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Guided By Voices 63

Posted on February 16, 2024 by

If there’s ever been a (branch office of a) political party that could somehow manage to blow it in Scotland against the burning trainwreck in a ditch full of sewage that is the SNP right now, it’s definitely Anas Sarwar’s hapless Scottish Labour.

Honestly, this stuff is comedy gold. But in a winner-takes-all dumb-off with Humza Yousaf’s SNP, it’s way too close to call.

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Nothing Changes Here 96

Posted on February 15, 2024 by

One year ago today, Nicola Sturgeon suddenly resigned as First Minister. And what a spectacular 12 months it’s been for the Yes movement since her departure.

That, of course, is a somewhat selective graph.

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Scooby Don’t 301

Posted on February 10, 2024 by

Cheap lies 66

Posted on January 31, 2024 by

We long ago ran out of words to express the magnitude of the contempt in which the SNP now hold the people of Scotland. Which is unfortunate, because this probably calls for the invention of a whole new scale.

Shall we go through just a few of the more crassly insulting holes in this pitiful excuse for a cover story, just to pass the time while we wait for the former First Minister to appear before the COVID inquiry? We don’t know about you, but we’ve got nothing better to do.

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The reddest flag in history 61

Posted on January 30, 2024 by

Nicola Sturgeon is due to give her evidence to the COVID inquiry tomorrow – if, of course, she remembers anything. We’re awaiting, open-mouthed in genuine shock, her explanation for this.

Because try as hard as we might, we cannot for the lives of us bring to mind a single possible legitimate justification for a First Minister to do such a thing.

Alert readers may however note that 19 March 2020 was just four days before Alex Salmond was cleared of all charges, and might find themselves pondering the reasons why she might want to be in possession of a cheap disposable text-capable phone at that particular point in time.

Full transparency 387

Posted on January 27, 2024 by

The changing times 437

Posted on January 23, 2024 by

Just three and a bit years ago:

And today:

Comment seems superfluous.

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The Purity Police 190

Posted on January 20, 2024 by

Less Equal Than Others 124

Posted on January 19, 2024 by

On Tuesday 16th January the UK parliament put beyond doubt that their claims down the centuries that the UK is a respectful union of equals is, and always was, a lie.

This was the second time I’d brought my Scotland (Self-Determination) Bill before the house and there are various opinions floating around about the reasons for, and implications of, introducing the legislation as drafted. Wings kindly suggested I set out my reasons for bringing it forward for a second time, and why I consider Tuesday’s defeat in the chamber as a Pyrrhic victory for the union.

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First Do No Harm 425

Posted on January 15, 2024 by

We make no apology for returning once again to the depressing subject of the Scottish Government’s proposed new law to ban “conversion practices”, because it provides such an illuminating microcosm of how far a once competent and widely-respected administration has fallen since 2015.

Emma Roddick, who is piloting the bill towards the statute books in much the same way that Mohamed Atta piloted American Airlines Flight 11 towards the World Trade Centre, is a 26-year-old who by her own admission suffers from a serious and debilitating mental illness that any sane country would regard as an insurmountable bar to political office.

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Bully Boys 189

Posted on January 13, 2024 by

The Broken Mike 477

Posted on January 06, 2024 by

Mike Russell, currently at the centre of controversy over his appointment as chair of the Scottish Land Commission, hit the political big stage during Scotland’s first ever SNP administration under Alex Salmond, whom, in turn, Mike had previously seen into office as Salmond’s campaign manager.

In 2007 he was appointed as Minister for Environment, then in 2009 he became the Minister for Culture, External Affairs and the Constitution, and his conventional ministerial career concluded when he went on to replace Fiona Hyslop as Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning until the end of 2014.

Following the 2014 independence vote, the pre-referendum era ended with Salmond’s dignified (albeit temporary) stage exit; Nicola Sturgeon took the helm and began to reform what had been left to her by her predecessor.

A core pillar of Sturgeon’s centrist reform was the construction of an almost entirely opaque ivory tower of power from which both SNP and the state would run their covert affairs with subversive, centralizing, strong-arm granularity, cleverly camouflaging its sinister implications from the public through cult-of-personality media management.

Instrumental in this, among a very few select others, was Mike Russell.

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    • Andy Ellis on Clocks And Calendars: “@YL Given that “gotten” is – as I stated – probably more common amongst Scots than English users of the…Apr 6, 16:47
    • Young Lochinvar on Clocks And Calendars: “Yee Haw Pardner! You for forget to say FACT after your “construction” (?!?) statement.. Do you also call trousers “pants”,…Apr 6, 16:27
    • Young Lochinvar on The quality of mercy: “Beggars Then stop dissing all things Scotland “old boy”! By your own acknowledgement ye’ll feel so much better for it…Apr 6, 16:20
    • Andy Ellis on Clocks And Calendars: “The construction “might have gotten” is perfectly acceptable English usage: it’s probably more common in US, Canadian and indeed Scots…Apr 6, 16:05
    • James on The quality of mercy: “Purpose here? Distract, divide, dereail. Rinse, Repeat. And he/she/it thinks everyone is his/her/it’s “mate”. When in reality I don’t expect…Apr 6, 15:57
    • Mark Beggan on The quality of mercy: “To hate someone takes a lot of energy. Energy that could be better spent and used more constructively. Hate by…Apr 6, 15:46
    • crisiscult on Clocks And Calendars: ““might have gotten”? Who writes the blog these days? 8-/Apr 6, 15:17
    • Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The quality of mercy: “CONSTITUTIONAL STATUS of CHURCH OF ENGLAND and CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. When Elizabeth was Queen the royal website carried the following:…Apr 6, 14:35
    • James Barr Gardner on The quality of mercy: “I totally agree word for word, more and more people agree with it but the process needs speeding up for…Apr 6, 14:06
    • James on The quality of mercy: “Wilma; “Hello, pot? Kettle here…..”Apr 6, 12:51
    • Captain Caveman on The quality of mercy: “Heh. If there’s one thing I couldn’t been accused of, mate, it’s “poor self esteem”… much to the annoyance of…Apr 6, 12:45
    • Jay on The quality of mercy: “Thank you for the ‘good luck’ comment, Young Lochinvar. Regrettably, I lack your knowledge of M. Beggan and what I…Apr 6, 12:19
    • Confused on The quality of mercy: “an independent Scotland with the worst government imaginable is still preferrable to being in the UK with a government of…Apr 6, 11:51
    • Confused on The quality of mercy: “I’m not here to talk / debate / discuss with the hotpot-eaters, but merely to piss on them, from a…Apr 6, 11:47
    • Northcode on The quality of mercy: “I asked the internet this question: Do colonised elites appease their oppressor? And the internet said this: “In summary, while…Apr 6, 11:22
    • Northcode on The quality of mercy: “A hae writ doun a new vers fir thon rideeculous, agin-the-Scots, hatesome Inglis naconal anthem pish tae pit in the…Apr 6, 10:36
    • Alf Baird on The quality of mercy: ““Let us celebrate humiliation” Deid richt, Willie, the assimilated colonized aye celebrate their oppressor, e’en raise statues tae thaim, name…Apr 6, 09:47
    • Captain Caveman on The quality of mercy: “If you don’t understand the meaning of the terms “left” and/or “right” in a political sense, maybe pick up a…Apr 6, 09:41
    • Willie on The quality of mercy: ““Lord grant that Marshal Wade, May by thy mighty aid, Victory bring. May he sedition hush, And like a torrent…Apr 6, 07:03
    • Aidan on The quality of mercy: “And yet here you are Alf, indulging in the oppressive language of the coloniser and therefore condemning your fellow Scot…Apr 6, 05:00
    • Cynicus on The quality of mercy: “Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh says: 5 April, 2026 at 1:14 pm HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO G.F. Handel arr. J. Caponegro: Hail The…Apr 6, 01:23
    • Young Lochinvar on The quality of mercy: ““Tartan Tories” Wasn’t that the invention created by “Scotch” Labour to hide the fact it was THE Labour Party that…Apr 6, 00:35
    • Young Lochinvar on The quality of mercy: “Beggars Calm down “old boy”!! No need to rant 🙂 You appear to be dragging a disproportionate amount of Oswald…Apr 6, 00:08
    • Mark Beggan on The quality of mercy: “1981. The Tartan Tories was what they were called then.Apr 6, 00:04
    • Young Lochinvar on The quality of mercy: “Jay Good luck getting a coherent non-nazi reply..Apr 5, 23:38
    • George Ferguson on The quality of mercy: “I was trying to remember when I last walked up Carlton Hill in support of Scottish Independence. I have landed…Apr 5, 23:37
    • Mark Beggan on The quality of mercy: “That’s very interesting Jay you lunatic.Apr 5, 21:28
    • Jay on The quality of mercy: “Evening Mr.Beggan. For decades there has been a ridiculous useage of the terms ‘Left’, ‘Right’ and ‘Centre’ which are rarely…Apr 5, 20:49
    • Alf Baird on The quality of mercy: ““The residue of colonialism has deep roots” Yes, so long as the colonized native elite crave the colonizers culture and…Apr 5, 20:03
    • Dan on The quality of mercy: “Such is the fragile vanity of the US Administration, one could easily envisage them kicking off a war with Denmark…Apr 5, 18:47
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