But note how delicately that tweet is phrased. The clear implication – while not directly stated – is that only the Tories were responsible for the promises.
We’ve noted on numerous occasions previously that one of this site’s prime functions is merely to remember things – to serve as a repository of fact which can be referred to when politicians or the media try to mislead people about what happened in the past. It was a thought we were struck by again on reading The Times this morning.
Because as we beheld Kenny Farquharson’s account of the SNP’s manifesto launch, and how its emphasis on the word “RE-ELECT” was unfamiliar and “very different” to their last Holyrood manifesto launch, we were sure that wasn’t how we recalled it.
While we’re on the subject of Ruth “line in the sand” Davidson of the Ruth Davidson No Surrender To The SNP Anti-Referendum Party making U-turns, we thought we might remind you of another one, this time from rather more recent history than 2011.
Just nine months ago, apparently Ms Davidson’s view was that “it would be wrong for the Tories to stand in the way” of another referendum “if the SNP gets a democratic mandate from the public”.
Sounds like a firm, resolute commitment to democracy and the incontrovertible right of the people of Scotland to determine their own destiny. Stirring stuff. We approve.
Kezia Dugdale gave an interview to Good Morning Scotland earlier today that viewed from above would probably look rather like the runway at Baghdad Airport in 1991.
If we tried to pick out all the individual bomb craters in one post, readers’ eyes would glaze over long before the end. So we’re going to have to do it in bits.
Sometimes the world’s random turns throw up a charmed piece of timing. That was the first tweet that I read on 19th September 2014, sitting on the side of the bed, eyes burning, wondering what on Earth I could possibly do with a day for which I’d bought champagne, but which broke my heart before dawn.
I’d resisted Twitter for a while, then fallen in love with it, weirdly comfortable with the disembodied voices of strangers. Small phrases, 140 characters: at its best, little postcards that made me smile, laugh or think.
For whatever reason, that tweet cut through, its arrival perfect to give me a virtual shake. I’d tell the writer – if I knew who they were – that I managed to carry out half of their instruction to us hollow-eyed, political orphans that day, though I failed miserably for a while on the first bit.
Today we should have become independent. We’re not, and it’s not okay, but since I don’t think we can ignore the power that time and timing can possess, and since words are all I’ve got, I’d like to tell you a story.
Mark Beggan on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: ““Scotland” That’s that third world Juniper republic or ‘the bent tomato’. Just below Angola for civic corruption and just above…” Aug 19, 11:17
Captain Caveman on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “@Hatey Perhaps you could help me out, as I too must be suffering from “a pitiful excuse of an education”.…” Aug 19, 11:17
Alf Baird on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: ““What if independence is the only way to bring about justice?” That would seem a reasonable assumption since a colonized…” Aug 19, 10:30
Hatey McHateface on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “On 29th August, the people of Iceland vote on whether accession talks with the EU should be re-opened. The previous…” Aug 19, 08:49
Hatey McHateface on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “A smarter poster would have placed that comment elsewhere, twathater. 🙂 But never mind that. Perhaps you could help me…” Aug 19, 07:37
Hatey McHateface on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “That’s enough about the drought and the water companies.” Aug 19, 07:30
Mark Beggan on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “Schadenfreude. Watching the Academia of Woke ville frantically swim about in their own excrement has got to be up there…” Aug 19, 06:38
twathater on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “So Jay you said “Too many of the comments made on ‘Wings’ appear as those of an in-fighting rabble who,…” Aug 19, 03:54
Peter McAvoy on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “The Herald today mentions that more student accommodation is to be built on the site of the former Herald premises…” Aug 19, 01:58
Alex towns on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “Swinney gave it in private but means diddly. He was open about not having a committee membership etc so wasn’t…” Aug 19, 00:25
Alex towns on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “What utter pish. A indie Scotland would have the same career driven assholes in the same positions making sure they…” Aug 19, 00:24
Ian Smith on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “If police were made aware that the SNP had pilfered the cash, are they duty bound to sit on their…” Aug 18, 23:13
Hatey McHateface on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “Aidan, I don’t think that’s what was said. I think the lady simply agreed with James. I think I understand…” Aug 18, 23:08
Hatey McHateface on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “Marie says: 18 August, 2026 at 2:54 pm “Monarchy – a relic. Time to get rid.” You were doing so…” Aug 18, 22:51
Hatey McHateface on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “Even if every poster on here agrees with Alf tomorrow that Scotland is a colony, Alf still fails to provide…” Aug 18, 22:43
Hatey McHateface on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “If another fit of boredom strikes you, Northy, why don’t you re-write the lawyer’s letter in a superior form? Not…” Aug 18, 22:35
Hatey McHateface on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “Fucks sake, Jay Main. It’s a well-known quote, widely repeated. Why don’t you educate yersel? And yes, if a nation…” Aug 18, 22:29
Strathglass on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “replying to Northcode (A) OK. not really important in the scheme of things. (B)Ditto. (C) So Police Scotland are saying…” Aug 18, 21:39
Aidan on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “@Alf – if it is the high-quality work you say it is, then why is it published in a student-run…” Aug 18, 21:24
Aidan on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: ““A distinction is appropriate, here, because Alf has been accused of obsessive references to various writers who deal with Colonialism”…” Aug 18, 21:20
Alf Baird on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “An extensive summary of the ‘Doun-Hauden’ book’s findings and theoretical framework developed to explain Scotland’s colonial condition, inclusive of extensive…” Aug 18, 21:14
Spartan 117 on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “I don’t always agree with Alf however he does make compelling points and makes his points without any disrespect or…” Aug 18, 20:48
Saffron Robe on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “I’m not sure I agree with your conclusion, Stuart. What if independence is the only way to bring about justice?…” Aug 18, 20:28
James Che on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “The devolved Scottish governance is English by nature and law under legislation and Statues from the Westminster parliament in which…” Aug 18, 20:15
Northcode on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “Police Scotland’s reply… tone, structure, and meaning. This letter is calm, procedural, factual, standard, professional, and non?reactive. It’s exactly what…” Aug 18, 19:19
Jay on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “Anthem and Alanm, your assessment is correct. Thatcher and her associates intended to corrupt potentially democratic politics with a massive…” Aug 18, 18:16
Northcode on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “You’re wrong, Jay. Alf only references those pioneers of postcolonial theory to punt his book, “Doun-Hauden: The Socio-Political Determinants of…” Aug 18, 17:56
Jay on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “Confused as to the utility of your comment (referring to J. Arday) for remedy of the ills with which Rev…” Aug 18, 17:24
James Che on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “With Scotland not having a legal parliament of its own, ( as presently its under the legislation and statue’s of…” Aug 18, 16:17
