The Infinite Idiot 291
Posted on
May 24, 2023 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Archive for the ‘debunks’
Full ahead backwards 200
Posted on
May 19, 2023 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Just slightly under four weeks ago, this site told you “It seems very much as though the strategy has reverted to ‘Beg the UK government for a Section 30, and when they refuse, wait a while then beg them again'”.
Once again, we’re dismayed to report that we called it right. Because last night SNP MSP Mairi McAllan, officially representing the party on Question Time, told a weary audience in Fort William that that was precisely the case.
And readers, if ever a policy has been tested in battle and found wanting, it’s that one.
Running interference 64
Posted on
May 17, 2023 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Alert readers will have noticed some interesting stories recently.
The Scottish Sun’s scoop on Monday evening – a few hours after we tweeted information from a very well-informed source about the Crown Office’s continued attempts to obstruct Police Scotland’s investigation into the SNP’s finances – would have come as no great surprise to Wings readers already familiar with the way the unaccountable, unanswerable body operates.
But we’ve subsequently noticed a number of attempts by various people to muddy the story by talking about a “draft” warrant request, implying that there was no improper delay. So we checked up, and thought you might like to know how the process works.
Minority Report 131
Posted on
March 31, 2023 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
It’s not often we have to correct the figures of an esteemed KC like Joanna Cherry, but she’s made a straight-up mistake in her column for The National today.
Because of course Ash Regan and Kate Forbes did rather better than that.
The Hollow Crown 197
Posted on
March 27, 2023 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Today is the last day of Nicola Sturgeon’s record-breaking reign as First Minister of Scotland. In a few hours we’ll know who is to succeed her in the role. She was only the second SNP occupant of Bute House, and the legacy she bequeaths compared to the one she inherited from Alex Salmond is a matter of measureable record.
So let’s see the final scores on the doors.
Crossing swords 105
Posted on
March 13, 2023 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Tonight’s debate on Sky News between the three SNP leadership candidates was yet another inconclusive low-scoring draw, with each contender taking a few hits (almost all from host Beth Rigby) and also landing the odd blow on each other.
The most notable of the latter was probably when Ash Regan gave Humza Yousaf a rather uncomfortable time over his claiming credit for the Queensferry Crossing when he was Transport Secretary.
As well as frantically trying to deflect by pretending Regan had attacked the SNP’s record on the project in general, Yousaf insisted that he’d played a major role in the bridge’s delivery. So let’s just check the timeline.
The feather-light touch 132
Posted on
February 22, 2023 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Yesterday, readers, we warned you that “online newspaper polls are self-selecting and vulnerable to manipulation”. Here’s what that looks like in practice.
Let’s crunch some numbers.
The Hand Of The State 154
Posted on
February 21, 2023 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
We’ve already noted how the Unionist press appears to be trying to influence the outcome of the SNP leadership election, but last night the big beast of Scottish media – the BBC – waded into the fray.
A major piece by the Corporation’s Scotland editor James Cook focused on interviews with two of the three contenders – excluding Ash Regan – on the basis that both had launched their official campaigns yesterday while Regan’s isn’t expected to be until later this week.
That’s fair enough. No problems there, right?
The Normal Person’s Political Dictionary 165
Posted on
February 13, 2023 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
There are terms beloved of politics activists and commonly used on social media which are a baffling mystery to the general public. We’ve spoken several times of the word “gaslighting”, which is understandably used as shorthand for quite a complex thing that’s difficult to describe concisely, but nevertheless acts as a barrier to understanding for anyone not overly political.
Today’s lesson is the term “DARVO”, and stars the Scottish Greens’ favourite rapist.
Let’s quickly see how it works.
Scotland’s Dregs Problem 150
Posted on
January 26, 2023 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Man, we wish we hadn’t used this headline up two days ago.
BBC Scotland’s Debate Night programme last night was rather peculiar. It took place in a mostly-empty studio, but clearly not due to COVID precautions because the people who were there were all jammed tightly together in the middle. (In fairness, given BBC Scotland’s audience ratings they may still have outnumbered television viewers.)
On an all-female panel it featured, “by popular demand”, someone presenter Stephen Jardine described as “one of our best-loved comedians”, a former electrician called Susie McCabe, who we’d never heard of in our lives. (She apparently presented the channel’s Hogmanay show, something no sane adult has watched since 1982.)
She made one particular contribution that set social media aflame.
The joke isn’t funny any more 217
Posted on
January 24, 2023 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Last night we couldn’t help chuckling at this.
Because as someone else on Twitter mocked, what’s actually laughable is the idea that criminals would never engage in any kind of deception in order to commit crimes, and that someone like Peter Tatchell would be so idiotic as to suggest such a thing.
But tonight it’s not even blackly comic.
Look, no elephants 83
Posted on
January 20, 2023 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Our sinister network of shadowy agents informs us that the document below has just been sent by Murray Foote to all SNP Parliamentarians. (Click to enlarge.)
It would appear that the SNP is feeling some heat.
