So, an experiment. Here on Wings we don’t tend to deal very much in specific political issues, other than independence. We’re not aligned to any party, and our primary goal is to see Scotland become a national democracy in which all voices can be heard. We happen to be on the left of the political spectrum, but that’s neither here nor there while Scotland’s politics are at the mercy of the whims of voters elsewhere.
But just for a change of pace at the weekends, when there tends not to be much happening, we thought we might try having a space where broader ideas can be debated outwith the framework of the constitutional debate or party politics. If there’s something you’d like to talk about in front of a sizeable audience, drop us a line.
To give you an idea of what we mean, we’re going to start off by outlining a personal pet idea we’ve had for years, and which is an attempt to tackle one of Scotland’s most toxic problems – alcohol abuse. It’s a simple concept, it’s cheap to implement, it doesn’t punish the innocent and it seems like it’d work. See what you think.
A quick rhetorical question, readers: if, as Labour endlessly claim, the Tories want the SNP to win seats in Scotland in order to stop Ed Miliband being PM, why are most of the Scottish columnists in the right-wing press calling on Scots to vote Labour?
One of the most interesting things about the recent Ashcroft polls is the flurry of articles they’ve provoked in the media, as London-based political commentators try to outdo each other in displaying their complete ignorance of Scottish politics.
It’s eerily reminiscent of the sudden surge of activity when the gaps in referendum polls reached margin-of-error levels, and metropolitan journalists suddenly realised that Scotland was taking the referendum far more seriously than they were.
But amid all the outpourings of grief and befuddlement, it’s startling how little analysis there really is into why the UK is in the situation it currently is. And it’s odd because the answer isn’t the least bit complicated.
Only a few diehards in the press are still clinging this morning to the Labour fiction we exposed yesterday, namely the flat-out empirical falsehood that “the biggest party gets to form a government” in the event of a hung Parliament.
Ostensibly it’s gathering signatures representing opposition to the bedroom tax, but in fact its only purpose is to harvest email addresses so that Labour can then bombard unwitting recipients with dodgy, untruthful solicitations for cash. (What would actually be the point of a petition about the bedroom tax at this stage?)
Since we’ve been talking about mad letters from Scottish Labour MPs today, we’re sharing this one with you too. We’ve been trying to make sense of it all evening.
We haven’t made any progress. It’s not just a simple accidental transposition of words, because if you switch “increased” and “decreased” around it’s still gibberish – why would the threat have decreased because of proliferation? If anyone can explain it, do drop us a line.
With a knife-edge general election just 90-odd days away, we must confess ourselves surprised at the sudden rash of candour/indiscipline (depending on how generously you want to frame it) that’s broken out in Scottish Labour.
It started soon after the referendum, when Edinburgh Labour chairman Trevor Davies felt confident enough, with the vote won, to announce on an officially-backed Labour website that his primary loyalty was to his party rather than to the people of Scotland, under the startlingly blunt headline “Labour first, Scottish second”.
But any notion that the comments represented nothing more than a vainglorious and momentary slip from a loose cannon were soon dispelled.
Hatey McHateface on A Stitch In Timing: “It’s all mystifying. Mr Dangerfield could see himself, prior to starting the action, that the Lord Advocate’s immunity to prosecution…” Feb 6, 09:11
DaveL on A Stitch In Timing: “I was put in mind of ex Lord Advocate James Wolfe and his malicious prosecutions concerning the football people too.…” Feb 6, 03:38
Cynicus on The Marshalling Plan: “‘On 16 March John Swinney will give a keynote address followed by a panel with Kate Forbes and “networking with…” Feb 6, 01:42
Cynicus on A Stitch In Timing: “barelybare says: 5 February, 2026 at 10:24 pm “Is Gordon Dangerfield still the solicitor?” =========== “I would like to offer…” Feb 6, 01:24
willie on A Stitch In Timing: “Sold a bummer by the judiciary it seems. Or was it more the case that the assurance that Section 170…” Feb 6, 00:24
barelybare on A Stitch In Timing: “I am having trouble understanding how Section 170’s imprisonment condition could cause Mark Hirst’s action to be thrown put, but…” Feb 5, 23:56
Jay on A Stitch In Timing: “Re-read Rev. Stu’s article. Think i have the answer.” Feb 5, 22:54
Jay on A Stitch In Timing: “Is ‘The.Ciminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995’ legislation prepared and passed by the Parliament in Westminster? Which Parliament can enact amendments…” Feb 5, 22:31
barelybare on A Stitch In Timing: “Is Gordon Dangerfield still the solicitor? This blog post https://gordondangerfield.com/2022/02/27/mark-hirst-v-chief-constable-and-lord-advocate/ nearly 4 years old(!) suggests he felt assured that Section…” Feb 5, 22:24
GM on A Stitch In Timing: “I agree with with everything you wrote there Lorna. (Although It is just plain wrong that the legal process can…” Feb 5, 22:14
ALANM on A Stitch In Timing: “The treatment of Enoch Burke at the hands of the Irish State is evidence enough for me that Scotland had…” Feb 5, 21:22
Campbell Clansman on The Marshalling Plan: “THIS is the real SNP–shaking down people who want to do business in Scotland. At £750 per person: “The SNP’s…” Feb 5, 21:10
Campbell Clansman on A Stitch In Timing: “Mark Hirst HAS been punished. Not with imprisonment, but with the malicious prosecution itself, and the 4-year legal fight (undoubtedly…” Feb 5, 21:05
J Robertson on A Stitch In Timing: “Completely agree Lorna” Feb 5, 20:52
Young Lochinvar on A Stitch In Timing: “The Royalty, Scottish nobility, the Church of Scotland and the Scottish legal community; the main players in 1707 of ensuring…” Feb 5, 20:33
Lorna Campbell on A Stitch In Timing: “Dear Lord, will people stop trying to blame everything on England and take responsibility for what is happening in Scotland?…” Feb 5, 20:32
Hatey McHateface on A Stitch In Timing: ““It’s like someone committing a vile and vicious murder and then when found guilty the judge says there is nothing…” Feb 5, 20:28
J Robertson on A Stitch In Timing: “If it has taken in excess of 4 years to bring a case for malicious prosecution to court this is…” Feb 5, 20:16
PC Foster on The Marshalling Plan: “So heartening to see the EHRC intervene in the way that they have.” Feb 5, 19:34
Hatey McHateface on The Marshalling Plan: “Here’s one you can write on the side of a bus, BB: “Just 3 months left to save our NHS”…” Feb 5, 19:08
Hatey McHateface on The Marshalling Plan: “Ah, c’moan noo, Fearghas. Take away his antisemitism and what’s he left with? Just rabid anti-Englishness, enthusiasm for gas chambers,…” Feb 5, 19:02
Willie on A Stitch In Timing: “The decision shows you vicious, malicious politically motivated prosecution can be mounted against selected individual and thereafter, when the prosecution…” Feb 5, 18:53
Disgruntled of Dumbarton on A Stitch In Timing: “I thought the HRA meant judges could turn the law as written on its head if it breached someone’s human…” Feb 5, 18:04
Tartan Tory on The Marshalling Plan: “Yes Iain, I will be voting for an English Nazi party. I’ve spoiled all my votes for almost the past…” Feb 5, 17:50
Cantankerous Skank on The Marshalling Plan: “That comment about (do do do the funky) Given being given a place on a law course with bad grades…” Feb 5, 17:37
Sven on A Stitch In Timing: “John Burns @ 16.42. Obviously inspired by their succes with the Fur Farming prohibition Act of 2002, our devolved administration…” Feb 5, 17:06
John Burns on A Stitch In Timing: “Only the SNP could bring a bill before the Scottish Parliament to ban something that doesn’t exist in Scotland (…” Feb 5, 16:52
Andy Wiltshire on A Stitch In Timing: “I’m almost tired of being tired of being outraged. It really seems that there is nothing that can actually be…” Feb 5, 16:38
100%Yes on A Stitch In Timing: “It make you wonder if the incompetence of justice system in Scotland isn’t being done by design, in order to…” Feb 5, 16:28
