Alert readers may recall that a few months ago the Scottish press got itself in a right old lather about a temporary closure of the Forth Road Bridge. The SNP were attacked relentlessly in the media for what a subsequent inquiry in fact found to have been an “unforeseeable” fault on the bridge which posed no risk to life. But fair enough.
This week, 17 schools in the Edinburgh area were closed down over fears that they might be unsafe after the wall of one of them fell off in high winds, two years after another wall in an Edinburgh school collapsed and killed a 12-year-old girl.
All 17 had been built under a controversial PFI scheme signed in 2001, when the UK government, Scottish Parliament and Edinburgh City Council were all controlled by Labour, and which isn’t due to be finally paid off for another 20 years.
The Scottish press and opposition’s incandescent and somewhat vague fury at the Scottish Government working to bring billions of pounds in investment to Scotland has continued undiminished in this weekend’s newspapers. Scottish Labour in particular are getting themselves very worked up about today’s Sunday Times.
“Incredible”? Sounds exciting. Let’s find out more.
Those of you who read our post of earlier today probably didn’t feel there was anything ambiguous going on in it. When Ruth Davidson intervened in an election debate to protest that the chair, the BBC’s Louise White, was being unfair to Nicola Sturgeon, it was pretty obvious who she meant, and White’s response removed any doubt.
Which makes this eye-witness account of the event, spotted by an alert reader this afternoon, odd in several ways.
If there’s one thing the Scottish Conservatives love to do, it’s lecture the SNP about vetting its candidates. Here’s Ruth Davidson on Michelle Thomson, for example:
Alert readers will have noticed that the Conservatives and most of the right-wing press have recently embarked on a hyperbolic campaign against the Scottish Government’s “named person” child-protection legislation. The latest assault is in today’s Daily Mail:
The shriekingly furious lead article thunders in outrage that “nearly two thirds of Scots have condemned the SNP’s state guardian scheme as an ‘unacceptable intrusion’ into family life”, which sounds like a pretty damning verdict.
It’s not until you look a little deeper that it all falls to pieces.
We had a little Twitter run-in last night with former Scottish Labour deputy leader and current unemployed halfwit Anas Sarwar, when he reported us to Police Scotland for making a joke about bank holiday mail deliveries, “people in England” and “especially” Scottish ones – which of course includes this site’s own editor, that being the gag.
We’d almost forgotten he existed. But the incident brought something back to mind.
To be fair to Mr Sarwar, he was at least partly right.
Here’s a column from Kenny Farquharson in today’s tablet edition of the Times, which hasn’t made it onto the website. We don’t know if it’s in the print version.
sam on The Marshalling Plan: “In moving towards Scottish independence is it better to have a Reform government in UK/England and weak/no Reform in Scotland?” Feb 3, 12:18
Colin Alexander on The Marshalling Plan: ““Let’s just remind ourselves of something Alex Salmond did, he made the Scottish parliament a parliament”. Really? How? With Trumpian…” Feb 3, 12:16
James Cheyne on The Marshalling Plan: “Alex Salmond did not make the devolved parliament in Scotland a Scottish parliament, just for clarity, It remained under the…” Feb 3, 11:15
James Cheyne on The Marshalling Plan: “Westminster own the devolved government sent to Scotland, its under their caveats and reservations in the Scotland act, The DHondt…” Feb 3, 11:02
sam on The Marshalling Plan: “https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/steve-bannon-boasted-about-farage-ties-exchange-epstein “Newly released files show Epstein and Bannon messaging each other on 10 March 2018, arranging to meet in Paris.…” Feb 3, 10:38
Skip_NC on The Marshalling Plan: “Hatey, well yes, Reform will change things in that they will happily abolish parliament. As I have been focusing on…” Feb 3, 10:22
100%Yes on The Marshalling Plan: “I agree with you about not staying at home and I’d rather people used their vote constructively. But your forgetting…” Feb 3, 10:09
diabloandco on The Marshalling Plan: “For those who say they will stay at home for the elections , please don’t – swan in and right…” Feb 3, 10:00
100%Yes on The Marshalling Plan: “Is it possible Reform is doing better than the opinion polls state? If we look back at Brexit vote. When…” Feb 3, 09:45
Hatey McHateface on The Marshalling Plan: “Wow, Effijy, who would have your nightmares, eh? How many ways have you imagined Brexit has made you worse off?…” Feb 3, 09:17
Hatey McHateface on The Marshalling Plan: “Aye, Sven, True Socialists always give away every penny. How’s that going for you? And party discipline among committed professional…” Feb 3, 08:41
100%Yes on The Marshalling Plan: “I just want to remind people that the Sottish government is in court again today regarding transgender and woman’s prisons,…” Feb 3, 08:34
Hatey McHateface on The Marshalling Plan: ““With the exception of Reform, it does not matter what colours are in the government” If I can just stand…” Feb 3, 08:31
Hatey McHateface on The Marshalling Plan: “Ah, Nae Need! Those care free, golden days in the primary school playground. Everything was so much simpler then. But…” Feb 3, 08:25
Sven on The Marshalling Plan: “Young Lochinvar @ 07.48. Not to mention that of the 3 available options of the D’Hondt system, Labour’s messr Blair…” Feb 3, 08:15
Young Lochinvar on The Marshalling Plan: “I wonder; does this article not just inadvertently illustrate what a Machiavellian/ Heath Robertson mess the DHondt voting system (that…” Feb 3, 07:48
Cynicus on The Marshalling Plan: “Rev. Stuart Campbell says: 2 February, 2026 at 9:28 pm “Never become a full-time Musical Chairs professional.” ======= Or a…” Feb 3, 02:27
Skip_NC on The Marshalling Plan: “NaeNeed@5:02pm, this election is about casting a vote for independence. Voters can choose whomever they like on the constituency ballot,…” Feb 3, 02:06
Cynicus on The Marshalling Plan: ““Bogey the game is.” -======== From the word order does either Yoda or Fearghas think in Gaelic? ‘’S e taibhse…” Feb 3, 02:02
dan macaulay on The Marshalling Plan: “I get it, and it’s a no brainer, that I will vote for ALBA on the regional list. But otherwise,…” Feb 2, 22:43
willie on The Marshalling Plan: “When Swinney was the sole candidate to stand for election as party chief another candidate came forward. That candidate it…” Feb 2, 22:11
Nae Need! on The Marshalling Plan: “As if, who would have it. Pauline and Hatey KISSING UP A TREE.” Feb 2, 22:01
Nae Need! on The Marshalling Plan: “Aidan says: 2 February, 2026 at 7:42 pm @RevStu I think you’re being unfair, all you need to do is…” Feb 2, 21:53
Rev. Stuart Campbell on The Marshalling Plan: “Never become a full-time Musical Chairs professional.” Feb 2, 21:28
Hatey McHateface on The Marshalling Plan: ““How about Venus, Jupiter or Mars?” Or that planet, light years away, the Picts came frae. Colonising cants. Nae wonder…” Feb 2, 21:19
Nae Need! on The Marshalling Plan: “AgentX Hm, You ARE a conundrum, I like you, So, you never feel differently on the day? But why on…” Feb 2, 20:54
Nae Need! on The Marshalling Plan: “Oh my gawd, Ian, listen to yourself. Mind you, thanks for the laughs 🙂 And you’ve fair made my day,…” Feb 2, 20:47
Insider on The Marshalling Plan: “That tool for predicting the number of seats is addictive! Just a few more points lost by the SNP and…” Feb 2, 20:40
