The Daily Telegraph just released a video called “100 Reasons Why Brexit Was A Good Thing”. It listed them to a soundtrack of “Jerusalem”, the same song that closed the Labour Party conference earlier this week with its stirring ode to just one of the four nations of the United Kingdom.
We’ve saved a few of the highlights below, just in case the Telegraph should delete the video in a fit of sanity. We’ve also added one fake one. See if you can spot it.
The Sunday Times has a new Panelbase poll out today, and it borrows a question that was first asked by this website (via the same pollster) 14 months ago. These were the results this month:
They broadly show little change from when we asked last year (for the five options the changes are +1, 0, -3, +8 and -5), suggesting that the main practical upshot of the EU referendum campaign was to halve the number of Don’t Knows, which was achieved by shifting almost all of them straight onto the Leave side with the Remain camp’s abysmal recreation of Better Together’s “Project Fear”.
Nevertheless, the chart is a fascinating and pertinent one. Because while there’s only one of the four non-DK groups in the list who definitely can’t get what they want, there’s another one whose decision will be a lot harder than Yes supporters would like.
We originally wrote this article in March, in response to the Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (better known as GERS) figures for 2014-15. We’ve updated it to take account of events since that time, of which there’s been one rather major one.
Today saw the publication (just five months after the 2014-15 GERS) of the 2015-16 stats, which are again triggering a convulsive orgy of “BLACK HOLE!” articles across the media, as every Unionist in the land falls over themselves to portray their own country as a useless scrounging subsidy junkie without actually using the exact words “too wee, too poor, too stupid”.
And once again, everywhere you look there’s a “Proud Scot” screaming about how the figures – showing an essentially unchanged “deficit” despite an almost £2bn fall in oil revenue – destroy a case for independence that those same people have spent most of the last four years stridently insisting never existed in the first place.
If there haven’t been as many posts on this site as people might expect at a time of such incredible political turmoil, it’s because Wings isn’t at heart a commentary blog. We don’t do a lot of flat-out opinion pieces, tending to concern ourselves more with measurable, empirical facts, and since nobody knows anything about anything at the moment, we haven’t had all that much useful to say.
But the closest thing there is right now to a certainty is that sometime quite soon, Unionist politicians in Scotland are going to have to grow up and deal with this:
And their problem is that there’s no possible way to.
So the official Westminster line is that Scotland will HAVE to become independent if it wants to remain in the EU. We’re sure the FM will be absolutely gutted to hear that.
If your only source of news was the mainstream media, you could be forgiven for thinking that the consensus in the EU regarding an independent Scotland was bleak. Spain would, we’re told endlessly, veto Scotland’s place in the EU out of hand, and so, allegedly, would France.
And when Scotland’s First Minister went to Brussels after the referendum vote to meet with EU officials in regards to Scotland’s membership, we were told that this bold act of outreach fell on deaf ears.
The language of the press was hostile bordering on sadistic. The First Minister, acting to secure the democratic will of the people of Scotland, was apparently “running out of friends” and had to “beg” Ireland to help us out.
The reality, readers will be astonished to hear, is somewhat different.
Earlier today we were moved to tweet our scepticism regarding a claim made by the Scottish Labour branch manager Kezia Dugdale, as reported in the Guardian.
Even on the most casual glance, the numbers just didn’t seem to add up. If 62% of Scots voted to stay in the EU and 55% voted to stay in the UK, with no correlation between the two things, then the Venn-diagram intersection between those two groups seems pretty unlikely to add up to more than 50%, let alone a “vast” majority.
Despite having an even number of participants, the panel is split 3:1 in favour of Remain and 3:1 against independence (surely the biggest specifically Scottish issue likely to arise from the Brexit vote, and which several polls in the last couple of weeks now show is backed by a majority of voters).
Half of the debaters are also Labour politicians, which means that the third-placed party which got 22% of the vote in this May’s election has as much representation as two parties who got 69% between them.
We’ve been racking our brains for a couple of hours trying to work out a way in which such a multiply-skewed line-up could be justified (other than flat-out trolling), and we’ve got nothing. Does anyone have any ideas?
robertkknight on Marvola The Memory Woman: “…Not only that, but no action taken with regard to those who blatantly lied under oath and clearly attempted to…” May 30, 10:50
paul on Marvola The Memory Woman: “The question that is vexing me, and no doubt the entire nation, is whether ladies underwear identified by the police…” May 30, 10:39
Kenneth Coutts on The Final Robbery: “Jeez, is that narcissistic or what , me me me. They are all traitors , sell outs , hing oots.…” May 30, 10:05
MaryB on Marvola The Memory Woman: “She tried describing Peter Murrell as a mysogenist this week. That’s a new angle for her to get the sympathy…” May 30, 09:39
SilentMajority on Marvola The Memory Woman: “Maybe even her self-conceited attitude knew that to be anywhere near a book titled ‘We Know What You Did’ was…” May 30, 09:00
Dan on Marvola The Memory Woman: “Aye, and let’s not forget other examples of the linked corruption. Just how could Alphabetty Miss H have stated so…” May 30, 08:58
Spartan 117 on Marvola The Memory Woman: “Digging up an event from almost 600 years ago. Well that’s convinced me about Independence then. Talking about clutching at…” May 30, 08:48
Willie on Marvola The Memory Woman: “The Crown Office is a criminal colonial operation. No one can have any faith in this arm of the state.…” May 30, 08:09
Bilbo on Marvola The Memory Woman: “I know there has been a lot of rumours, innuendo and hearsay about Sturgeons and Murrells marriage by people, including…” May 30, 08:07
Dave on Marvola The Memory Woman: “‘In Scotland strangulation often proceeded this ghastly death but not in merry ol’ England where they just loved a full…” May 30, 06:59
Young Lochinvar on Marvola The Memory Woman: “Serious question for those who know these things; Appointment aside. Who actually employs, oversees and pays Breathy Bain and her…” May 30, 04:37
Young Lochinvar on Marvola The Memory Woman: “And THAT Izzie is why your posts here have been so so very wrong. “Booked yer slot with the campervan”;…” May 30, 04:30
twathater on Marvola The Memory Woman: “By fuck hatey McFuckwit you don’t half have a disturbed delusional mindset, your disturbed wee brain conjures up all sorts…” May 30, 03:34
David McAdam on Marvola The Memory Woman: “Murrell and Sturgeon absolutely slaughtered on HIGFY by all the guests. Reduced SNP to a Friday night laughing stock. I…” May 30, 02:57
Young Lochinvar on Marvola The Memory Woman: “BTW Meant to add; the English lost the Hundred Years’ War (as well) and were finally booted completely out of…” May 30, 01:52
Young Lochinvar on Marvola The Memory Woman: “On this day in history, 1431. Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans, La Pucelle, her that led the French…” May 30, 00:46
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Marvola The Memory Woman: “POLICE SCOTLAND SLAMMED FOR SPENDING THOUSANDS ON PRO-TRANS ADVICE PANEL Police Scotland is under fire for spending over £7,200 on…” May 29, 22:48
Geri on Marvola The Memory Woman: “She looks like she’s a permanent resident of the kitchen these days. Especially around the fridge area. Aye, I know.…” May 29, 22:16
Hatey McHateface on Marvola The Memory Woman: ““Everything that has emerged concerning the Murrell/Sturgeon affair is consistent with the explanatory framework provided by the political theory mentioned…” May 29, 22:11
agentx on Marvola The Memory Woman: “Incredible that she employs an expensive solicitor and then ignores the “no comment” advice.” May 29, 21:54
Confused on Marvola The Memory Woman: “poor little Nikki – “I don’t wanna … talk about it … ” – and yet she won’t stop talking…” May 29, 21:53
paul on Marvola The Memory Woman: “I disagree. There is a good deal of good in hounding her (her passion partner has gone) as every time…” May 29, 21:40
Jay on Marvola The Memory Woman: “Do tell us Chas, are you one of those sane, educated persons to whom you refer (in response to Alf)?…” May 29, 21:00
agentx on Marvola The Memory Woman: ““In the period leading up to the launch of the police inquiry senior people in the SNP including the former…” May 29, 20:20
bobo bunny on Marvola The Memory Woman: “if its a matrimonial home, I dont think it can be sold, until they are legally divorced” May 29, 20:06
agentx on Marvola The Memory Woman: ““Nicola Sturgeon said a coffee machine would be her luxury item when she appeared on Desert Island Discs. Scotland’s former…” May 29, 19:48
Frank Gillougley on Marvola The Memory Woman: “She said that she had been ‘deceived, misled, lied to and betrayed’ Well, whatdya know? That’s not irony bypass, thats…” May 29, 19:43
agentx on Marvola The Memory Woman: “Well I’ve just seen No Further Comment Sturgeon on BBC news, ITV news and Channel 4 news making further comments.…” May 29, 19:34
Hatey McHateface on Marvola The Memory Woman: “It’s reasonable to assume she may have thrown the odd steam iron in his direction from time to time.” May 29, 19:06
