Almost nine in ten Scottish voters now back a second referendum on independence. This rather startling news was brought to us at the weekend by an unlikely source, in the form of walking brain vacuum Annie Wells MSP.
Wells was absolutely unequivocal that NO other vote this Thursday – not Labour, not Lib Dem, not Brexit Party – would constitute opposition to a second indyref.
(She emphasised the point by RTing a tweet from the Scottish Tories’ boorish and obnoxious head of media Adam Morris which described both Nigel Farage and Vince Cable as “weak on Scotland’s place in the UK”.)
We watched the whole of the Labour shadow Scottish Secretary’s interview on this morning’s Sunday Politics Scotland, and can confirm that this is a wholly accurate representation of what she said on it with regard to Labour’s position on Brexit.
So for those of you keeping score: Labour does NOT support a second referendum, does NOT support the current deal, does NOT support no deal, but WOULD vote for the current deal if it included a second referendum, and would INSIST on a second referendum on any alternative deal.
Honestly, we have no idea why anyone’s still confused.
We got a tweet this morning from one of those odd Twitter accounts that’s been going for eight years and still only has six followers. This one appears to be a fairly moderate right-wing, UK-nationalist Brexiter with only a few dozen tweets (nearly all replies) to their name since 2011.
Almost exactly two years ago, this website suggested that it might not be the smartest idea for Labour to go along with Theresa May’s call for a snap election. (Under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, it couldn’t have happened without Labour’s support.)
And it occurred to us today that if they hadn’t, the current government would only have a maximum of one year left to run.
The Conservatives’ disastrous handling of, and failure to deliver, Brexit seems to have finally begun to hurt them in the polls, with a clutch of recent stats showing Labour with a significant lead for the first time in many months.
Most seat projections on the numbers show Labour failing to reach a majority either on their own or with the Lib Dems, but being able to get Jeremy Corbyn in to Downing Street with the assistance of an increased number of SNP MPs.
We’ve still got a few of the results from our last Panelbase poll (conducted last month) to round up, and this one seems pertinent this week:
As has been the case ever since we started asking this question about the nation’s twin constitutional dilemmas back in July 2015, the single most popular option in a four-way choice remains an independent Scotland inside the EU, which leads the impending reality (a UK Scotland outside the EU) by a clear 10 points.
Scotland isn’t merely about to get something it doesn’t want, it’s about to get the exact opposite of the thing it wants most. But oh boy, is it ever more complicated than that.
Billions of years from now, when the Sun finally dies and expands to swallow and burn up the Earth in a final cataclysmic explosion, the very last thing to turn to dust and atoms will be Scottish Labour’s brass neck.
Coming from The Eternal Abstainers themselves that’s already quite a breathtakingly hypocritical claim, but if you look at last night’s results closely it gets a lot worse.
GM on The Blindness Of Hatred: “Yes, a good writer. I don’t know here bu A genuine person I believe. I read her articles.” May 12, 22:45
Anthem on The Blindness Of Hatred: “Totally agree James. I’ve suggested many times that it will be English mps at Westminster that’ll cause the union to…” May 12, 21:17
Dan on The Blindness Of Hatred: “I’m appreciative of a lot of Leah Gunn Barrett’s output. https://dearscotland.substack.com/p/privatisation-foreign-ownership-and It sure beats a pair of dung beetles argybargying…” May 12, 20:14
Robert Matthews on The Blindness Of Hatred: “Great idea sarah, i think i will too.” May 12, 19:44
Skip_NC on The Blindness Of Hatred: “Sarah, ach, I wonder if Alba senior leadership is still struggling with Alex’s death. There is a lot of talk…” May 12, 19:32
Rev. Stuart Campbell on The Blindness Of Hatred: “Dishonesty is the hallmark of how he handles all interactions with anyone.” May 12, 19:27
Skip_NC on The Blindness Of Hatred: “Do you really want a system where two main parties take turns at being an elective dictatorship? It’s all very…” May 12, 19:19
George Ferguson on The Blindness Of Hatred: “Good article Stu on the Electoral Stats. One thing I would have commented on was the win versus expenses ratio.…” May 12, 18:53
James Cheyne on The Blindness Of Hatred: “MaryB, When we get around to running our own parliament perhaps it would be wiser to just count a single…” May 12, 18:29
James Cheyne on The Blindness Of Hatred: “Anthem. Only starmer knows what goes on in his head, not even the rest of the labour party know.it took…” May 12, 18:19
twathater on The Blindness Of Hatred: “TBQH I support the dignity in dying bill as long as proper rules and regulations are adhered to, I am…” May 12, 18:18
agent x on The Blindness Of Hatred: “For God’s sake – the head of the Royal Navy cannot bonk a willing WREN. What on Earth is the…” May 12, 18:03
twathater on The Blindness Of Hatred: “Del you strike me as a snp apologist or sycophant with your snp good pish, where have you been for…” May 12, 17:56
James Cheyne on The Blindness Of Hatred: “Fearghas, I will look for those snippets of information. Here is another one of those glitches to Scots being in…” May 12, 17:47
Wilson Pickett on A Poor Example: “So this is the level of contribution to Wings now, is it? How the mighty have fallen, son.” May 12, 17:42
Anthem on The Blindness Of Hatred: “Does Starmers immigration announcement apply to the English in Scotland?” May 12, 17:32
factchecker on The Blindness Of Hatred: “The concept of the ‘sovereign Scots’ is interesting. Can anyone tell me when in history the sovereign Scots were ever…” May 12, 17:14
Owen Mullions on The Blindness Of Hatred: “Today marks the 4th blog in a row from James Kelly about the man he says is obsessed with him.…” May 12, 15:56
MaryB on The Blindness Of Hatred: “Is it any wonder that people are confused about how the Scottish voting systems work when there are three different…” May 12, 14:36
Martin McGarry on The Blindness Of Hatred: “I’m not Scottish and have never had a vote in Scotland, so Scottish tactical voting is not something I know…” May 12, 14:03
Xaracen on The Blindness Of Hatred: “King Charles is not entitled to demand allegiance from any Scot for any reason, and no-one is entitled to demand…” May 12, 13:56
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The Blindness Of Hatred: “As introduction and tribute to Paul H. Scott (mentioned in my Lockhart post above) please visit the following Sir Walter…” May 12, 13:48
James Cheyne on The Blindness Of Hatred: “Holyrood usage As a secondary ( even a sub-parliament ) by extention from Westminster, passing “Scots law” bills separately in…” May 12, 13:32
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The Blindness Of Hatred: “I would like to draw attention to the book: ‘SCOTLAND’S RUINE: LOCKHART OF CARNWATH’S MEMOIRS OF THE UNION’ (Edited by…” May 12, 13:02
James Cheyne on The Blindness Of Hatred: “Re – The assisted Killing / murder bill going through Holyrood. The problem with these bills going through Scotlands parliament…” May 12, 12:37
sarah on The Blindness Of Hatred: “Thanks for the nudge – I will email my MSPs now.” May 12, 12:28
sarah on The Blindness Of Hatred: “Well, Skip NC, for heaven’s sake why doesn’t Alba come under the umbrella grouping? It would mean no wasted votes…” May 12, 12:27
crazycat on The Blindness Of Hatred: “No, you’re not the only one. Kelly does it to indicate disrespect. I used to think it was quite quaint…” May 12, 12:10
James Cheyne on The Blindness Of Hatred: “Skip-NC, Thanks for providing the information on where to find the D,Hondt explanation, I will try find it on this…” May 12, 11:46
