Tonight sees what’s likely to be a highly-charged Scottish Cup quarter-final replay at Ibrox Stadium. Defeat will effectively end the losing side’s season, and games between the participants, Aberdeen and Rangers International, have tended to be fierce affairs ever since the latter club was formed in controversial circumstances in 2012, with this season’s clashes already having seen numerous red cards.
(Mainly for the home team’s temperamental striker Alfredo Morelos.)
Football authorities will be hoping for a minimum of flashpoints on the field which might lead to repeats of shocking recent scenes of abuse and violence from spectators, which have prompted the nation’s media to wring its hands in theatrical angst and demand that something be done.
The public’s view on the subject, meanwhile, has remained absolutely consistent.
Sundays have been the low point of Scottish political journalism for a while now. Traditionally a day when newspapers are heavy on comment and light on news (because politics tends to happen on weekdays), they unleash all the weary old dinosaurs who’ve been driving away readers for the last 30 years.
So you really have to stand out to be noticed for especially appalling hackery on a Sunday, which is probably why nobody from Scotland On Sunday wanted to have their name on this toe-curling piece of second-hand, lifted-from-another-paper garbage.
Professor Ronald MacDonald, you say? That name seems to ring a bell.
MARR: “What would [Theresa May] need to bring back [from Brexit negotiations] to win you over?”
DAVIS: “She needs to bring back a clear ability on the part of the United Kingdom to be able to leave this treaty when it chooses to. There is no other treaty in the world I’m aware of where a sovereign nation undertakes to join up and can only leave when the other side says so.”
We’re pretty sure we can think of an example, David.
Today is International Women’s Day, and we wouldn’t normally pay much attention to that fact because this is a Scottish politics website, not a feminist one. But the Scottish Government is currently putting itself at odds with women in a way it would have been hard to imagine when Nicola Sturgeon became First Minister, and since what Wings does specialise in is hard data – and at the request of a lot of women – we thought it was worth putting some solid numbers on a few things in our latest poll.
Scottish Labour’s 2019 conference, which starts in Dundee tomorrow, isn’t taking place in the most auspicious of circumstances, to put it kindly. The branch office is trailing a breathtaking 22 points behind the SNP in the latest Holyrood polling, 8 points behind the Tories, and the gap is getting bigger.
Westminster polling isn’t a great deal better, with the SNP 15 points ahead despite having been in power for 12 years and doggedly attempting to commit electoral suicide with a raft of increasingly unpopular policies (more on that to come).
Unionists have been in a purple frenzy of rage in the last couple of weeks that the First Minister has dared to leave the country not once but twice in order to try to improve relations and trade links with Scotland’s business partners. Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton – a man who still thinks the Queensferry Crossing isn’t finished a year and a half after traffic started using it – tried a different tack.
And that’s a zinger of a point unless oh dear what’s this?
Alf Baird on Shield Of The Phantom: ““Over time their cultures merged.” Linguistic evidence rather suggests divergence. In most former Pictish areas from the lowlands to the…” Jan 29, 21:31
Saffron Robe on Shield Of The Phantom: “If a judgement is selective rather than objective, it ceases to be a judgement of law and becomes merely an…” Jan 29, 20:58
Lorna Campbell on Shield Of The Phantom: “Aidan: the Treaty could not have been spent on the accession of the two states into the one state, the…” Jan 29, 20:54
Cynicus on Shield Of The Phantom: “I have just encountered an “AI detector “ online: it is called justdone.com. I am afraid I cannot recommend it…” Jan 29, 20:32
Aidan on Shield Of The Phantom: “Do please tell us all about this sea power Northcode, is there any large-output tidal energy project anywhere in Scotland…” Jan 29, 19:46
Cynicus on Shield Of The Phantom: ““..the new evidence aqq A” ====== Sorry for this gibberish in my long post above. The phrase should read, “the…” Jan 29, 19:37
Northcode on Shield Of The Phantom: ““Scotland already possesses key competitive advantages in marine energy, including abundant natural resources and dedicated enterprise agencies. The country’s marine…” Jan 29, 18:50
sam on Shield Of The Phantom: “Gaels and Picts combined to face the threat of the Vikings. Over time their cultures merged.” Jan 29, 18:42
Cynicus on Shield Of The Phantom: “Lorna Campbell says: 29 January, 2026 at 2:12 pm “AI spews out according to that which you put in, Cynicus.…” Jan 29, 18:39
sam on Shield Of The Phantom: “It is not 25% of the Scottish population, It is a turnout of at least 50% of those registered to…” Jan 29, 18:36
Hatey McHateface on Shield Of The Phantom: “So you don’t even grant them the basic courtesy of calling our ancestors by their own names? Preferring to use…” Jan 29, 18:35
Northcode on Shield Of The Phantom: ““In summary, Scotland’s marine energy resources have the potential to significantly contribute to its energy output, aligning closely with the…” Jan 29, 18:34
Northcode on Shield Of The Phantom: ““Indeed so, these are immense energy surpluses that would be earning Scots around £100 billion a year…” Yes, Alf. The…” Jan 29, 18:27
Hatey McHateface on Shield Of The Phantom: “Some good points made by David Davis and yourself, factchecker. My view is that if people can’t be arsed to…” Jan 29, 18:26
Northcode on Shield Of The Phantom: “Long before the arrival of The Christ the sixteen tribes held sway across the northern lands. So effective were their…” Jan 29, 18:16
agentx on Shield Of The Phantom: “@ Saffron Robe – interesting – thanks.” Jan 29, 18:15
factchecker on Shield Of The Phantom: ““Our view is that a reasonable level for the threshold that determines a settled will is that at least half…” Jan 29, 18:00
Hatey McHateface on Shield Of The Phantom: “Oh, give it a rest, Alf. If Scotland has a renewable leccy surplus on one of those days when the…” Jan 29, 17:15
sam on Shield Of The Phantom: “5 Regional Assemblies During the second reading of the Regional Assemblies (Preparations) Bill 2002-03 the Conservative spokesman, David Davis, expressed…” Jan 29, 16:06
factchecker on Shield Of The Phantom: “The 2015 election was the one when Nicola Sturgeon specifically stated that a vote for the SNP was not a…” Jan 29, 15:16
Aidan on Shield Of The Phantom: “@Alf – so in a future independent Scotland electricity bills would amount to around 33% of GDP? Sounds like a…” Jan 29, 14:19
Aidan on Shield Of The Phantom: “Okay so yet more lying, I honestly don’t know what you seek to gain out of saying things that are…” Jan 29, 14:16
Lorna Campbell on Shield Of The Phantom: “That may be true, but, if you know anything about AI, it will try to find the answers to that…” Jan 29, 14:12
Hatey McHateface on Shield Of The Phantom: “@Lorna Globalisation has worked on the most stupendously successful scale for the Chinese. Just as it is currently working unbelievably…” Jan 29, 14:02
Alf Baird on Shield Of The Phantom: ““Are they acting in the interests of Scotland” If the SNP leadership were acting in the interest of Scots we…” Jan 29, 14:02
Alf Baird on Shield Of The Phantom: ““Wind power is so abundant in Scotland” Indeed so, these are immense energy surpluses that would be earning Scots around…” Jan 29, 13:58
Hatey McHateface on Shield Of The Phantom: “Gonna level with you, Confused, these days I really miss your antisemitism. What I’d love to know is why you’ve…” Jan 29, 13:54
Peter McAvoy on Shield Of The Phantom: “If John Swinney said we can have among the cheapest power in Europe why doesn’t he do it and say…” Jan 29, 13:48
Lorna Campbell on Shield Of The Phantom: “Confused: good comment. No public utility should be outwith state control for precisely the reasons you have listed. Also, the…” Jan 29, 13:46
Hatey McHateface on Shield Of The Phantom: “Sure, Willie. Wind power is so abundant in Scotland they’re building all the turbines dozens of miles out to sea.…” Jan 29, 13:35
