Alert readers of Wings will know that I have a fondness for sweet and fruity things, and a particular favourite of mine are Tropical Vibes still lemonades. (NB Other drinks are available, this site is in no way sponsored by or financially affiliated to Tropical Vibes.)
I especially like their Ocean Blue variety, a deliciously sharp and tangy refresher which contains real blueberry juice.
As a journalist, readers, sometimes you want to pep a story up a bit. From time to time, it’s perfectly legitimate to sensationalise a relatively minor aspect of something in order to draw attention to a worthwhile but intrinsically dull subject.
At other times, you find yourself in the strange position of having to talk a subject down as much as you can, because if you simply report the facts calmly and neutrally it’ll sound so outrageous and ridiculous and deranged that everyone will think you’ve gone full-on, tinfoil-hat, pencils-up-the-nose insane.
I’ll be honest, readers, I’m so exhausted from despising the sickening nonce-panderers of the SNP this week that I can’t summon the energy to write any more about them. So I’m going to hand over to some other people.
All pics are links so that you can read full threads, see context and access any linked articles, and all these people are worth following.
The National must have been enormously proud when it successfully fought off all the other newspapers to secure this stunning exclusive today.
We must admit, when we had a good look in the “Pete Wishart Victories” section of our extensive archives we drew a blank. So we were excited to read on and find out.
The party is now primarily a vehicle for processing cash and funnelling it to carefully selected and ideologically vetted activists, mostly from the fundamentalist youth wing, who are given well-paid jobs working for MPs and MSPs or parachuted into council seats in return for their unquestioning loyalty to Nicola Sturgeon.
And at this, it must be admitted, the SNP is still a highly effective operation. Which is fortunate, because without UK government money it would be bankrupt.
Above are the Electoral Commission’s donation figures for the third quarter of 2022. They note that 100% of the SNP’s reportable income for that period came from the UK government’s coffers – a trait shared with Plaid Cymru, the SDLP and the DUP.
Given that three of those four parties are nationalists committed to removing various constituent parts of the UK, one might almost be tempted to commend Westminster’s generosity. But perhaps it knows exactly what it’s doing.
Word reaches us, readers, that Nicola Sturgeon was “furious” when she joined the most recent meeting of the SNP’s Westminster group by Skype. Her rage was driven by the suggestion that the party should trigger a Holyrood election to act as a de facto independence referendum, a policy we’re reliably told is supported by a number of MPs who are too scared of being browbeaten by Sturgeon in front of their colleagues to actually speak out in favour of it.
(We won’t mention their names at this point.)
Our source mentioned to us that they seemed to remember an interview in which the First Minister had revealed a possible reason for her extreme antipathy to the idea – one for the BBC’s extensive and rather good three-part documentary “Yes/No – Inside The Indyref”, which was broadcast in August 2019 and never seen again.
It’s not available on iPlayer or YouTube, but fortunately we happened to still have the show recorded on our Sky+ box, so we went to check, and lo and behold our source’s recollection was correct. Apologies for the slightly wonky quality of this video, as we had to record it off the TV screen.
It’s more than two years now since we published this article, but it’s worth quickly going over it again, because there’s nothing on Earth more tedious than boneheads on social media going “Oh, you slag off the SNP but what’s YOUR plan if you’re so clever?”, who haven’t bothered to read any of the dozen times we’ve already answered that question since 25 months ago.
This is it. This is our plan. Try listening this time, thickos.
twathater on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Unfortunately when governments and politicians IGNORE the wishes and concerns of the electorate and continue to treat voters with contempt…” Jul 28, 02:42
Young Lochinvar on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “AI Dun @ 7.04 And why does that statement seem to sit so very very comfortably with you, site pearl…” Jul 28, 01:26
Graf Midgehunter on The Nobodies: “You will never need an excuse to show a photo of Monica Bellucci..! And anyway, it’ll help cleanse the site…” Jul 28, 00:30
Oneliner on The Nobodies: “I think that his brother adopted the same attitude to VAT” Jul 28, 00:27
Ex President Xiden on The Nobodies: “I remember Sarwar when asked to comment on his hypocrisy of fronting a party advocating the abolishment of private education…” Jul 27, 23:06
Young Lochinvar on The Nobodies: “Well said Dan.” Jul 27, 22:32
willie on The Nobodies: “The X link is to a parody of the US police detective Lieutenant Columbo investigating Nicola Sturgeon. Peppered with real…” Jul 27, 21:47
Spartan 117 on The Nobodies: ““Scottish” Labour are irrelevant and will remain so forever more.” Jul 27, 21:24
100%Yes on The Nobodies: “Its a pity when the Redcoats went to their country’s they didn’t have an option. Lets all turn a blind…” Jul 27, 20:24
Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “Calm down. It’s just DEI. It won’t personally affect you. Be much more concerned by the DEI appointments in your…” Jul 27, 20:20
Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “Somebody defo told somebody to piss off.” Jul 27, 20:16
Mark Beggan on The Nobodies: “Monica Bellucci was at my door again last night with a red rose. I told her to piss off.” Jul 27, 20:06
Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “I think any politician who could fix period poverty will find running the country a dawdle by comparison. Of course,…” Jul 27, 20:03
diabloandco on The Nobodies: “Well put!!” Jul 27, 19:56
Owen Mullions on The Nobodies: “It’s just an AI video of Sturgeon being investigated by Columbo. Quite funny but sadly not happening in the real…” Jul 27, 19:49
Chas on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “My social status is just fine Sam however I can readily understand why yours is on the floor. As to…” Jul 27, 19:31
Aidan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Most of that list (primarily elderly academics) will be long-since retired by the time there is any chance of Scotland…” Jul 27, 19:04
100%Yes on The Nobodies: “Willie, I don’t have a X account so whats the breaking news?” Jul 27, 18:41
DaveL on The Nobodies: “Strangely enough I was trying to think of that Labour guy’s name the other day, I was pretty sure it…” Jul 27, 18:29
Effijy on The Nobodies: “I think this is the 19th Change of leadership for London’s North Accounting Office, sometimes referred to as Scotland not…” Jul 27, 18:27
Dan on The Nobodies: “Who really cares about the mainstream “Scottish” political parties pissing about in the poundshop devolved Parliament, they just seem to…” Jul 27, 18:27
Joan Savage on The Nobodies: “Excellent comment” Jul 27, 18:19
Northcode on The Nobodies: ““Number 10 North” is a slogan, not a shift in power. A new office in Manchester doesn’t rebalance the constitution……” Jul 27, 18:10
Craig on The Nobodies: “Great picture, made reading the article much more interesting. ?” Jul 27, 18:10
willie on The Nobodies: “It’ll not be the House of Lords that Nicola Sturgeon will be going to with US detective Columbo on the…” Jul 27, 18:06
Nicky T Naquetti on The Nobodies: “If the SNP actually wanted independence, instead of simply keeping their jobs for the next 4 or 5 years -…” Jul 27, 18:06
sam on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Mair shite from Chas who, like me, has a deep seated need to feel a rise in social status. Here’s…” Jul 27, 18:04
100%Yes on The Nobodies: “Theirs a lot in the SNP who are envious that they haven’t been selected to go into the house of…” Jul 27, 17:40
Andrea on The Nobodies: “I said this before, but I think it is worth repeating, who would want to be in the SP? OK,…” Jul 27, 17:24
