The world's most-read Scottish politics website

Wings Over Scotland


Archive for the ‘europe’


Satan’s Little Helper 307

Posted on December 22, 2018 by

Embarrassment Of The Year 467

Posted on December 19, 2018 by

Okay, it’s only the 19th of December, but we don’t think there’s any chance of this one being beaten by the time it’s 2019.

As expected, Labour bottled the chance to call a vote of no confidence in the UK government today, refusing to support a motion tabled by four other opposition parties last night and thereby guaranteeing the Tories at least another two months in power.

Their official stated reason is that the only way to avoid a disastrous hard Brexit is to call a vote of no confidence in the Tories next month when it’ll (somehow, magically) be more likely to succeed, trigger a general election, get (somehow, magically) a Labour majority and then go to the EU and negotiate (somehow, magically) a better deal from them than the Tories have done.

Which makes this a bit of a beamer:

So if it’s “very clear” that there can be “no more negotiations” (and therefore no better deal), and Labour is going to vote against Theresa May’s deal (which Labour says it is), and if Brexit is going to happen (which Labour says it is), then the only possible conclusion left is that Labour’s official policy is now to crash out of the EU with no deal, and absolutely everything the party is saying in public about Brexit is a lie.

So at least everyone now finally knows where they stand. Even if, as is so often the case nowadays, it’s only because Labour told the truth by accident.

Bluffs and calls 97

Posted on December 19, 2018 by

This was the Daily Record’s front page on Tuesday:

It wasn’t true. Corbyn DIDN’T, in fact, table a vote of no confidence in either the Prime Minister personally (a meaningless and non-binding gesture even if she’d lost it) or the government. But tomorrow he may actively prevent one.

Read the rest of this entry →

Independence for England 521

Posted on December 16, 2018 by

The great frustration of the current Brexit shambles is that we’re being told there are no viable options. But that isn’t true. This site has already put forward one perfectly workable proposal, and here’s another.

Before the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence, Scotland was told that if they left the UK, they would automatically leave the EU, leaving the rUK as the successor European state.

Scotland, it was said, would be cast out of Europe, immediately and automatically and without negotiation. Brussels agreed with Westminster on this interpretation.

This outcome of independence was said by Westminster sources to be a legal certainty, with no possibility of avoiding the consequences of being bounced out of the EU. The EU could not rescue Scotland and no treaties would exist to do so.

And that leads to a logical conclusion: if England (and perhaps Wales) decided to leave the UK instead of Scotland, leaving Scotland as the successor state in the EU, the same would be true.

Read the rest of this entry →

The top table 353

Posted on December 15, 2018 by

The Handmaiden’s Tale 206

Posted on December 14, 2018 by

It should now be abundantly clear to any rational person that time has very nearly run out to avoid a no-deal Brexit.

Theresa May has been sent swiftly home from Europe with a skelped arse and told that any further negotiation is out of the question. But she’s insisted that the meaningful vote in the UK parliament on her Brexit deal won’t now happen before Christmas, which in practical terms means before mid-January.

That means that if Labour wait until the deal is thrown out before they call a vote of no confidence – which is their current position, so far as anyone can tell what their position is – then by the time the government falls it’ll already be February.

(Under the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, after a successful VoNC there are 14 days for someone to try to form an alternative administration before an election is called.)

Add in the six weeks minimum that are required for an election campaign and you’re halfway through March, literally just a few days before the UK will automatically crash out of the EU with no deal.

Even if a couple of months extension of Article 50 were to be granted – and we’re not sure who’d be asking by that stage – that’s plainly nowhere near enough time for a new government to come up with anything the EU would agree to.

(Remember that the withdrawal agreement was supposed to be done and dusted by October in order to give the EU six months to ratify it. Their patience with the UK is plainly at an end, and it’s hard to see them agreeing to drag the whole mess out for another year or more, which would be the realistic timescale.)

“And that’s all very well”, readers might be thinking at this point, “but that’s a picture of Kezia Dugdale, an insignificant backbench Holyrood list MSP. What the bloody hell’s it got to do with her?”

And the answer is that it’s all her fault.

Read the rest of this entry →

The Stoned Roses 578

Posted on December 08, 2018 by

The Great British Bin Fire 385

Posted on December 06, 2018 by

Brexit isn’t really this site’s remit, which is why we’ve been relatively quiet in recent weeks as the UK’s shambolic exit from the EU hogs all the news and Scottish politics has been relegated to a largely-dormant backwater in the press.

Yes supporters don’t speak with one voice on the EU, and while we’re in favour of it we’ve long said that the indy movement can’t really move on until the fog clears and we know for sure what Brexit’s going to look like. Deciding whether to be part of the EU should be a decision for an independent Scotland to make, not a precondition.

But dear lord, this is such a mess it needs to be examined.

Read the rest of this entry →

In England’s Dreaming 181

Posted on December 05, 2018 by

We now have the verdicts on Brexit from three of the UK’s four nations. The Scottish Parliament, speaking for the Scottish nation, voted overwhelmingly this afternoon to reject both Theresa May’s draft agreement and leaving the EU without a deal.

And it wasn’t alone.

Read the rest of this entry →

An excellent question 45

Posted on December 05, 2018 by

Posed by Kezia Dugdale in the Holyrood chamber today:

Read the rest of this entry →

Something smells fishy 275

Posted on November 29, 2018 by

From today’s Daily Mail:

The headline is, of course, a lie.

Read the rest of this entry →

Pretending to be stupid 797

Posted on November 25, 2018 by

All political discourse is plagued with genuine imbeciles, of course. But what’s far more depressing is when educated and normally perceptive people merely act like imbeciles for money, such as the case of Alex Massie in the Sunday Times today.

Because for the last two years, commentators who ought to know better have insisted in presenting Scotland’s choice as between Brexit or Brexit plus independence, and solemnly concluding that the uncertainties and risks of the latter being piled on top of those of the former prove that independence is no solution.

And we don’t care to have our intelligence insulted in that way.

Read the rest of this entry →

  • About

    Wings Over Scotland is a (mainly) Scottish political media digest and monitor, which also offers its own commentary. (More)

    Stats: 6,733 Posts, 1,215,639 Comments

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Tags

  • Recent Comments

    • Gav on A kind of freedom: “Excellent sleuthing StuApr 15, 15:17
    • Stuart MacKay on Once more the pantomime: “Lest ye all think that dysfunction is unique to Scotland, Kevin Kirk publishes a regular column on that site for…Apr 15, 14:44
    • Rookiescot on Once more the pantomime: “These groups are simply not held to account. If we behaved with a similar disregard to law and common decency…Apr 15, 14:38
    • Lorn on Once more the pantomime: “Well done, Rev. Like others on here, I recall that LGBTYS was to be investigated. Obviously never happened. These ‘trans’…Apr 15, 14:19
    • Mark Beggan on Once more the pantomime: “A reply from the “booby hatch of methadone lady men, corruption and pies, that we know as Scotland.”Apr 15, 14:00
    • Aidan on The Groomer’s Shield: “Once upon a time in Geri’s mad mind. The hordes of International lawyers will arrive by the planeload at Edinburgh…Apr 15, 14:00
    • Hatey McHateface on The Groomer’s Shield: “@Dan says: 15 April, 2025 at 1:17 pm “It really isn’t rocket science” Are you sure, Dan? I read your…Apr 15, 13:47
    • Aidan on Once more the pantomime: “It was reported in the media that LGBTYS was being looked at by the OSCR at the end of last…Apr 15, 13:46
    • Geri on The Groomer’s Shield: “Apparently, a better more accurate wealth of a country is to measure Purchasing Power Parity. GDP is fudged by adding…Apr 15, 13:44
    • Hatey McHateface on The Groomer’s Shield: “@Aidan That’s ye telt eh? 🙂 But never mind. Help yersel tae ane o Geri’s “thins”. I recommend the cheesy…Apr 15, 13:35
    • Hatey McHateface on Once more the pantomime: ““Barring a miracle, we’ll see you on the 15th of May” Yup. I expect we shall. ScotGov and it’s supporting…Apr 15, 13:30
    • Geri on The Groomer’s Shield: “Oligarchs & Banks. They’re in control. The only ppl they fear in the world is the military – a coup…Apr 15, 13:28
    • Hatey McHateface on The Groomer’s Shield: “Sure, Geri, you’ve posted all this yadda yadda blah blah blah stuff umpteen times before. When are you going to…Apr 15, 13:23
    • Dan on The Groomer’s Shield: “It really isn’t rocket science. The genderwoowoo is just one area of the multi-faceted rollout by globalists and their minions…Apr 15, 13:17
    • Geri on The Groomer’s Shield: “They don’t need to be mentioned in the actual agreement. Durrr! It’s your bullshit project fear that knows no bounds.…Apr 15, 13:13
    • Marie on Once more the pantomime: “Scotland – a child groomers paradise.Apr 15, 13:08
    • Tracey on Once more the pantomime: “This is why I have a subscription. Thank you. Excellent letter.Apr 15, 13:06
    • Rev. Stuart Campbell on Once more the pantomime: “That’s very interesting. It’s conspicuous that despite the number of concerns that have been formally raised with OSCR about LGBTYS,…Apr 15, 13:03
    • SilentMajority on Once more the pantomime: “Well done for pursuing an explanation. It is strange that there isn’t any noise about this in the newspapers. Surely…Apr 15, 13:00
    • Cuphook on Once more the pantomime: “LGBT Youth Scotland does seem to be a protected charity. Questions are asked in parliament and OSCR considers itself alone…Apr 15, 12:43
    • diabloandco on Once more the pantomime: “Breath holding!Apr 15, 12:38
    • Aidan on The Groomer’s Shield: “@Geri – again your capacity to just invent things knows no boundaries, the USA isn’t mentioned one in the Belfast…Apr 15, 12:19
    • Lorn on The Groomer’s Shield: “Oh, please stop being silly. We are deeply concerned. We don’t get paid. Just because you can’t see what’s happening…Apr 15, 11:36
    • Lorn on The Groomer’s Shield: “America has a written constitution, Sarah, and it is extremely prevalent there, too. This stuff is outwith the general political…Apr 15, 11:28
    • Geri on The Groomer’s Shield: “He won’t have an Empire anymore so no one will really give a fck what he thinks. Greenland don’t want…Apr 15, 11:21
    • Lorn on The Groomer’s Shield: “It has become a massive industry with no incentive to shut itself down – no sc rules where money is…Apr 15, 11:20
    • Hatey McHateface on The Groomer’s Shield: “That’s an interesting comment, Xaracen. Some of the bigger countries might be more accurately described as imperial projects. The USA,…Apr 15, 11:19
    • Lorn on The Groomer’s Shield: “Geri: sorry to disagree, but even the hegemony of the UK – aka England-as-the-UK – is being overwhelmed by this…Apr 15, 11:17
    • Alf Baird on The Groomer’s Shield: “What can we expect? All institutions in a colonial society are colonial in nature and in terms of their values,…Apr 15, 09:50
    • Xaracen on The Groomer’s Shield: “Scotland is not a very small country. It isn’t even a small country, it is a medium-sized country. According to…Apr 15, 09:39
  • A tall tale



↑ Top