We had an interesting conversation last night with someone who was prepared, quite legitimately, to credit Scottish Labour with a little more good faith over their proposed plan to mitigate Tory tax credit cuts than we were. But we had a lot of trouble coming to an agreement over the arithmetic, and we tend to think that backs up our cynicism.
Labour have presented their supposed funding for the policy in an incredibly dishonest and disingenuous way, and it seems to have confused the media to the point where nobody in the print or broadcast media has challenged what appears to be a huge and (to us at least) incredibly obvious gaping hole in the finances.
Gordon Brown, last seen wailing that The Vow had been “betrayed”, appears to have jumped ship a little early when it came to changing his position on it for what by our count is the fourth or fifth time so far.
The video clip below is from Russia Today, which is in no way an impartial news outlet. However, it’s dangerous and unwise to reflexively dismiss any message purely because of the medium. Heck, even the Daily Mail tells the truth sometimes.
His views are expert and worth listening to. (The full interview is here.) Readers can, as ever, decide for themselves whether to believe him or David Cameron.
A convention of the world’s finest satirists pulling a 24-hour shift on Red Bull couldn’t come up with anything to beat Labour’s position on renewing the UK’s Trident nuclear weapons system. Following an overwhelming vote at the Scottish Labour conference this afternoon, these are the current cut-out-and-keep standings:
Another three months have come and gone – where does the time get to, eh? – so it’s time for a quick Wings readership-stats update. There’s nothing particularly interesting or dramatic about them, so we’ll just give you the numbers and move on.
UNIQUE VISITORS IN OCTOBER 2015: 293,793
PAGE VIEWS: 4,616,334
In what’s been mostly a very sleepy time for politics, we’re thrilled with that.
Kezia Dugdale spoke for almost exactly 45 minutes to the Scottish Labour conference in Perth today. But we know you’re busy people who don’t want to sit through all of that, and that you trust us to endure it on your behalf so that we can sift through it and present you with only the important bits.
We’re big fans of socialism ourselves, so when a number of delegates at the Scottish Labour conference today, including UK leader Jeremy Corbyn, revived an old Keir Hardie line we were quite excited.
Asking the question is the easy bit: “If the all-new, super-autonomous Scottish Labour decides to oppose the renewal of Trident, and UK Labour continues to support it, which way do Scottish Labour MPs at Westminster vote on it?”
The answer, unsurprisingly, was a lot more difficult to ascertain.
There’s an extraordinary article in the Daily Record today. Here’s a bit of it:
Alert readers might feel that a few lines have gone missing somewhere between paragraphs four and five. And the fact that they have has nothing to do with dead football clubs, and everything to do with the dying Scottish media.
sarah on Vibecoding A Better World: “100%Yes – I was thinking the donors could get their money back out of crowdjustice and then donate via another…” Nov 4, 21:51
Alf Baird on Vibecoding A Better World: “““Naw ye cannae”” is the constant refrain of the colonizer toward the colonized; the latter ‘seeks to develop’ his nation,…” Nov 4, 21:45
100%Yes on Vibecoding A Better World: “Usually when you give money that’s the end of it, I’ve never heard of something like this happening but then…” Nov 4, 17:03
Spartan 117 on Vibecoding A Better World: “https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqn734d24l0go I see the Fuckwits-on-Thames have published a bill to outlaw new oil and gas drilling. They really do want…” Nov 4, 16:45
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: ““could face up to five years in prison” Michty! Why seek to persuade somebody when you could kill them and…” Nov 4, 15:29
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Vibecoding A Better World: “TELLING SOMEONE ‘YOU ARE NOT A CAT’ COULD BE ILLEGAL UNDER GOVT’S CONVERSION PRACTICES BILL Attempting to convince a person…” Nov 4, 13:33
Aidan on Vibecoding A Better World: “I’m sure there is a message somewhere within that barely legible blether. Doubt it’s worth spending any time working out…” Nov 4, 13:29
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: ““Surely the donors should be notified and be able to claim their money?” Like the donors to the ring-fenced Referendum…” Nov 4, 12:53
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: ““Naw ye cannae” That’s what the academics call a truism when applied to you, James. “Naw ye cannae” describes you…” Nov 4, 12:41
sarah on Vibecoding A Better World: “O/T: Does anyone here know if a donor can retrieve their donation from a crowdfunder that has been closed by…” Nov 4, 12:31
James on Vibecoding A Better World: ““…Birds of a feather eh, you thick lefty twat….” Hark; behold the wisdom of the benefactor unionists, ocean going shits…” Nov 4, 12:28
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: ““better not feck with my muesli” Alert readers of Viz will recall that discussions of which foodstuffs can and can’t…” Nov 4, 12:12
Spartan 117 on Vibecoding A Better World: “Regardless of what’s happening over there, it remains a deeply divided nation with clowns to the left and jokers to…” Nov 4, 12:06
Minceheid on Vibecoding A Better World: “Hatey McHateface says: 4 November, 2026 at 10:10 am Tumbleweed this morning, as the fall from power and influence of…” Nov 4, 11:36
thrope on Vibecoding A Better World: “Dear Stu GIRFUY good luck defending fascism and fascists when your benefactor has met a woodchipper regards” Nov 4, 10:58
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “Tumbleweed this morning, as the fall from power and influence of Scotland’s greatest living half-Scot is enacted on live TV.…” Nov 4, 10:10
Captain Caveman on Vibecoding A Better World: “Heh, hark at you “Blockheaded Bracegirdle”, aligning yourself with “James”, a numbskull abusive troll whose entire contribution here is shouting…” Nov 3, 19:26
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “If you mean Mark Beggan, he’s sorely missed. They weren’t gibberish BTW. They were clever, witty and often very funny.…” Nov 3, 19:06
Bilbo on Vibecoding A Better World: “James, you should be grateful that there are only 3 of them now. Thankfully that halfwit who was flooding BTL…” Nov 3, 18:42
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “Believe it or not, James, no word of a lie, I was just thinking about you. I was wondering if…” Nov 3, 16:33
James on Vibecoding A Better World: “Four piles of steaming unionist shite in row there from the the three ‘all day, every day’ charlatan snake oil…” Nov 3, 13:40
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “@Aidan A good synopsis. Brexit taught those with eyes to see two things: 1) It’s a lot more difficult to…” Nov 3, 13:35
Aidan on Vibecoding A Better World: “Let me guess Alf, the plan is; A) build an enormous port in the middle of nowhere; B) watch the…” Nov 3, 13:06
Aidan on Vibecoding A Better World: “It’s a odd situation re Scottish independence, it enjoys significant support within the general population, but; – in my view…” Nov 3, 13:05
Captain Caveman on Vibecoding A Better World: “I can relate, believe me. Your principal problem is this: the Indy Movement is mainly comprised of lefties – the…” Nov 3, 12:23
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “@CC We would have to study the writings of the post colonial boys and who wants to do that? My…” Nov 3, 12:01
Captain Caveman on Vibecoding A Better World: ““Every geriatric Scottish arse from John O’ Groats to Gretna going unwiped forever” Perhaps the Prof has a greater personal…” Nov 3, 11:16
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “A nice photo from the hated Mail Online this morning: https://www.dailymail.com/debate/article-16259803/DANIEL-HANNAN-Picture-sums-entire-migrant-industry-regards-taxpayers-country.html Seems like some bint in the HoC announced yesterday…” Nov 3, 10:42
