There was a certain uncomfortable 2018 inevitability this morning over the fact that where people were offended, arrests would follow.
And the burning of a cardboard model of the Grenfell Tower last night was certainly right up near the top in the pantheon of cretinously offensive things. Many victims of the appalling tragedy, which killed 72 people and injured many more, still haven’t been properly rehomed almost a year and a half later.
Much of central Cowdenbeath was closed down for several hours by the police yesterday to facilitate an Orange Order parade attended by DUP leader Arlene Foster. (Curiously, Ruth Davidson, who’d been vocal in her complaints about traffic disruption in Glasgow due to the recent Yes march, had no objections this time.)
Foster made an audaciously ironic plea for a nation “free from intolerance and hatred“, right before the next speaker stepped up to denounce large sections of the local population as “enemies of Christ”.
In our latest Panelbase poll, we asked the same independence question we asked in the last one, and got much the same answer. (Technically the indy vote went up by about a sixth of one percent, but that’s statistically meaningless.)
That’s a bit disappointing after the events of recent weeks, but also not very surprising – after all, the way the question is framed pretty much guarantees at least 38% of the population will choose the second option straight off the bat.
Much more interesting is the question we asked next.
And no, we don’t even mean the FOUR spelling mistakes in this 42-word tweet.
We mean the bit that we’ve highlighted above in blue. Because what Scottish Labour’s lowest-watt bulb was gloating about earlier today was that Lord Bracadale concluded there’d been no gap created in the law by the Kelly-driven abolition of the OBFA.
And that’s… well, that’s not quite what Lord Bracadale said.
Last week we revealed that English voters would happily see Scotland and Northern Ireland leave the UK if it was the price of securing Brexit. But one of the odder things was that those figures included a sizeable number of Remain voters, who don’t want Brexit to happen at all.
We were a little perplexed, so we did a follow-up question asking those people if they’d elaborate a bit and got some interesting replies. One person, for example, answered “The Scottish people are very arrogant and although they want to be separate from the rest of the UK they are happy to take money from England”. Charming.
But there was also another stream of opinion on the subject, and it was revealed in the responses to another question in the original poll.
willie on Safety First: “I don’t think anyone thinks what has been attempted on Nurse Peggie is a laugh. our government is a laugh,…” Jul 26, 22:15
willie on Safety First: “Oh and one last thing before I retire I was thinking about intimidation which as we know in the good…” Jul 26, 22:01
agent x on Safety First: “Sandie Peggie, the claimant, is an A&E nurse at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy with 30 years’ experience at NHS Fife.…” Jul 26, 21:57
willie on Safety First: “Ah Hatey c’mon now you’ve probably rumbled Dr Theodore Upton’s future business plans. There is as been noted thems that…” Jul 26, 21:39
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “Alf Baird says @ 26 July, 6:20 pm – « We may perhaps reasonably conclude that nothing a colonial administration…” Jul 26, 20:13
agent x on Safety First: “Earlier this month, Swinney said, “it is in the interests of the country that he meets US President as he…” Jul 26, 20:00
Xaracen on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “Your turn, Aidan. Where’s your formal evidence that the C-24 ‘rejected outright’ Scotland’s Petition, to the extent that it will…” Jul 26, 19:47
Insider on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “Eh ????? Since when have Sturgeon, the “greens” and all the other gender woo woo trans activists been considered “right…” Jul 26, 19:44
Hatey McHateface on Safety First: “Ah, c’moan noo, Stuart. If nobody is getting their bits chopped, where are the people who want extra bits gonna…” Jul 26, 19:21
Hatey McHateface on Safety First: “Ah, c’moan noo, Stuart. If nobody is getting their bits chopped, where are the people who want extra bits gonna…” Jul 26, 19:21
Hatey McHateface on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “Very depressing that so much of the money for the renewables infrastructure is going to foreign-based companies whose governments have…” Jul 26, 19:17
Dan on Safety First: “I’ve yet to establish if Dr Oetker has connections to the genderwoowoo and pharmaceutical industry, but have long questioned where…” Jul 26, 19:16
Hatey McHateface on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “Alf, Would you care to give us an example or two of your perceived “ongoing discrimination against the Scots language”?…” Jul 26, 19:09
Dan on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “Other stuff going on in Scotland aside from genderwoowoo and dung beetle battles. https://www.isp.scot/july-19th-july-25th-2025/” Jul 26, 18:56
Stuart on Safety First: “What’s more amazing is that If genitals do not determine gender, then why do they have to be removed to…” Jul 26, 18:54
Alexander Gavin on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “It always amazes me, and makes me laugh, at how obsessed with sex or sexuality the right wing are!” Jul 26, 18:36
Alf Baird on Everybody’s Normal Nowadays: “We may perhaps reasonably conclude that nothing a colonial administration promotes is in the best interest of the colonized, the…” Jul 26, 18:20
Hatey McHateface on Safety First: “Dinna grudge her a new dress or two. Politics is, after all, show biz for ugly people. If we have…” Jul 26, 18:04
Hatey McHateface on Safety First: ““Trump, himself, may not have yet acquired political diplomatic skills” Yet even his most pathologically hating detractors, Guardianistas for example,…” Jul 26, 18:01
Nae Need! on Safety First: “I couldn’t agree more, GM. Sadistic tendencies. I’ve not found much about any of the TRA shite, laughable. Far too…” Jul 26, 17:54
agent x on Safety First: “The National front page 25 Jul “CONVICTED US FELON TO ARRIVE IN SCOTLAND Republican leader, who was found liable for…” Jul 26, 17:41
Nae Need! on Safety First: “Not that Stu hasn’t done a sterling job holding the fort in your absence, but it’s good to see you…” Jul 26, 17:41
Mark Beggan on Safety First: “Their power of permit has dissipated. I think it’s going to be a defensive election campaign with a few squirrels…” Jul 26, 17:37
Hatey McHateface on Safety First: “Sure, Anthem, what matters Indy or even the prosperity and well-being of Scotland’s people, compared with giving Trump the finger?…” Jul 26, 17:33
Nae Need! on Safety First: “Political Diplomacy is a dying art form. Alex Salmond had it. A true statesman if there ever was one. Trump,…” Jul 26, 17:28
Anthem on Safety First: “Utter nonsense!” Jul 26, 17:21
Anthem on Safety First: “Ach, away and gaslight somewhere else.” Jul 26, 17:19
Hatey McHateface on Safety First: “5:1 against. The “pretendy G@za jenny side” election: 2:1 on. It’s of fundamental importance to the groups self-identifying as Scotland’s…” Jul 26, 17:12