It’s a pretty desperate day for news in the Sunday papers. The Sunday Herald has a rather overplayed piece on the already-tepid T In The Park “scandal” for its front page, while Scotland on Sunday falls back on its standard last-resort panic move of getting Gordon Wilson – who last led the SNP more than TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO – to blather on about something or other.
In the Observer, Kevin McKenna (who seems to be experiencing voter’s remorse over switching to the Nats in May after a lifetime backing Labour) appears to have written the exact same column as last week – a vague and woolly “SNP bad, Labour fightback starts here” spacefiller – and the Mail On Sunday digs up the ever-reliable boss of the CBI to warn that the sky will fall in if the SNP does anything ever.
Over on the Sunday Times they’re really scraping the barrel in a desperate attempt to somehow flog yet another week out of the Michelle Thomson story, prominently (and entirely gratuitously) mentioning the MP in a piece about an allegedly-dodgy house sale which she has not even the slightest sliver of any sort of connection to.
But it was something else in the same paper that caught our eye.
Alert social-media users will have noticed that it’s hard to avoid a constant low-level buzzing from a faction of the Yes movement, calling on the next Scottish Government (in the event, as currently seems likely, that it’s another SNP majority) to issue a Unilateral Declaration of Independence, or UDI for short.
And in the context of achieving Scottish independence UDI is indeed the answer, if we assume that the question is “What’s the stupidest thing the SNP could possibly do?”
These pages from the 14 March 1998 issue of NME (just 10 months after the election of Tony Blair’s first Labour government) are a fascinating historical document.
They needed saving. So we found them and we saved them.
We’ll never tire of documenting the Daily Record’s increasingly panicked attempts to get David Cameron to enact the Record’s dodgy promise of last September and save it from having to answer for the pup it sold Scotland.
By now you should all have had a chance to marvel at the extraordinary madness that is Scottish Labour’s 51-page suicide note of SNP members who’ve said rude words on the internet since 2012.
You may even have had time to read a data protection expert (and Labour voter)’s assessment of all the ways in which the dossier breaks the law.
Over and over again in the years leading up to the independence referendum, Scots were warned of the many dire consequences of voting Yes. Among the No campaign’s prime targets for scare tactics were subsidies for renewable energy.
UK government subsidies drying up certainly sounded like a scary prospect.
For the last month or so, the Unionist parties have briefly enjoyed the opportunity to taunt the SNP in the Commons over Full Fiscal Autonomy, challenging the party to bring forward proposals and accusing it of being afraid of the policy it campaigned and won on in the election. The Nats called the bluff, and today got the unsurprising result.
The reason given by Secretary of State David Mundell – who declined to appear on today’s edition of “Good Morning Scotland” to defend or explain the decision – was that FFA “would cost every family in Scotland £5,000”.
And we thought that figure had a rather familiar ring to it.
On the day Jim Murphy stands down as leader of the Labour Party North Britain branch office, we’d like to take this opportunity to offer our humble, heartfelt tribute to both him and the insightful political commentariat of Scotland.
Alf Baird on Faces In Sand: ““..dismantle a political and economic union that he claims doesn’t exist” The problem surely lies with those such as yersel…” Oct 25, 22:36
sarah on Faces In Sand: “Dan, thanks for the info on trees. I brought the chestnut tree up from Kent as a sprout 25 years…” Oct 25, 21:56
Lorncal on Faces In Sand: “I absolutely agree, Northcode, that we need to make a powerful case for independence across the board, but, after an…” Oct 25, 20:52
Dan on Faces In Sand: “@ Sarah They are not my Hazel or Sweet Chestnut trees. They are just planted locally along a roadside. I’m…” Oct 25, 20:31
sam on Faces In Sand: “That there was colonialism of Northern Ireland was an idea widely considered by many groups and individuals during what is…” Oct 25, 20:12
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: “Wheesht, Xaracen! Dinna tell the Picts we Scots stole most of the country from. Got to say, it does seem…” Oct 25, 19:44
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: “My benchmark 30 seconds of internet research reveals the budget of BBC Scotland TV to be £42 million PA. The…” Oct 25, 19:36
Insider on Faces In Sand: “sarah @7:13 This is solely due to the vicious, heartless colonialism that we Scots suffer under. But never fear…in Alf’s…” Oct 25, 19:33
Xaracen on Faces In Sand: ““Ex Injuria Jus Non Oritur” -Illegitimacy cannot create legitimacy. A wrongful act cannot become a lawful one through time alone.…” Oct 25, 19:21
sarah on Faces In Sand: “Dan, how come your hazel nuts actually contain nuts? I gathered some off the ground a few days ago and…” Oct 25, 19:13
Dan on Faces In Sand: “Link to Barrheadboy article (and comments) posted today which shines some light on influencing aspects that are factors in shaping…” Oct 25, 18:32
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: “Maybe 1606 and 1707 are times, not dates? Then it makes sense.” Oct 25, 18:27
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: “Mental impairment is a badge of honour these days. It brings loads of societal advantages too, not to mention free…” Oct 25, 18:23
Captain Caveman on Faces In Sand: “Well, this “sassenach yoon” cage is indeed freely rattling, I will readily concede. Rattling with wry, incredulous laughter. 😀” Oct 25, 18:22
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: “Quite difficult to see how any sane, rational person can be opposed to rewilding per se. So I guess Confused’s…” Oct 25, 18:00
Spartan 117 on Faces In Sand: “You do know all the estates up here are owned either by Arabs (their 737s arrive at Inverness regularly, one…” Oct 25, 17:49
Dan on Faces In Sand: “Not stuck indoors for me today. Yesterday was mostly indoors though sitting out the gales and rain after spending the…” Oct 25, 17:45
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: “““authoritarian logic” as you call it by implication emanates from oppressive state entities and its mouthpieces (i.e. you Northcode), not…” Oct 25, 17:44
Spartan 117 on Faces In Sand: “I see I’m not the only one who raised an eyebrow at The Nutty Professor’s bizarre posts above. Well said…” Oct 25, 17:44
sam on Faces In Sand: “Northcode says of Alf Baird: He then implies that Scots who disagree with his “Scotland is colonised” argument are mentally…” Oct 25, 17:26
Dan on Faces In Sand: “So Northcode, were does the likes of Plato and his Allegory of the Cave fit in with your junk and…” Oct 25, 17:24
Confused on Faces In Sand: “this weather, eh? – thank god for the aga, warms the whole house, cooks your dinner and dries out your…” Oct 25, 16:38
Alf Baird on Faces In Sand: “On the contrary, “authoritarian logic” as you call it by implication emanates from oppressive state entities and its mouthpieces (i.e.…” Oct 25, 16:11
sarah on Faces In Sand: “Since we’re all stuck indoors, there’s some crowdfunders to donate to, and youtube from SSRG conference to listen to. 1.…” Oct 25, 14:46
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: ““This isn’t metaphor – it’s literal pathologisation” Good post, Northy. Alf’s attitude is straight out of the Bolshevik handbook as…” Oct 25, 14:43
Northcode on Faces In Sand: “Alf Baird is claiming exclusive access to “reality”. He writes: “The unveiled reality enabling the colonized mind to recover…” This…” Oct 25, 14:17
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: ““Scotland requires authentic statesmen more than parish pump politicians” You say that, TURABDIN, yet the decades come and the decades…” Oct 25, 14:14
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: ““It’s the sheer indefatigability and lack of self-awareness that shocks you” It’s of fascinating academic interest, certainly. I’m of the…” Oct 25, 14:01
TURABDIN on Faces In Sand: “MODERN COLONIALISM IN ACTION https://venezuelanalysis.com/opinion/venezuela-from-revolution-to-recolonization/ USA, the country that supported Saddam Hussein in a proxy war against its neighbour then…” Oct 25, 13:51
Hatey McHateface on Faces In Sand: ““reminds me of the evil Nanny from the Omen with that glaikit satanic glare she has” Ah, the wondrous wittering…” Oct 25, 13:39
