Respect to John MacKay of STV, who on last night’s Scotland Tonight asked Labour MSP James Kelly the question this site has called for about whether Labour would stand aside and let the Tories rule if the latter were the largest party after May’s election, but Labour had enough seats to win a confidence vote and form the government with backing from the SNP and/or other parties.
Kelly, unsurprisingly, flapped and blustered and totally evaded it. But then we doubt he has the authority to make the tea in Scottish Labour, let alone speak for the party on key policy issues. If the question isn’t put repeatedly by all of the media to more senior Labour figures until an answer is produced, we’ll be wanting to know why.
Here’s Ed Miliband, giving a speech this morning to literally at least 20 Labour MPs, Labour MSPs, journalists and possibly a stray member of the public who accidentally walked through the wrong door in Clydebank, a place where Labour leaders used to address gatherings of thousands.
Unusually, Miliband took a few questions from the hacks, all of whom promptly wasted the opportunity by lobbing completely pointless softballs about coalitions and deals, all of which (a) have been asked a hundred times already, (b) were rendered moot by Alex Salmond on the Marr show yesterday, and (c) were only ever going to be batted away non-committally.
So here’s an actually worthwhile one they can ask instead next time.
We have to give Jim Murphy credit – on this week’s Sunday Politics he started off with the subtle, misleading but technically-accurate version of Labour’s line about the “biggest party forming the government”, which involves making the true but irrelevant observation that in the past it’s usually been the case. (Mainly because UK elections almost always give the biggest party a comfortable majority.)
But it only took a couple of minutes of questioning for the Scottish branch manager to lose his cool and resort to the comprehensively debunked flat-out lie again.
We thought you’d enjoy this clip from this morning’s Andrew Marr Show, readers. It came after a very sensible interview, in which Salmond had calmly and reasonably laid out the SNP’s view on events should there be a hung parliament this May with the former First Minister’s party holding the balance of power.
Tory minister Anna Soubry seems to be experiencing a degree of regret about having begged Scots to stay in the UK. The body language says as much as the words.
The Daily Record, still smarting from the humiliation of being forced to very quietly admit it told its readers a £20 billion lie about the Smith Commission late last year, has been in a demented overdrive trying to provoke Yes/SNP supporters this week.
It started on Tuesday with an echo of the paper’s infamous “Vow” cover, clearly aimed at winding up its detractors but which passed without much comment as social media users merely raised a brief weary eyebrow and got on with their day. But then the Record started turning up the volume.
Sometimes the UK media is so soul-crushingly moronic, readers, that it’s hard to get out of bed in the morning. Nevertheless, we’re pretty sure we haven’t nodded off and woken up in 2017, so today’s papers must be even more idiotic than usual.
Spartan 117 on Vibecoding A Better World: “Well Sam, we can look at several factors. The insistence on alignment with the myriad of EU rules, despite being…” Nov 6, 14:41
MaryB on Vibecoding A Better World: “Robin is behaving according to Alf’s thesis, as part of the middle class political class who, like the SNP, are…” Nov 6, 14:34
Spartan 117 on Vibecoding A Better World: “Ah, so you’re retired then. Or semi? That explains the amount of time you waste on here and why you’re…” Nov 6, 14:24
James Che on Vibecoding A Better World: “Agentx, May I refer you to The Law Society of Scotland of ratification of the 1707 treaty of union being…” Nov 6, 14:03
100%Yes on Vibecoding A Better World: “I’ve said for a long time that their are individuals within the YES/Independence movement more interested in Money than the…” Nov 6, 13:47
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: ““he’s not daft” Crivens! Where could this possibly lead us if we but had the courage to follow? “it doesn’t…” Nov 6, 13:02
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “Very wise, MH. Too much risk of encountering a muckle, bearded loon self-identifying as a spoon. I’d be a bit…” Nov 6, 12:49
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “Cheers Spartan. My lowly spirits are always uplifted when somebody as important and busy as you takes time out of…” Nov 6, 12:40
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “So true, Mary. Robin needs to extend the olive branch to Lavrov. Maybe praise him as a peacemaker? Perhaps that…” Nov 6, 12:32
sarah on Vibecoding A Better World: “Thanks for the heads-up, MaryB. Robin’s attitude is inexplicable – he’s not daft and he is pro-independence so why criticise…” Nov 6, 12:25
Captain Caveman on Vibecoding A Better World: “Indeed, Spartan, we are agreed once again. Like you no doubt, if there’s one thing I cannot stand, it is…” Nov 6, 11:40
Spartan 117 on Vibecoding A Better World: “Don’t forget Stormont, which has the full 5 Bananas rating on the Banana Republic scale. While we’re at it, the…” Nov 6, 11:26
Spartan 117 on Vibecoding A Better World: “Agreed CC. The Dutch model is the most workable and with the best outcomes. The US is great if you…” Nov 6, 11:23
Spartan 117 on Vibecoding A Better World: “No Hatey, I’m not in a strop thanks. Much more important things to worry about than what some random on…” Nov 6, 11:18
agentx on Vibecoding A Better World: “The Ratification Timeline The political process that legally bound the two nations followed a specific sequence: • 22 July 1706:…” Nov 6, 11:05
Minceheid on Vibecoding A Better World: “Hatey McHateface says: 5 November, 2026 at 8:55 am I see nothing stopping “muesli eater” becoming a valid, protected identity…” Nov 6, 10:30
James Che on Vibecoding A Better World: “One would surmise seeing as there is NO treaty of Union between the old parliament of Scotland and the parliament…” Nov 6, 10:19
MaryB on Vibecoding A Better World: “There’s a very good debate hosted by The National (maybe someone could put up the link), between Robin McAlpine and…” Nov 6, 10:14
James Che on Vibecoding A Better World: “The parliament of Great Britain as a new created united state could only come into being for its projected conclusion…” Nov 6, 09:51
Captain Caveman on Vibecoding A Better World: “The NHS really does serve to demonstrate to the establishment of the world: “This is how NOT to do universal…” Nov 6, 09:39
James Che on Vibecoding A Better World: “As stated many times, Scotlands old parliament, never agreed or entered a 1st May 1707 treaty of Union with the…” Nov 6, 09:21
James Che on Vibecoding A Better World: “North Code, Then narrative is that the Scottish parliament was closed, ended, made void, dissolved, Sine Die, on the 28th…” Nov 6, 09:11
Knuckle_Heid on Vibecoding A Better World: “I didn’t see that Frank and what a shower they are in HR, awarding themselves way above inflation pay rises…” Nov 6, 08:36
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “The NHS, being a supertanker of a monolithic institution, is always going to be behind the trend. The actual, real-time…” Nov 6, 08:21
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “Quick! Send more money. There’s a few in various parts of the world could tell you what real state threats…” Nov 6, 08:05
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Vibecoding A Better World: “NHS SQUANDERING MILLIONS ON SEX-SWAP SURGERIES NHS England has spent over £5 million this past year on mastectomies for gender-confused…” Nov 6, 00:00
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “There’s plenty of speculation that Harris intends to stand for nomination as presidential candidate for 2028. So if you’re opening…” Nov 5, 23:49
