This clip was broadcast on ITV News Wales this week.
It’s a staggeringly obvious mess for a whole raft of reasons – a number of completely spurious, illogical and unsupported claims are accepted as facts without any sort of challenge or balancing voice (which has been standard practice on ITV News for a while now across almost any contentious political topic) – but it led us to somewhere magnitudes of crazier still.
My first ever real experience of politics was playing Dictator.
Originally written by Don Priestley for the Sinclair ZX81 in 1982, it was a simple text-based game which subsequently came to other formats including the Commodore 64, BBC Micro, Elan Enterprise and the ZX Spectrum, which is where I encountered it.
This week The National published a poll it commissioned from Find Out Now for this May’s Scottish Parliament election, alongside a seat projection from Sir John Curtice. Here are the list-vote figures from the poll.
The seat projection calculated that the election would result in 59 SNP MSPs (six short of the number John Swinney says is the minimum needed to force a second indyref), 25 for Reform, 13 for the Greens, 12 each for Labour and the Tories and eight for the Lib Dems.
It didn’t specify how many of the seats were constituency ones and how many were list ones, so we dropped Sir John a line and asked him.
Yesterday we noted in passing that independence support now outstrips that of the SNP by more than 20 points, making the party into a gigantic liability as the vehicle for enabling Scots to leave the UK. Put simply, even when voters want independence (as most now do), they’re not willing to vote SNP to get it.
(Not, of course, that they WOULD get it if they voted SNP – the party still having no coherent or credible strategy to achieve it – but more than 40% of would-be Yes voters are no longer prepared to even try giving them the benefit of yet another mandate.)
And since what everyone loves most of all on New Year’s Day is a good old wade in some political stats, we thought we’d take a little more detail on that.
With Reform now pretty consistently miles in front in polling for the next UK election, logically this is brilliant news for the Scottish independence movement, isn’t it?
So can anyone explain why the SNP is so desperate to stop them?
There’s a post on the superwoke poll-analysis account Ballot Box Scotland today bemoaning the lack of interest in the forthcoming Scottish Parliament election from polling companies, and presenting it as some sort of anti-Scottish conspiracy.
The real reason nobody’s very interested, of course, is that as things stand the election is an obvious foregone conclusion in which the party that’s been in power for the previous 19 years will stay in power for another five, and nothing will change.
The only minor intrigue around the election is to be found at the edges and is only of real interest to politics nerds, but since we ARE politics nerds we may as well take a look at it.
Because, y’know, you can call us old-fashioned purists or sticklers or whatever if you like, but government ministers probably shouldn’t openly lie in prepared statements to the High Court in order to pervert the course of justice.
As recently as this weekend, the Scottish Government claimed that it has “made clear it accepts the Supreme Court ruling [in For Women Scotland] and is taking forward the detailed work necessary”.
But as with so much the Scottish Government says, it’s a barefaced lie.
We thought we should keep track of all the issues with the Peggie tribunal judgment, now that Sandie Peggie has officially announced her intention to appeal it.
According to a new poll, fewer than a third of SNP voters even think independence is in the top three priorities facing Scotland.
It’s only five points ahead of immigration in fourth place, and seven ahead of housing. So it’s hardly surprising that the SNP aren’t bothering themselves about it. Their own support, like the party, is very comfortable with the way things are.
Aidan on The Marshalling Plan: ““da Yooons cOnTrol meeeedja dAt y knowbuddy herd bOuT leeberaate” – state of you mate why don’t you spend some…” Feb 5, 07:55
Iain More on The Marshalling Plan: “I cant stop laughing at events, my ribs are cracking due to laughing so much. I cant get over how…” Feb 5, 04:04
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The Marshalling Plan: “« Thit a shúil ar bharr tí in aice leis an gcairéal. Cosúil le splanc tintrí osclaíodh na fuinneoga ann,…” Feb 5, 00:34
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The Marshalling Plan: “« His eyes fell on the top storey of the house at the edge of the quarry. The casement window…” Feb 5, 00:30
Cynicus on The Marshalling Plan: “@ Sarah “ A better system existed in Scotland before 1707 ” ======== In what way? Better that in the…” Feb 5, 00:29
Cynicus on The Marshalling Plan: “100%Yes says: 4 February, 2026 at 9:12 pm “The PM has no intention of standing down……” ======== He may have…” Feb 4, 23:58
James on The Marshalling Plan: “YL; Indeed. A very pertinent question.” Feb 4, 23:44
James on The Marshalling Plan: ““Do us all a favour and stop posting mince on here.” Oh, “Chas” – please, PLEASE!” Feb 4, 23:39
James on The Marshalling Plan: “What’s the collective noun for two ****’s in a row?” Feb 4, 23:35
James on The Marshalling Plan: “Randy Andy & Mandy are being lined up as patsies; fall guys to cover th rest of them. 6 months…” Feb 4, 23:33
James on The Marshalling Plan: “#Site Prick; “Bet I’m a fascist…” First truth you’ve ever posted. Well done. Own it.” Feb 4, 23:29
James on The Marshalling Plan: ““..that a handful of folks got some scraps off the table, to lick the spoon, is no cause for celebration,…” Feb 4, 23:24
Young Lochinvar on The Marshalling Plan: “Well said Sarah. As I have said here several times though; why does this site ignore such initiatives? Why?!” Feb 4, 22:10
100%Yes on The Marshalling Plan: “The PM has no intention of standing down and why does he need too. These politicians aren’t the same as…” Feb 4, 21:12
DaveL on The Marshalling Plan: “Why would he be apoplectic? It’s par for the course and nothing unusual. Colonialism, it’s invasive and everywhere. You obviously…” Feb 4, 21:03
sarah on The Marshalling Plan: “Great news that Alliance to Liberate Scotland is now registered with the Electoral Commission. This gives a real pro-independence option…” Feb 4, 20:58
Southernbystander on The Marshalling Plan: “Maybe they like the colour?” Feb 4, 20:52
James Barr Gardner on The Marshalling Plan: “Birds o’ a feather flock the gither……..” Feb 4, 20:38
Willie on The Marshalling Plan: “Anybody like to put odds on how long before the Prime Minister stands down. Like a rat in a trap…” Feb 4, 20:32
Rev. Stuart Campbell on The Marshalling Plan: ““I dont think the constituency vote is first past the post” The constituency vote is DEFINITELY First Past The Post.” Feb 4, 20:03
Chas on The Marshalling Plan: “Did you notice that the curlers are British? That colonialism gets everywhere! Baird will be apoplectic.” Feb 4, 19:52
Nae Need! on The Marshalling Plan: “Apparently there’s pressure on McSweeney to take the rap for Mandy’s appointment. But, without McSweeney where is 2Tier?” Feb 4, 19:02
Cynicus on The Marshalling Plan: “@ agentx “Speaking to ITV Border on Wednesday, Scotland’s first minister……” ========= Swinney was also on STV an hour later…” Feb 4, 18:57
The Flying Iron of Doom on The Marshalling Plan: “Ah, so Reform won’t be coming up with the goods either? That’s going to annoy a few folk, but what…” Feb 4, 18:44
Nae Need! on The Marshalling Plan: “The conversation has moved since I was last here, and so has my thinking (or what passes fir thinking in…” Feb 4, 18:40
agentx on The Marshalling Plan: “Don’t forget the curlers are in action in the Winter Olympics – live on iPlayer now.” Feb 4, 18:08
Cynicus on The Marshalling Plan: “A Farage fanboy opines. I have no idea what he means and don’t really care.” Feb 4, 18:08
Aidan on The Marshalling Plan: “‘No judges’ – so how do you think the law might be administered in that context?” Feb 4, 18:08
