Fast work 180
Posted on
June 14, 2016 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Author Archive
A tough call 290
Posted on
June 13, 2016 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
We’re keeping this one 330
Posted on
June 12, 2016 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
The Prime Minister with Andrew Marr this morning:
So it’s great to be a small oil-rich independent nation? Who knew, eh?
Knight follows day 90
Posted on
June 10, 2016 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
You’ll never guess what’s happened, readers.
At least they left a slightly more decent interval than with Michelle Mone.
People on glass bridges 84
Posted on
June 10, 2016 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Readers may have noted that Scottish Labour’s complaints about the delay in opening the new Forth Bridge have been uncharacteristically subdued.
It is, after all, rarely difficult to distinguish the branch office from a cuddly fluffy bunny made of candyfloss and children’s smiles. But this time we may know why.
Learning difficulties 177
Posted on
June 10, 2016 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Sometimes we feel as though dumbing down Scottish politics until the Times’ political reporter Kenny Farquharson can understand it is our full-time job. It’s something we have to do quite a lot, whether it’s reminding him what manifestos look like, or pointing out that protecting EVERY child in Scotland from harm is actually a good thing, or even basic stuff like explaining what the SNP’s position on Scottish independence is.
So we’re pretty used to this sort of thing by now.
That’s got to sting 236
Posted on
June 09, 2016 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Iain “but where will the money for an oil fund come from?” Gray gets a couple of sharp thwacks with a verbal Lochgelly tawse at today’s FMQs:
Beating your wife 186
Posted on
June 08, 2016 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Yesterday we reported on a rather weird Scotland on Sunday poll that the newspaper reported last month, which pollster ICM seemed to want nothing to do with and whose results weren’t made public until weeks after they should have been, and only under sustained pressure from this website.
Here’s another extract from the paper’s coverage:
Now, that’s some pretty shabby and misleading editorialising right from the off by the paper’s super-Unionist political editor Tom Peterkin. The SNP had pledged to replace the tax in their 2007 manifesto, and attempted to do so as a minority administration, but were foiled by the combined opposition of the Unionist parties voting to block proposals for a local income tax. The Nats accepted defeat and the pledge wasn’t repeated in the 2011 or 2016 manifestos.
But the poll is even dodgier than that.
Good News Day 85
Posted on
June 08, 2016 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
It was revealed yesterday that NHS Scotland now has the highest staffing levels in its history, a positive story justly celebrated in today’s Times:
It’s in there if you read closely, honest.
Hawks and doves 132
Posted on
June 07, 2016 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Last month Scotland on Sunday published some findings from a poll covering, among other things, backing for Trident and for a second independence referendum in the event of a Brexit vote.
We didn’t think much about it until a reader told us that Labour MSP Jackie Baillie had trumpeted the Trident result – a wafer-thin 43-42 majority in favour – in her column in the Helensburgh Advertiser. We were curious to see the finer details and set about finding the full data tables for the poll, which was conducted by ICM.
(Under British Polling Council rules, pollsters have to release full data within 48 hours of any headline findings being made public.)
Weirdly, they didn’t exist.
The magic million 223
Posted on
June 06, 2016 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Something remarkable happened in the last couple of days, readers. After we told you about the imminent delivery of the print edition of the Wee Black Book, there was a flurry of orders for several thousand more copies. And that extra influx of cash took the independence movement past a significant milestone.
The corkscrew 106
Posted on
June 06, 2016 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Alert readers may have noticed that we tend to slack off a bit at the weekend these days. There’s no point burning ourselves out with busywork at a time when there’s not very much going on in Scottish politics (certainly not in terms of independence, at any rate), and weekend traffic is always lower anyway.
So we’ve only just now got round to taking a proper look at something the online Yoon community and punditariat was getting itself very excited about on Saturday.
And it’s a fascinating piece of work.
