Last night’s farce in the House Of Commons, where MPs rejected in turn every single possible Brexit option and variant thereof, perfectly encapsulated the ridiculous state of British politics and may well have scuppered any chance of avoiding a no-deal Brexit, because the EU’s terms for a longer Article 50 extension than April 12 were that the UK presented a clear and achievable plan.
But who ultimately sank the plans for either a softer Brexit or a second referendum?
This was the Scottish Tories two years ago, when Scotland’s economy registered a small downturn for a single quarter, which was definitely the SNP’s fault:
Shall we find out what actually happened, readers?
Several media outlets today relate a story from BBC Scotland’s fascinating three-part documentary of the indyref, revealing that secret UK government polling in the first week of September 2014 gave Yes a lead even bigger than the famous 51-49 one published by the Sunday Times on the 7th.
And naturally we couldn’t help wondering what might have caused it.
Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the ALDE group in the European Parliament (essentially the Euro Lib Dems), is by no means our standard go-to guy for political guidance. Like most European politicians he’s been criminally silent on the outrages being perpetrated by the government of Spain, and in general he’s a bit neoliberal for our tastes.
But his speech from yesterday is powerful stuff.
As we write this, the UK’s parliament is blundering through a third successive day of toe-curling farce on the floor of the Commons, aimed this time at securing some sort of extension to Brexit to avoid a disastrous no-deal in just 15 days’ time.
It may yet be that such a request will be issued and the EU will grant it, dragging out the whole awful mess for God knows how much longer. But judging by the tone of M. Verhofstadt’s impassioned, exasperated address in Strasbourg, we wouldn’t like to have money on it. It appears that an entire continent has had just about enough of us.
For some time, most polls for “Who’d make the best UK Prime Minister?” – the stat that really decides who wins general elections – have shown a solid lead for “Don’t know”, narrowly ahead of Theresa May and a long way ahead of Jeremy Corbyn.
It’s a prime symptom of a UK-wide contempt for politicians the magnitude of which we’ve never seen in our lifetime, and Scottish voters are in no way immune.
We loaded this question from our latest Panelbase poll in the party leaders’ favours, because you don’t have to think any of them is doing a GOOD job to say that one of them is doing the BEST job out of the four. Everything is relative – and we also didn’t ask the question specifically about Brexit.
But even with those get-outs, “They’re all useless” came out on top by a clear seven points over Nicola Sturgeon, and the rest weren’t even at the races.
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.
Geri on The View From Row Z: “& why was she told & by whom? That is what needs to be investigated. The UK is corrupt as…” Jun 2, 10:17
Captain Caveman on The View From Row Z: ““Spanish queer sauna” Good grief” Jun 2, 10:01
SilentMajority on The View From Row Z: “Quick…over there….a unicorn!” Jun 2, 09:45
Willie on The View From Row Z: “She resigned before she was ” burned out” of office. And “burned out” she would most certainly have been.” Jun 2, 09:43
SilentMajority on The View From Row Z: “Someone needs to ask Swinney, succintly, in front of a camera (and not ‘in camera’) exactly this question…about the ‘ring-fenced’…” Jun 2, 09:40
agentx on The View From Row Z: ““Sturgeon’s term ended on 29 March 2023, following her resignation announcement on 15 February, in which she claimed occupational burnout…” Jun 2, 09:33
agentx on The View From Row Z: “The SNP has been accused of using a “ringfenced” independence fund to repay a massive loan from EuroMillions winners Colin…” Jun 2, 08:58
TURABDIN on The View From Row Z: “THE SYSTEM will use this as a hammer to beat Scottish nationalism conveniently fogetting that it is the historic forensic…” Jun 2, 08:56
SilentMajority on The View From Row Z: “It is amazing that organisations are still ignoring the law, and are being quite blatant about it. Will it require…” Jun 2, 08:36
robertkknight on The View From Row Z: “The most credible explanation yet…courtesy of Rev Stu. https://x.com/WingsScotland/status/2061514899843682386 Where’s Izzie when you need her?” Jun 2, 08:10
Owen Mullions on Friends Without Benefits: “https://youtube.com/shorts/LgOS_ZvX-6c?si=Y7SE3tYJPio8bcLw” Jun 2, 07:22
Bilbo on The View From Row Z: “O/T https://archive.is/hY8Bk The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has called out the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) proposed updates to…” Jun 2, 07:11
Bilbo on The View From Row Z: “The left has been dazzled by the idea that giving parts of our society who have been marginalised in the…” Jun 2, 06:49
Bilbo on The View From Row Z: “@ Young Lochinvar Snobbery works both ways. This whole sordid episodes shows us that where despite having the same upbringing…” Jun 2, 06:40
James Barr Gardner on Nicola’s Summer Reading List: “Sanctifying Misandry: Goddess Ideology and the Fall of Man Katherine K. Young , Paul Nathanson” Jun 2, 05:39
James Barr Gardner on Marvola The Memory Woman: “That’s great coming from a misandrist !” Jun 2, 05:32
Young Lochinvar on The View From Row Z: “And that is supposed to mean? Only public school educated chaps and chappesses from nice areas are allowed to stand?…” Jun 2, 01:25
Buck Stradler on The View From Row Z: “This is what happens when you elect guttersnipes from Irvine.” Jun 2, 00:58
Young Lochinvar on The View From Row Z: “Hannah Bardell, former MP, lesbian and self professed “Queer” was aggressively pro Sturgeon on STVs Scotland Tonight. A quick Google…” Jun 2, 00:29
David Blake on The View From Row Z: “What do the police believe about the indyref2 money? The most obvious fact about the whole business is that it…” Jun 1, 22:17
Rob on The View From Row Z: “We had a chance to change things just a few weeks ago, the largest party is still the SNP and…” Jun 1, 21:00
Ian Smith on The View From Row Z: “Murrell was given legal aid because all his assets were frozen.” Jun 1, 20:55
gm on The View From Row Z: “I take it back, it appears to be perfectly normal for a KC to defend someone on legal aid. The…” Jun 1, 20:20
agentx on The View From Row Z: “Well your coalface acquaintance with decades of experience at the coal face of Scottish Criminal Justice, knows sfa. Murrell pleaded…” Jun 1, 20:08
Alf Baird on The View From Row Z: ““The mists are parting – it’s all becoming clear” Indeed, Uk***ne’s national elite opted to sacrifice their people and nation…” Jun 1, 19:49
Hatey McHateface on The View From Row Z: ““She is, of course, a nobody in England” Only, she’s not, just as she’s not a nobody in Scotland either.…” Jun 1, 19:23
gm on The View From Row Z: “I have no idea how it came about, what the rules are or whether it is the luck of the…” Jun 1, 19:22
Hatey McHateface on The View From Row Z: “Believe this or not. An acquaintance of mine, someone with decades of experience at the coal face of Scottish Criminal…” Jun 1, 19:13
