We’re not in the habit of just reprinting other publications’ stories wholesale here at Wings Over Scotland – we’ve done it maybe four or five times in a year-and-a-half, and two of those were yesterday – but we’ve got a lot on today and there isn’t much we can add to this piece in today’s eminently-worth-purchasing Sunday Post.
As our Twitter followers will know, we’ve experimentally decided to reserve Saturdays for light-hearted comic banter, as a bit of relief from the serious business of politics.
Sir Alex Ferguson (no relation) resigned as manager of Manchester United this week. The resulting deluge of newspaper articles covered a wide range of opinions, both gushingly complimentary and rather less so, but one characteristic of the man was uniformly (and approvingly) agreed on – that he always defended his players.
And it was hard not to contrast that unwavering loyalty (a trait described by Ferguson himself as “the anchor of my life”) with events in the independence debate last week.
Somewhat to our surprise, the tabloid press at least hasn’t been able to avoid covering Labour activist, election candidate and BBC pundit Ian Smart’s astonishing brainfail outburst of Sunday night. (We’ve just noticed a Herald piece too, leaving – surprise! – the BBC and Scotsman as the only media not to consider it worthy of note.)
Smart himself has attempted a hasty damage limitation exercise, claiming that his comments, which presented Scotland as a nation of violent racist bigots suppressed from attacking minorities only by (relative) economic stability, were in fact directed solely at a small faction of independence-supporting “cybernats”.
It’s indescribably beautiful that the No camp’s much-trailed “500 questions” PDF about independence actually features 507. At least they’re getting their arithmetic wrong downwards for a change. When all those are answered they promise hundreds and hundreds more, so we thought we’d give them a head start on Volume 2.
Let’s imagine for a second, just for a bit of fun, that this was a prominent SNP or Yes Scotland activist, rather than a Labour one who’s the main contributor to LabourHame and regularly employed by the BBC for some cosy chat on the Sunday Politics.
Charles Green wasn’t using the P-word in a hateful or prejudiced way either, but he got slammed all over the media, chased out of his job and fined £2500. We’re guessing it’s a non-story here, though. Shall we all have a look at the papers tomorrow and find out?
But incredibly, the P-word isn’t even the most offensive thing.
We stumbled across this quite by accident yesterday. We think you’ll enjoy it.
The clip is from last year, and was aired on Canadian national news channel Sun News. Douglas Murray is a British writer who claims to be half-Scottish on account of unspecified links to Unionist breeding ground the Isle of Lewis, popular haunt of No-camp luminaries like Alistair Darling, virulent Labour anti-devolutionist Brian Wilson and controversial “Better Together” donor Ian Taylor.
Murray studied at Eton and Oxford and writes for august UK journals like the Spectator and Guardian, as well as appearing on numerous BBC political shows. For some reason, the Canadians consider him an expert on Scottish politics, qualified to inform and enlighten their viewers. See what you think.
The BBC’s flagship satirical programme “Have I Got News For You” is, of course, comedy. The tone of the opening minutes of last night’s episode was a little uglier and nastier than the usual friendly inter-regional jibes (normally delivered by the likes of Jeremy Clarkson and accompanied by rebukes from the rest of the panel), but it really wasn’t anything to get overly worked up about. Comedy isn’t always cuddly.
It must have been a little uncomfortable for the No camp, though.
The Scotsman reports this morning that Ed Miliband is planning a highly personal attack on Alex Salmond and the SNP at the Scottish Labour conference in Inverness later today. Apparently the Labour leader will say, among other things:
“His is a narrow nationalism that thinks the way Scotland prospers is in a race to the bottom across the UK, cutting corporation tax rates for powerful companies while doing nothing for working people. And a narrow nationalism that says if it is in the interest of the SNP then it is OK to do cosy deals with Rupert Murdoch.”
If you can’t quite remember who Ed Miliband is, this is him:
Hatey McHateface on Anything But That: “Indy built on truth – amen to that. The first truth is that Indy has to be the “broad kirk”…” Sep 11, 09:50
Northcode on Anything But That: “For clarity, and because Professor Black’s work is often invoked in different ways, here is my understanding of what he…” Sep 11, 09:27
Chas on Anything But That: “I am absolutely gutted by your response. Well, not really. Who I donate to is none of your business. It…” Sep 11, 09:25
100%Yes on Anything But That: “Chas@11 September, 2026 at 8:08 am I’ve donated to Savlo and Liberation Scotland, we all know why we are donating…” Sep 11, 08:52
Hatey McHateface on Anything But That: “Does the professor also subscribe to the “And With One Bound Scotland Was Free” notion, or does he admit that…” Sep 11, 08:23
Chas on Anything But That: “Did you pay your own costs? Or did you rely on the donations from the mugs, sorry supporters of your…” Sep 11, 08:08
Alf Baird on Anything But That: ““The story of the 1707 Union is not one of a voluntary, mutual partnership. It is a story of annexation,…” Sep 10, 21:42
Alf Baird on Anything But That: ““The evidence points to only one conclusion: Scotland was annexed into a continuing English state.” (Prof Robert Black, ‘The Takeover…” Sep 10, 20:35
Alf Baird on Anything But That: “Yes indeed Sam, Professor Black confirmed his conclusion on the ‘takeover’ and ‘annexation’ of Scotland by England during the SSRG…” Sep 10, 20:11
Hatey McHateface on Anything But That: “Most admirable, Spartan. Is your brand of committed pacifism reciprocated by the people you call puerile, shite-posting idiots, or do…” Sep 10, 19:54
sam on Anything But That: “Northcode, You say: “In informal settings — interviews, videos, conferences — he [Robert Black,KC] sometimes uses the word “annexed” as…” Sep 10, 19:48
100%Yes on Anything But That: “Have a listen to Gayle Miller on this Wednesday of Scottish Prism and the lady has posted a more detailed…” Sep 10, 19:42
Spartan 117 on Anything But That: “A good post Mark (and James above). Destructive unnatural ideologies specifically designed to break the Human spirit and democratic rule…” Sep 10, 18:47
Spartan 117 on Anything But That: “Good post. Well said.” Sep 10, 18:42
Northcode on Anything But That: “My earlier comment was referring to Professor Black’s formal legal argument (for example in “For England, Nothing Changed”). In that…” Sep 10, 18:02
Mark Beggan on Anything But That: “The key to that holding is teaching the children. Teach them the truth. Teach them the christian principles. Teach children…” Sep 10, 18:01
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Anything But That: “AN TEACHDAIRE PÀRLAMAIDEACH Naidheachdan Pàrlamaid na h-Alba Scottish Parliament news 10/09/2026 https://campaign.emailblaster.cloud/MjQwNDM/58.html” Sep 10, 17:41
Mark Beggan on Anything But That: “The two sovereign nations sign a Treaty of mutual respect in practical terms that will be the envy of the…” Sep 10, 17:35
Captain Caveman on Anything But That: ““My point? Most of these common labels have been overused and mis-applied to the extent they’re now useless. Essentially they…” Sep 10, 17:30
James Che on Anything But That: “Mark Beggan, Ideology seems to being doing a lot of damage nowadays, Because Scotland does not run the Government in…” Sep 10, 17:25
sam on Anything But That: “Northcode In the youtube video linked up thread, at 18 minutes and 47 seconds Professor Black states that Scotland was…” Sep 10, 17:13
Hatey McHateface on Anything But That: “To be fair to BP, if believing there’s only two sexes and that they differ in many fundamentals from the…” Sep 10, 16:43
Aidan on Anything But That: “@James – firstly thank you for engaging rather than just projecting, but secondly what do you mean by sovereignty?” Sep 10, 16:42
Mark Beggan on Anything But That: “Why don’t you just get an AK47 and a few stun grenades and be done with it. Storm Starbucks.” Sep 10, 16:30
James Che on Anything But That: “Aidan, Surely a supposed created State hundreds of years ago is still relevant to both Scotland and England today.as neither…” Sep 10, 16:26
Mark Beggan on Anything But That: “I watched the footage of the 2025 meeting. You only see the back of the heads of the audience. Very…” Sep 10, 16:20
Mark Beggan on Anything But That: “You will not get a referendum but what you will get is more government and more civil servants. Burnham is…” Sep 10, 16:11
Mark Beggan on Anything But That: “It is even more frightening when the government try’s to change history to fit their ideology.” Sep 10, 15:58
James Che on Anything But That: “North code. Indeed, Prof Black does not go as far as Westminster parliament in 2026 in Stating there is Not…” Sep 10, 15:55
Captain Caveman on Anything But That: ““Labour and the Tories are right wing parties,” was as far as I got.” Sep 10, 15:45
