The motion completely ignored both the findings of the Cass Review and the Supreme Court judgment in For Women Scotland, but not a single MSP spoke in opposition to it. (Jenni Minto, the Minister For Public Health And Women’s Health, actually broke down in tears at the end because she wasn’t managing to get children’s futures permanently destroyed with sufficient urgency, mainly because the UK Parliament took legislation out of Holyrood’s hands to protect them.)
To be honest, we’re mainly putting these here so you don’t have to keep looking at that picture of Alan Cumming.
But they also show what you can achieve, whether in football or politics, if you actually attack rather than being content to endlessly shuttle it all sideways and backwards until you get beaten without even taking a shot.
Perhaps the key graphic from last night’s by-election in Caerphilly is this one (green means Plaid Cymru in the context of Wales):
In the end, Plaid won pretty comfortably in what had been predicted to be a very tight contest between them and Reform, with a majority of almost 4,000. But Plaid aren’t going to be the next government of the UK, so what’s the real story?
Last month, when half a football team of armed police ambushed and arrested comedy writer Graham Linehan at Heathrow Airport for a couple of tweets, we said this:
Today, even more swiftly than we thought, this happened:
We should point out right at the start that a reader donated £12 back in the summer specifically to send us to Nicola Sturgeon’s book event in Bath last night.
So on the surface level this is just flat-out hilarious.
Firstly because, as we showed you yesterday, the “significant proportion of Scotland’s population” which appears to have been won back to the SNP since John Swinney became its leader is… 1%.
We were going to write something today for the anniversary of Alex Salmond’s tragic death, but then we read Kevin McKenna’s piece in today’s Herald On Sunday and we can’t improve on it, so go and have a read of that before you do anything else.
Alex always believed in looking forward, not back, so we doubt he’d be overly fussed at the pathetic “tribute” paid to him at the SNP conference this morning. What would undoubtedly have exercised him a lot more would have been the wretched current state of the party he loved and built from almost nothing into the dominant force in Scottish politics.
And nothing typifies that wretched state better than the craven and gutless capitulation of a speech given by Tommy Sheppard yesterday, opposing the rebel amendments to John Swinney’s non-strategy on independence.
It said a lot more than he thought it did, but none of it good.
It’d be quite hard to find an image that more completely summed up the wretched state of the SNP in 2025 than this one. Look at that tiny handful of miserable faces, sitting dejectedly around a near-empty function room. It’s so bleak Mike Leigh could make an entire movie out of it.
And we know what you’re thinking – that we sat through some internet livestream to find the most pitiful-looking freezeframe imaginable to show them in a bad light. But nope. Kevin Stewart MSP posted this cheery snapshot of his own free will on Twitter on Sunday morning, presumably in the hope of boosting party morale in some way.
Nor was it even the fact that his death was captured in all its shocking, bloody horror on video, and inescapable on social media, nor that it came just the day after footage broke of another appalling killing in the States, the unprovoked stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska by a violent lunatic who’d been released on no-fee bail despite 14 previous arrests and should never have been at large.
In the end, the most chilling thing about this particular crime is this: Charlie Kirk was killed for doing exactly what civilised people are supposed to do.
Lorncal on The Valley Of The Dolls: “If you do, those spaces become mixed sex spaces, not single sex spaces. Would you allow women who have had…” Dec 9, 23:08
Lorncal on The Valley Of The Dolls: “Because, Kate, we let them get away with the “stunning and brave” bulls**t instead of calling them out as that…” Dec 9, 23:00
sarah on Off-topic: “NHS dentist, Tinto? No chance, I’m afraid. Though it sounds as if we have been let off lightly compared with…” Dec 9, 22:16
Lorncal on The Valley Of The Dolls: ““… The argument was essentially of a man using the façade of gender reassignment for improper purposes, including for sexual…” Dec 9, 21:55
McDuff on The Valley Of The Dolls: “Congratulations rev on another powerful article.” Dec 9, 21:27
Jay on The Valley Of The Dolls: “Sarah: Agreed that Rev Stu has conducted a masterly exercise of demolishing the position taken by the Tribunal, a wonderful…” Dec 9, 21:16
Tracey on The Valley Of The Dolls: “Thanks for this. Excellently written and explained. I am glad I am already subscribed. You are worth it!” Dec 9, 21:06
sarah on The Valley Of The Dolls: “You missed your calling, Rev. You could have been a senior judge in Scotland or England. There was a wonderful…” Dec 9, 19:29
Hatey McHateface on The Valley Of The Dolls: “As always, a masterful analysis from Scotland’s greatest living journalist. Just one tiny quibble: “It’s not often you see a…” Dec 9, 19:24
Hatey McHateface on The Valley Of The Dolls: “They’re aiming for the institutionalized watering down of women’s rights. It’s a war. The trannies are the leading shock troops…” Dec 9, 19:21
Kate L on The Valley Of The Dolls: “Thank you for this breakdown, even though it may lead to a breakdown of my own. This is legitimately bonkers.…” Dec 9, 19:20
agentx on The Valley Of The Dolls: “There will be an appeal from both sides and the decision will go to the higher courts. But please note…” Dec 9, 19:18
diabloandco on The Valley Of The Dolls: “Excellent idea! The whole thing is stratospherically ridiculous.” Dec 9, 19:17
Tinto Chiel on Off-topic: “Forgot to mention that thoughts of Gruinard Bay and its seals always make me think of the incomparable Julie and…” Dec 9, 19:10
diabloandco on The Long Walk To Freedom: “I think I must have met that man in Edinburgh one lovely sunny afternoon in the gardens when a great…” Dec 9, 19:07
Tinto Chiel on Off-topic: “I don’t give up, Sarah, I adapt 🙂 . Despite the best efforts of the security services, the Edinburgh Proclamation…” Dec 9, 18:59
Hatey McHateface on The Long Walk To Freedom: “Ah, the fragrant James has dragged himself once again, out from under his stone. You can choose to believe that…” Dec 9, 18:51
Craig on The Valley Of The Dolls: “Any chance for a copy of THAT dogs breakfast to be sent to the Supreme Court judges so they may…” Dec 9, 18:46
twathater on The Valley Of The Dolls: “I would believe that judges decision had been made at the start of the tribunal , anyone who uses the…” Dec 9, 18:32
100%Yes on The Valley Of The Dolls: “Trying to fit a square into a circle is never going to work. I’m afraid the SNP and the Greens…” Dec 9, 18:07
Iain More on The Valley Of The Dolls: “It is a toxic world for any white heterosexual males and females.” Dec 9, 18:04
Vronsky on The Valley Of The Dolls: “It’s too easy to point out the madness, we need to understand that to your average politician this apparent silliness…” Dec 9, 17:57
panda paws on The Valley Of The Dolls: “Indeed it isn’t. It is illegal for someone who in an official capacity knows another person has a GRC to…” Dec 9, 17:44
Colin Dawson on The Valley Of The Dolls: “Given the avalanche of litigation that is likely to result from the Scottish Government’s allegedly unlawful gender self-ID policies over…” Dec 9, 17:40
Jill on The Valley Of The Dolls: “English women here who follows you for your reporting on this issue. A huge thank you again for your time…” Dec 9, 17:25
Rev. Stuart Campbell on The Valley Of The Dolls: “Remain in your home. Officers will be with you shortly.” Dec 9, 17:24
