringe-of-the fringe Your Party, but all the same its extinguishing means the next two months will be even more of a waste of time than they looked like being.
Frankly, readers, we may as well not bother having an election at all.
The number of parties who got MSPs elected at the last election is… five. (Though in fairness there are now six, Reform having a single MSP after Graham Simpson defected from the Tories. The Lib Dems are even outnumbered by independents, of whom there are seven.)
So Cathy Newman of Channel 4 News got herself a scoop last night.
And to be honest, readers, we were a bit confused. “Gender critical views” are not only lawful things to hold and express, they’re one of a small subset of opinions that are explicitly protected as such in law. And why would a man very occasionally airing some lawful and protected views on social media be a news story? You might as well run “BREAKING: Premiership footballer discovered to enjoy cheese-and-ham toasties”.
Which is handy, because today is also the day of the Gorton and Denton by-election in Manchester (fun fact: a seat we’d very likely have lived in ourselves if not for Osama bin Laden, but that’s another story), and that throws up some interesting parallels.
There is a not particularly funny joke that is sometimes told in legal circles about why a law student failed to finish his coursework – because he had no conviction. With rare exceptions lawyers aren’t renowned for their sense of humour but I can’t help thinking someone, at the highest levels of our justice system, is having a right laugh at my expense and those who have loyally supported me over the past six years.
I’m talking about the Lord Advocate, Dorothy Bain KC – a sitting member of the Scottish Government’s cabinet who was nominated by Nicola Sturgeon to that post in 2021, five months after I was acquitted.
For those unfamiliar with my case, I offer this brief summary. In March 2020 I made a short video on my mobile phone that was two minutes and thirty eight seconds in length. I hadn’t planned to make the video when I went out for a walk in a field near my home. But I was annoyed and wanted to articulate that annoyance, although at the time I recorded it I wasn’t intending for it to go much further.
Later that night, just before turning in, I uploaded it to my YouTube channel on a closed, unlisted link and then posted that link to my Twitter account that, at the time, had a modest 1000 or so followers. I then forgot about it.
Little did I know that short mobile phone video would result in me facing initially a criminal trial, then a five year legal battle in the highest civil court in Scotland and now, most likely, an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
So on the one hand there’s obviously very little point paying attention to the SNP’s regional list candidates for May’s Holyrood election, because as this website has comprehensively demonstrated over recent months, the chances of the SNP having any list MSPs elected are remote.
However, nothing is impossible, so let’s take a look at the B team, which also serves as a guide to the party’s upcoming talent taking its first steps towards the gravy bus.
As the six-year fight for justice for Alex Salmond continues, we thought you might like to see this clip from this morning’s Mike Graham Show, interviewing Paul McManus, the businessman and drummer in Glasgow rock band Gun who’s stepped up to fund the Salmond family’s case against the Scottish Government despite disagreeing with much of what Alex stood for politically.
Captain Caveman on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Well, “Geri”, I might well be Del Boy but at least he’s popular and British. Unlike some, eh pal. As…” Mar 25, 18:26
Sven on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Sorry Geri, I just can’t accept any definition of anything involving Ms Sturgeon involving the descriptor “honest” as being applicable.…” Mar 25, 18:22
Young Lochinvar on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “No Geri I don’t think so. I can’t put my finger on it but it’s got similarities to (here) Hateys…” Mar 25, 18:17
Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Of course he isn’t anti immigration & of course he’ll do absolutely nothing to fix it. It’d upset his wealthy…” Mar 25, 18:10
Dan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “And an apology and admittance from Main that coal actually was a resource worth mentioning. https://wingsoverscotland.com/never-learned-to-shovel/#comment-2778577 And more so now…” Mar 25, 18:00
Dan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “@Chas I’ve previously proffered a suggestion on how a self-governing Scotland could be run, and it’s based on using the…” Mar 25, 17:56
Sven on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “I so wish I believed you were mistaken, Red, unfortunately I believe you’re completely correct.” Mar 25, 17:54
Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “A confabulator? Tho in her case I wouldn’t associate it to being in any way sincere. She’s just a psychopath…” Mar 25, 17:47
Chas on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “I note that there have been a few replies to my original post. Unfortunately not one of them gives any…” Mar 25, 17:29
Red on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “The entire purpose of the SNP is to keep the gullible busy with useless displacement activities until it’s too late…” Mar 25, 17:20
Young Lochinvar on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Sturgeon was interviewed a day or 2 ago about, frankly, effing off. I read her cockamamie BS with growing disbelief…” Mar 25, 17:03
Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Cappy Caveman, fck off back tae yer stall, del boy. You know nothing. I’ve never been banned, unlike you, &…” Mar 25, 16:53
James on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Working class hero Wilma Flintstone; “maaaaaaate” Can’t you just hear the annoying accent? Wish he/she/it would just f*ck off to…” Mar 25, 16:16
James on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Breastplate; brilliant – headshot! Another Yoon Troll put in their place.” Mar 25, 16:10
Mark Beggan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “@Sven When the going gets tough. The tough hide under the table.” Mar 25, 15:50
lothianlad on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “How can we be so close to achieving independence but so far away??? gravy train SNP subservients of course!!” Mar 25, 15:29
Insider on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Breastplate @ 2:10 pm Thank you for admitting you cannot understand even the most basic questions about Scottish Independence !…” Mar 25, 14:38
Mark Beggan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “The DuRan Dingdong Cult have been trying to fight this war like it’s 1979. Now all they have left is…” Mar 25, 14:37
Northcode on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: ““…nobody ever says who will form an honest, competent Government.” Nobody can until Scotland is liberated and she regains control…” Mar 25, 14:18
Mark Beggan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Your Party. A dirty old man and a rabid death cultist. Old Jeremy is all out of friends. They are…” Mar 25, 14:14
Mark Beggan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Just flexing your lefty muscles with an afternoon antisemitic black Live matter rant. Isn’t it time you kissed the ground…” Mar 25, 14:11
Breastplate on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Insider, you’ve got me. I don’t understand the question or the answer, could you tell me please, pretty please, with…” Mar 25, 14:10
Insider on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Breastplate @12:18 No amount of bluster and attempted diversions on your part can disguise your comprehension problems or the fact…” Mar 25, 13:48
Northcode on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Endlessly recounting Scotland’s ancient constitutional past will not persuade those unpersuaded Scots who support the Union to change their minds.…” Mar 25, 13:37
Captain Caveman on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: ““Are you dumb? Yer literally posting on an Independence blog” Heh!! Just when you think the irony-o-meter can’t be overloaded,…” Mar 25, 13:21
Dan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Civic nationalism was never going to work in Scotland, because Hondas rust like fuck at the best of times; And…” Mar 25, 12:55
Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “I’m going to keep reminding you yoons what site yer actually posting on. Not only is it rude but it’s…” Mar 25, 12:32
Dan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Damn it! Pity we’ve got the wrong sort of leccy up here… “The Grid cannae cope”… But Scotland is generating…” Mar 25, 12:27
