The world's most-read Scottish politics website

Wings Over Scotland


Author Archive


The future, coming soon 150

Posted on December 05, 2014 by

From a YouGov poll of young (18-24) voters today:

yg1824

Now that’s quite the thing.

Read the rest of this entry →

One more twist of the corkscrew 96

Posted on December 05, 2014 by

The Herald, 1 June 2014:

“[A] YouGov poll compiled by Better Together suggests most Scots want to share pensions and benefits across the UK. Labour released the findings ahead of the launch of its referendum campaign, due to take place at a rally in Glasgow on Tuesday.

Scottish leader Johann Lamont will be joined by former prime minister Gordon Brown at the event. 

Ms Lamont said: ‘According to this Better Together polling, most Scots understand that our pensions and benefits are better being backed across the United Kingdom, spread across 60 million people rather than six million.'”

We’ll let Johann’s rather shaky grasp of the UK and Scottish population sizes slide on this occasion – she taught English, not maths or geography. The important thing is that the No vote in the referendum assured that benefits would remain a central, shared and uniform facet of British life. Right?

Read the rest of this entry →

Not keeping up with the news 156

Posted on December 04, 2014 by

A real letter sent out by the shadow Secretary of State for Scotland this week.

magritblah

Someone do us a favour and explain to her in language she’ll understand that as the Scottish Parliament isn’t trusted by her Westminster pals to control its own resources, the price of oil doesn’t actually impact on “the SNP’s economic plan” in any way whatsoever, would you? We’re not very good with crayons.

A lucky escape 104

Posted on December 04, 2014 by

Phew, eh?

espensions

(April 2014 on the left, December 2014 on the right.)

The Indian giver 123

Posted on December 04, 2014 by

George Osborne’s autumn mini-Budget is the sort of thing that shouldn’t be read late at night. The programme of swingeing cuts to public services it outlined would chill the blood of anyone with an ounce of compassion in their souls.

grumpyosborne

Fortunately, this site concerns itself chiefly with Scottish politics, so we can leave the full horror to others, turn away in fear and focus on a couple of decisions that are particularly interesting in a constitutional context.

Read the rest of this entry →

Votes of confidence 297

Posted on December 03, 2014 by

Alert readers will already be aware that we’re not the biggest fans of prospective Scottish Labour deputy “leader” Kezia Dugdale. Even this site, however, doesn’t think the Lothian list MSP is so inept and slow-witted that she could single-handedly be held responsible for the party losing the next two general elections.

katyclarkletter

Some of her comrades, however, have less faith.

Read the rest of this entry →

The lie and the truth 72

Posted on December 03, 2014 by

The Daily Record, 27 November 2014:

budget2x

So, IS the Scottish Government budget going to “nearly double”?

Read the rest of this entry →

Souls in the system 109

Posted on December 03, 2014 by

We’ve been watching in some bafflement the continuation of this bizarre non-story from yesterday. (For which, incidentally, the P&J has published a correction today.)

wingssquad

As one in five Scottish children live in poverty and temperatures fall at the beginning of winter with many families facing the choice between heating their homes or buying food, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie apparently arrived at the conclusion that the most important thing he could be doing with his taxpayer-funded time was occupying the Scottish Parliament with a demand to know (for no immediately apparent reason) how often civil servants had accessed Wings Over Scotland in the six months leading up to the referendum.

Read the rest of this entry →

A less permanent permanence 69

Posted on December 03, 2014 by

“We are agreed that the Scottish Parliament is permanent”:

vowperm

Read the rest of this entry →

World speed-reading record broken again 205

Posted on December 02, 2014 by

We didn’t think we’d ever encounter a greater feat of rapid comprehension than Alistair Darling digesting and analysing the entire 670-page White Paper on independence in under two hours back in 2013, readers. But we’re delighted to reveal a new champion.

Read the rest of this entry →

A letter to the editor 234

Posted on December 02, 2014 by

…of the Press & Journal.

Read the rest of this entry →

The unwilling accomplices 149

Posted on December 01, 2014 by

As we’re talking about surveys, opinion polls and statistics today, it seemed worth mentioning another one that’s come to our attention. Conducted earlier in the year by YouGov but only released today, it’s a vast poll done on behalf of the Co-operative and canvassed over 180,000 people, most of them through the Co-op’s own website.

It’s relevant to us because the Co-operative also runs a political party, which has representatives at both Westminster (31 MPs) and Holyrood (4). They’re little-known because the Co-op never stands in its own right, but in conjunction with Labour, so to all intents and purposes it’s a branch of the Labour Party, funded by Co-op customers.

coopbank

And it turns out most of them don’t know that, and don’t like it when they find out.

Read the rest of this entry →

  • About

    Wings Over Scotland is a thing that exists.

    Stats: 6,888 Posts, 1,238,485 Comments

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Tags

  • Recent Comments

    • Northcode on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: ““Areswipe…” A brilliant comment, Geri. Insightful, informed, and expertly decorated with ‘rude’. I never tire of reading your stuff.Mar 26, 08:29
    • Mark Beggan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Amongst the many reasons Nazi Germany lost the war was their policy on women. Unlike the allies German women were…Mar 26, 08:20
    • Mark Beggan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Leftwing ideology is the lunatics way of getting back at society. A nobody’s way to try and become become a…Mar 26, 08:09
    • Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Areswipe, Let’s remind the group this is an illegal war. Every single one of those attacks is a war crime.…Mar 26, 08:08
    • Mark Beggan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “What age are you. You spout like an angry teenager who has Just read animal farm. Scotlands very own Greta.…Mar 26, 07:31
    • Aidan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Having your entire leadership wiped out, your navy destroyed, your army weakened severely and significant damage to your oil exporting…Mar 26, 06:39
    • Aidan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “I’d be surprised if 4% of people earn over £100k in Scotland, I’d suggest it’s probably lower than that. But…Mar 26, 06:27
    • twathater on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Geri your demolition of the yoonionists on here is something to behold , so much so that Corporal Cave dweller…Mar 26, 03:41
    • Cynicus on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Red says: 25 March, 2026 at 5:20 pm “…the Scots will be reduced to a powerless, hated and poor minority…Mar 26, 02:01
    • Anthem on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “What do you expect when it’s filled with English unionist parties?Mar 26, 00:17
    • Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Not a bad ad. Punchy with facts & to the point. & TBF, yoons do have a low attention span.…Mar 26, 00:17
    • Mark Beggan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “WOW! Just seen the SNP advert on Tube. Not a party political broadcast but an advert with very colourful and…Mar 25, 23:32
    • 100%Yes on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “He’s just a bitter and twisted individual. I ignore his site and everything about him. He just attacks anyone who…Mar 25, 22:37
    • Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Alan, are you from Scotland?Mar 25, 22:31
    • alan scott on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “And jist lolz at a unionist lecturing on Scotland wasting monies, whilst not being critical of the much more significant…Mar 25, 22:19
    • alan scott on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “I know the vast majority on here want Holyrood to be replaced by an independent Scotland. I’m just suggesting Holyrood…Mar 25, 22:12
    • alan scott on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “I agree I’m a British Nationalist because the country I was born in and love is the United Kingdom of…Mar 25, 22:06
    • Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: ““Today, Scotland is in a worse position in every measurable aspect than it was 12 years ago.” That’s your Union.…Mar 25, 21:53
    • robertkknight on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “The words…”None are worthy of my vote” will appear on my ballot paper. F**k the lot of ’em!Mar 25, 21:16
    • Big Jock on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “And we have the SNP arse licker James Kelly accusing everyone of being a right wing racist. For the crime…Mar 25, 21:02
    • Dan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “@Chas Maybe it isn’t me that’s dense… To respond to the correct comment trail, you simply scroll up from the…Mar 25, 20:58
    • Chas on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Dan I did not respond to the wrong post. There was not a ‘reply’ option to your ‘percentages’ mince. You…Mar 25, 20:32
    • Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Iran nailed it at the UNHCR with it’s warnings to it’s neighbours. & Well said by that lady who politely…Mar 25, 20:23
    • Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “They’re not dead. I hate to break it to you but they already won on day one. Pay the toll…Mar 25, 20:04
    • George Ferguson on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “@Fearghas Of course this false debate is coming to a conclusion. But meantime others have suffered Stu, Father Ted, A…Mar 25, 19:53
    • Dan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “And seeing as Confused mentioned Jim Rogers and the lady in red shiting herself the other day… It’s only a…Mar 25, 19:27
    • Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “GIRLGUIDING WILL BE FEMALE-ONLY FROM SEPTEMBER Girlguiding has announced that any gender-confused boys who identify as girls will have to…Mar 25, 19:25
    • Dan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “C’mon tae fuck Chas. I hope you don’t play golf like you act on here. At least try to respond…Mar 25, 19:22
    • Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Breaking news for Chas who seems permanently in the dark to current world affairs happening outside of his basement. The…Mar 25, 19:22
    • James on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Wow. Just wow. Utter bollocks that was de-bunked years ago being sicked-up by English Yoon “Chas”. Is this really the…Mar 25, 18:35
  • A tall tale



↑ Top