One of the most frustrating things about the independence campaign was when people tried to put policies before principles. The point of Scotland being independent, as we pointed out in the Wee Blue Book, isn’t so that it can install any particular political party in government or pursue any particular political direction. It’s simply for Scotland to be able to choose those for itself, not have them imposed on it against its will by the people of another country.
To that end, we’ve often published poll findings that show Scots holding views that are at odds with our own (eg on the death penalty or workfare), because it’s always worth remembering that you have to persuade the electorate you have, not shout angrily at it in the hope it’ll become the electorate you WISH existed.
If you insist that independence must mean Policy X, you run the risk of needlessly and wrongly alienating people who support independence but might not back Policy X. It’s something that’s always worth keeping in mind.
We listened to an interesting chat on Good Morning Scotland earlier today (it’s right at the start, just after the news) featuring Gerry Hassan and the sharp New Statesman reporter Stephen Bush, which briefly discussed a curious political phenomenon of the 2000s where people said they liked certain policies until they were told they were Tory policies, at which point their opinions changed.
It put us rather in mind of a classic 2000AD comic strip called The Ballad Of Halo Jones, and in particular a short episode from it about a character called The Glyph, which seemed to us to sum up the current dilemma facing the Labour Party on both sides of the border – but especially in Scotland, as was rather strikingly illustrated by a revealing interview with Kezia Dugdale on Friday.
So we thought we’d share it with you, because sometimes pictures say a thousand words. Especially if there are several of them and they also have words on them.
We thought we might leave this here so that Scottish journalists could print it out and stick it on their monitors as a memory aid. It’s something they keep unaccountably forgetting for some reason.
You never know, it might just cheer them up a bit.
Despite what you may have read in the newspapers at the weekend (and then in the Daily Record a day later), Scotland was today rocked by the news that the SNP’s manifesto for this May’s general election in fact DOES contain a commitment to a second independence referendum within the term of the coming Scottish Parliament.
Who says so? Why, it’s Oliver Mundell, son of the only Conservative MP in Scotland and the Scottish Tory candidate for the Holyrood seat of Dumfriesshire, in a leaflet hitting the doorsteps of constituents in the Borders today.
As we noted on Tuesday, Scottish Labour’s opening election salvo for 2016 has been to blame the Scottish Government for unaffordable house prices.
Of the 450 most obvious flaws in that argument, not least the extraordinary efforts a 13-year Labour government went to to keep the housing bubble inflated, the one that caught our eye was that in the past three years we were regularly told of one thing that definitely WOULD bring prices down dramatically, but which Labour pathologically fought every step of the way.
If you’re primarily or solely contesting regional seats, and you’re chiefly (as seems to be the case) targeting people who are going to use their first vote for the SNP, “Vote for us so that we can provide strong opposition to the SNP” is a pretty weird pitch.
You’re basically asking people to use their second vote to cancel out their first. And that’s quite a tough angle to be trying to sell them. Just saying, like.
Sven on Push The Button: “And, indeed, below the self proclaimed breast enhancer, the former David Paulden.” Apr 26, 18:09
Mark Beggan on Push The Button: “Wouldn’t it be karmic if all the Left wing,Antifa,Trans warriors all got their doors kicked in by a dozen armed…” Apr 26, 17:35
TURABDIN on Push The Button: “This piece is by a selfstyled «thinktank»….dohh! As all foreign correspondents rarely quit the London bubble it is not surprising.…” Apr 26, 17:33
Mark Beggan on Push The Button: “You just love the old violence. Who are you going to “tear to shreds”? Just stand at the back and…” Apr 26, 17:19
Mark Beggan on Push The Button: “Is it a coincidence that the evil regime and the Lefty Europa both advocate violence against anyone who disagrees with…” Apr 26, 17:12
Cynicus on Push The Button: ““ This article on the fractious trends in UK politics is signally notable by the absence of Scotland or Wales…” Apr 26, 17:03
Northcode on Push The Button: “Contrary to popular belief… blue buttons are intrinsically socialist, red buttons capitalist. Socialism is for the many, capitalism is for…” Apr 26, 13:42
Captain Caveman on Push The Button: “What’s the wealth per capita of Norway, in terms of natural resources? Asking for a friend. Also, using China as…” Apr 26, 13:40
Alf Baird on Push The Button: ““lousy, sub-optimal, unsustainable results” Here this is the inevitable consequence of UK Gov privatisation of public utilities which today are…” Apr 26, 13:34
Northcode on Push The Button: “Buttons are boring… unless they are those buttons made from a protein (casein) found in milk. For those interested, casein…” Apr 26, 13:25
Geri on Push The Button: “China has lifted 800 million ppl out of poverty. They’re described as socialism with Chinese characteristics. A mix of both.…” Apr 26, 12:50
Aidan on Push The Button: “Would they “bomb them tae fuck” Geri?” Apr 26, 12:12
Jamie on Push The Button: “Socialist Norway is one of the richest countries in Europe and regularly voted one of the best countries in the…” Apr 26, 12:01
Geri on Push The Button: “Or the scenario where the majority pressed the Red button but the powers that be just kill everyone anyway cause…” Apr 26, 10:52
TURABDIN on Push The Button: “BROOKINGS is a US thinktank based in Washington. This article on the fractious trends in UK politics is signally notable…” Apr 26, 10:51
TimePilot on Push The Button: “Darwin was right. The Red people thank you for your vote, off you pop.” Apr 26, 10:23
TURABDIN on Push The Button: “THESE NATIONAL(IST) PARTIES seem not too keen on their respective country’s independence. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq59xvdzjv7o A woeful act by tired old hasbeens….kindly…” Apr 26, 09:02
Captain Caveman on Push The Button: ““Socialism wants (insists) you vote blue and like it.” Very true – and invariably with lousy, sub-optimal, unsustainable results.” Apr 26, 08:54
wally jumblatt on Push The Button: “Socialism in a nutshell. Throw yourself at the mercy of the collective or sort your own world out. If you…” Apr 26, 07:45
Angus on Push The Button: ““Rationally, there is no reason for anyone to press the blue button. If you press red, you definitely live no…” Apr 26, 00:35
Phil on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “Interesting take on history Alf Baird and highly amusing fantasy figure. Believe that nonsense if it keeps you warm at…” Apr 26, 00:04
Jennifer Livingston on Push The Button: “All of these questions were asked to google AI: Asking how many people can be cared for on earth at…” Apr 25, 22:45
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Push The Button: “It seems appropriate enough here to reprise the following which I posted a while back. I originally came across it…” Apr 25, 21:51
Jamie on Push The Button: “The question is only really interesting as a political metaphor for example, the arguments for and against taxation. Taxation funds…” Apr 25, 20:41
Alf Baird on The Narcissism Of No Differences: ““I think the Union is a great thing” Scotland was annexed in 1707, there never was any ‘union’, and continued…” Apr 25, 19:53
Insider on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “James says: 25 April, 2026 at 1:38 pm Name those benefits. Go on. Enlighten us. Well you’re the expert on…” Apr 25, 19:00
Confused on Push The Button: “WTF is this “Prisoners Dilemma” for the r3t4rded? do we need to draw the payoff matrix? You could do that…” Apr 25, 17:56
Mark Beggan on Push The Button: “This is another example of Colonial suppression of the mass body. A clear indication of the manipulation of colour against…” Apr 25, 16:44
