Yesterday we watched the first day’s proceedings of For Women Scotland taking the Scottish Government to court over its definition of what a woman is.
The topic is really very niche but will affect us all if the judge rules for the government (we won’t know the outcome for at least a month or two), so here’s the short version of what it’s all about.
Someone had to remind us that today is Wings Over Scotland’s 11th birthday.
In a grim indictment of Scotland’s once-vaunted political new media, a site that’s been officially closed since May 2021 is still far and away the most-read in the country, despite that readership now being mostly angry overgrown children squabbling with each other in the comments. People would apparently still, by a vast margin, rather read that than endure the tedium of Bella Caledonia or Believe In Scotland.
We’ve said pretty much all that there is to be said about that miserable state of affairs already, so we won’t repeat ourselves. God help the independence movement.
In the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, the Scottish Greens received just 4.7% of all the votes cast. (255,314 of 5,419,544). The SNP got 44% – almost 10 times as many.
So we’re not sure how the Greens – a party that well over 90% of Scots don’t support – suddenly appear to be in charge.
Nor, perhaps more to the point, do we understand why.
As well as being the Director of the John Smith Policy Centre (a job with no known responsibilities but which nevertheless pays around the same as being an MSP making laws in the Scottish Parliament) she writes regular columns in The Times and The Courier and is now, hilariously, the new Professor of Practice in Public Service in Glasgow University.
(A post with unspecified duties and unknown salary and which was also not, as far as anyone can tell, ever publicly advertised.)
We were bored so we thought we’d find out, via Panelbase, if her latest lucrative role was perhaps the result of a noticeably impressive performance in the first one.
Sometimes even fools and liars and charlatans speak the truth.
Thing is, we rather liked it when the horses south of the border were frightened. Things happened in those days. But to coin a phrase, those days are past now.
Because the SNP are now openly, publicly telling you that they’re never going to achieve independence for Scotland, nor even make any meaningful attempt at it.
For anyone with the slightest remaining grip on their critical faculties, the cat was truly let out of the bag on the day of the First Minister’s infamous “broom cupboard” video last January, in which she abjectly grovelled at the feet of a tiny handful of adolescent transactivists who’d left the party in a loud and choreographed public tantrum because it still hadn’t burned Joanna Cherry at the stake for believing in human biology.
One of those she was abasing herself to that day was the repulsive and now mercifully deceased drug dealer and abusive racist misogynist Leeze Lawrence (above, left), but he was only the tip of a filthy iceberg.
I am greatly honoured to have been targeted for censorship in the same weekend as two great artists as rightly esteemed as Salman Rushdie and Jerry Sadowitz. (Though thankful to have not yet been violently physically attacked for my views, as both have.)
To be honest, I was amazed my most recent Twitter account lasted three months. I set it up in May for the sole purpose of a throwaway rude reply to Darren “Loki” McGarvey and Kenny Farquharson of The Times, expecting it to be banned within hours, then somehow it had thousands of followers and I figured I might as well have a bit of fun with it for however long it lasted against the barrage of shrieking outrage and mass organised complaints from the SNP Twitler Youth.
Which turned out to be until Saturday night.
Twitter has declined to identify who I supposedly incited the harassment of, or to offer any examples of the offending tweets. Obviously I did no such thing, but it’s good to know that “in order to ensure that people feel safe expressing diverse opinions and beliefs on our platform”, only some opinions and beliefs may be expressed.
Which even in the hopelessly politically-debased world of the modern Scottish judiciary might be one of the most extraordinary miscarriages of justice in the nation’s history.
As you can see, she’s part of the hyperwoke “Aberdeen Independence Movement” faction which recently took it upon itself to issue a “code of conduct” for independence campaigners, demanding that everyone in the Yes movement should debate things:
Colin Alexander on The Unbargain Bin: “Salmond went the s30 route – upholding the sovereignty of his Queen of England in WM. Under Salmond, the SNP…” Nov 24, 14:20
Mark Beggan on The Unbargain Bin: “One flew over the cuckoos nest By Fergus Ewing” Nov 24, 14:04
Mark Beggan on The Unbargain Bin: “A Dictators Guide to the Galaxy P Harvey” Nov 24, 13:52
TURABDIN on The Unbargain Bin: “THE BIG LIE AND HOW THE F****** FELL FOR IT. a very, very, very graphic novel. by the Bute House…” Nov 24, 13:21
stuart mctavish on The Unbargain Bin: “Greater Expectations, we the people Highland Treasure, Kate Forbes Lords of the Wings, Campbell & Cairns The illuad, Boris Johnson” Nov 24, 12:50
Pete Short on The Unbargain Bin: “What, no copies of The Presidency colouring book by Doald Trump?” Nov 24, 11:20
Cynicus on The Unbargain Bin: ““The Truth About Me” by [REDACTED] Foreword by John Swinney” Nov 24, 11:11
TURABDIN on The Unbargain Bin: “A recent survey indicates 60% of people in England are dissatisfied with «politics» but only 20% in Scotland. The Scots…” Nov 24, 11:03
Hatey McHateface on The Unbargain Bin: “The Observer’s Book Of Alphabetties” Nov 24, 10:28
Hatey McHateface on The Unbargain Bin: “FFS, Mia! Faced with the monstrous betrayal of Scotland’s honour, history and democracy that Yousaf as FM of Scotland embodied,…” Nov 24, 10:26
Hatey McHateface on The Unbargain Bin: ““The Scot Abroad” That’s one of yours isn’t it?” Nov 24, 10:15
diabloandco on The Unbargain Bin: “‘The Book Cooker , his Wife and the Yes Them’ P.Murrell” Nov 24, 09:59
sam on The Unbargain Bin: “The Imporrtance of being Honest – Nicola Sturgeon Guys and Dolls – Sandy Brindley and them others As I Lay…” Nov 24, 09:41
Hatey McHateface on The Unbargain Bin: “That’s great news, sarah, if true. Is it clear what currency we’ll be using? I expect forwards-thinking Scots will want…” Nov 24, 09:38
Hatey McHateface on The Unbargain Bin: “A wee birdie tells me you have a book of your own in the pipeline, Ros: “A Search For scotland”…” Nov 24, 09:25
gregor on The Unbargain Bin: “The Who: Life House: Bargain: “I’d gladly lose me to find you I’d gladly give up all I have To…” Nov 24, 08:16
James Gardner on The Unbargain Bin: “Susan Aitken hus wan tae…..” Nov 24, 00:11
Astonished on The Unbargain Bin: “Mac – Superb. Laughing my socks off.” Nov 23, 22:31
Astonished on The Unbargain Bin: “I am really hoping that one becomes a reality.” Nov 23, 22:28
sarah on The Unbargain Bin: “O/T Has anyone seen the latest Inde-Car you tube? Someone is getting excited because apparently Inde-Car says we’ll be independent…” Nov 23, 22:14
SteepBrae on The Unbargain Bin: “A Tangled Web Anonymous” Nov 23, 21:29
Young Lochinvar on The Unbargain Bin: “Yes They are certainly having their own wee Bud Light/ Democrats/ Jaguar/ NuSNP/ S Greens (aka the Khymer Vert) moment…” Nov 23, 21:16
Mac on The Unbargain Bin: “Tinker, Tailor, Tr@it0r, Cunt. By Angus Le Robertson.” Nov 23, 20:56
Young Lochinvar on The Unbargain Bin: “There have been some clever belters today but this one is my favourite.” Nov 23, 20:18
Dumbarton Rock on The Unbargain Bin: “Well if you put your brain in gear, maybe you’d be able to work it out. You could start with…” Nov 23, 20:13