We’re stuck indoors waiting for a repairman today, so we had a little read-around of some of the less popular Scottish politics blogs to pass the time, and noted this:
James Kelly of Scot Goes Pop, which we gather from its front page was seemingly one of the “Top 50 Left-Wing Blogs of 2011”, is noticeably insistent on making the argument that we’re “stalking” and “obsessed” with him.
As a rule I try not to respond to the literally dozens of deranged attacks on this site that are posted by James Kelly of Scot Goes Pop, but I really dislike being called a liar so I’m going to take a moment for this one.
James appears to have taken extraordinary offence to a two-paragraph stats post I put up to mark Wings’ 11th birthday this week, and has written two purple-faced rants about it. So for the record’s sake I’m going to comply with his demand as best I can.
Ten years ago this month I was in a pub called The Porter in Bath with my girlfriend and her family, buying everyone whiskies and gabbling deliriously (I’d been up for over 40 hours at that point) about the significance of what had just happened.
Alex Salmond’s SNP had just broken the Scottish electoral system, winning an absolute majority of seats in a Parliament designed expressly to stop that from ever happening. A total of 72 pro-independence MSPs had been elected, and it was already clear that an independence referendum was going to happen despite the Labour Party’s best efforts. It was impossibly exciting.
This month I sat and watched 72 ostensibly pro-indy MSPs be elected again, but this time with my heart breaking, knowing that they would achieve nothing and indeed had no real intention to even try.
We are, as always, absolutely enthralled at the prospect of discovering from James Kelly what our vile secret masterplan has been over the last 18 months.
Today is going to be by some distance the quietest one in Scottish politics this week, so I hope you’ll forgive me a personal indulgence, readers. Because while I just ignore unimaginably vast torrents of online abuse every hour of every day of every year, once in a blue moon some things get said that you just can’t let pass.
Paul Kavanagh made a lot of unpleasant personal-attack tweets yesterday off the back of an unpleasant personal-attack article on his blog, which I don’t propose to get into the many individual falsehoods and misrepresentations of here.
(While I believe his evidence in the Dugdale case actually did more harm than good, I don’t hold him responsible for that and I appreciated his willingness to try to help when others I’d considered friends had turned their back.)
So, for the historical record: I have no belief whatsoever, earnest or otherwise, that I can get rid of Nicola Sturgeon in the next four months.
I’m an idiot with a website. I have no power. I haven’t been elected to anything and I’m not the commander of an army. Information to which I’m privy would get me put in jail if I published it, and would in itself have no power to remove Nicola Sturgeon anyway. The only people who can bring that about between now and May are Sturgeon herself or, collectively, the Scottish Parliament.
This site has for some time called for Sturgeon to resign because it is our belief that she’s going to have to anyway, on account of events over which we have no control or influence. Because of that it would be the responsible and conscientious thing for her to quit early enough that the SNP/independence movement had a chance to deal with the issue of her succession and regroup in plenty of time for this May’s election.
The remaining window of opportunity for that to happen is now getting very narrow. And the enemies of independence will be beside themselves with delight about it.
We’ve been having a closer look at the latest polling for next year’s Holyrood election (YouGov, from this week), and in particular the list numbers. We thought you might be interested in a little stat from them.
That’s the full breakdown. But that’s not the graphic that really tells the story.
Alert readers may have noticed that the hypothetical Wings list party is once again the talk of the steamie, with the usual suspects stamping their feet and pouting about it yet again on social media, in particular the firmly-ensconced SNP MP Pete Wishart and the worryingly obsessed former poll-analysis website WINGS OVER SCOTLAND IS BAD AND TERRIBLE AND STUART CAMPBELL SOMETIMES DOES SWEARS SO NOBODY WOULD EVER VOTE FOR HIM! Goes Pop.
(We’re not sure where this sudden outbreak of 18th-century Puritanism about Scottish people using colourful language has come from, to be honest. It seems the weirdest and least plausible grounds for objection imaginable in a country that’s literally world-famous for its enthusiastic embrace of swearing, but *shrug*.)
The trigger was a bizarre piece in yesterday’s Courier (also picked up by the National, the Evening Express and others). They phoned us last week ostensibly to talk about a new website set up by a bunch of loony Unionist zoomers who with amusingly ironic timing have named themselves “The Majority”, and whether we thought they’d have any impact or be able to attract funding.
We chatted perfectly amiably to the reporter for several minutes on the subject, so we were quite surprised when the story that eventually appeared didn’t contain a single mention of them, and instead was solely about the Wings party, which he’d also asked us a couple of “Oh, by the way, while I’m here”-type questions about.
So let’s just clarify a couple of things for the record (again).
100%Yes on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “Sarah, If Jeremy’s New party offered the Scots a vote for Independence then why wouldn’t anyone who actually wants Independence…” Jul 25, 15:53
Northcode on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “Ideologies are like rubbish theatre of the romantic kind. That’s why Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s formula, ‘the willing suspension of disbelief’,…” Jul 25, 15:46
Mark Beggan on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “Then that John Brown gave Victoria one for Scotland. Before you know it kilts are everywhere and the bloody bagpipes…” Jul 25, 15:41
James Cheyne on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “Mark Beggan, Nice of you to accept that they acted in Colonial behaviour when passing these three Acts in 1715,…” Jul 25, 15:23
James Cheyne on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “If the Monarch can provide a signed Document from God that he has the divine right to rule, ….. I…” Jul 25, 15:11
Marie on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “Yeah that must be why the World Bagpipe Championships is such a failure and no one bothers attending year on…” Jul 25, 15:10
Northcode on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “Since the colonialists oan here be talkin pish the noo a thocht a wid broach a subject close tae ma…” Jul 25, 14:51
Mark Beggan on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “Banning those bagpipes was an act of kindness by our Colonial masters.” Jul 25, 14:38
Captain Caveman on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “Well yeah, I am “paid” – in stark contrast to you bloody pair, one imagines.” Jul 25, 14:35
Captain Caveman on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “‘… I suggest you calm down and maybe drink some tea. Then you can bask in the radiant glow of…” Jul 25, 14:33
DaveL on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “You’re right James, you’re right. ‘It doesn’t even matter whether the UN says yes to any of this,…’ but I…” Jul 25, 14:28
Mark Beggan on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “So what’s the problem. Just type in your age and let Pam and her five sisters do the rest.” Jul 25, 14:24
James Cheyne on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “LORN, DAN, ALF BAIRD. Scotland were daft enough to let Colonialism happen to them. One of the first Colonial Acts…” Jul 25, 14:19
Aidan on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “Turns out I’m wrong, statement has just been posted from the secretariat of the UN General Assembly, the case of…” Jul 25, 14:16
Rob on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “It doesn’t even matter whether the UN says yes to any of this, assuming they are even interested. At best…” Jul 25, 14:11
Aidan on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “I knew you’d appear like clockwork to tell us that Elvis is still alive. If anyone in the UN is…” Jul 25, 14:10
James on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “DaveL; Don’t waste your time on these paid yoon w*nkers.” Jul 25, 14:07
Xaracen on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “But, Aidan, the C-24 did no such thing! You’ve been carefully reframing the situation as ‘the C-24 committee rejected the…” Jul 25, 13:52
DaveL on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “Oh my! Listen to you. You are upset. And now you say I have a problem. Well no I don’t…” Jul 25, 13:51
Bilbo on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “Before the establishment gunned for Corbyn, he was making an absolute mess as leader of the Labour party by either…” Jul 25, 13:36
Bilbo on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “Today sees legislation enforced that forces individuals to provide age verification in order to access p0rn sites. A quick internet…” Jul 25, 13:33
Captain Caveman on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “Good grief you’re so thick aren’t you Dave. There’s only so much oozing stupidity I can take in any one…” Jul 25, 13:31
Bilbo on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “With with for example Trans ideology or immigration, there are elements in the political establishment who are pushing through policies…” Jul 25, 13:28
Dan on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “FFS, I’m pro-Scotland returning to self-governance, why the fuck would I vote NuSNP. Scotland doesn’t need to host the Edinburgh…” Jul 25, 13:27
DaveL on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “Moan whinge cry…you must be one of those ‘special’ people, “I want everything now!” Special. 20 seconds for an answer,…” Jul 25, 13:19
willie on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “Honking maggot ridden carcase you describe the SNP as Fearghas. One of the most accurate descriptions of the SNP I…” Jul 25, 13:18
Captain Caveman on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “@Dave “L” plates ‘… So what do you expect your question to achieve?’ A: Clarity in terms of exactly who…” Jul 25, 13:17