Y’know, maybe we were a little harsh on the lads at Holyrood Sources yesterday when we implied that a more direct and aggressive interviewing style might have cut through John Swinney and Kate Forbes’ pathetically feeble waffling evasion on the SNP’s lack of an independence strategy in their recent podcast.
But the closest thing (along with Colin Mackay at STV) that the Scottish media has left to a proper Rottweiler interviewer – Peter Adam Smith of ITV – had a shot at that five years ago and didn’t do any better.
Smith noted that even back in 2019 Nicola Sturgeon had been droning on about how Westminster’s refusal to grant a second indy referendum was “unsustainable” for two years already. But no matter how hard he pressed, Sturgeon just kept on glibly and smugly insisting that they’d concede.
“The UK government strategy is to say no. Do you have a way around it?”
“My strategy is to say yes.” [smirks]
Readers might be forgiven for wondering how long it’s going to take the SNP to accept that that “strategy” is a failure, if seven years and three First Ministers isn’t enough for them to have worked it out. But as long as the pathologically gullible keep voting for them anyway, we suppose they have no reason to.
On 15 October 2012, I signed the Edinburgh Agreement with David Cameron to secure the independence referendum of September 2014.
On the same day Peter Kellner of the polling company YouGov wrote one of his condescending commentaries from London dissing any hope for the Yes campaign.
Kellner’s view was almost universal, and not just among the London pack of journos and politicians. Most, if not all, of the Scottish media agreed with him.
However, by September 2014 things looked very different.
Those of you on Twitter will probably be aware of this already, but for the rest:
It should be a bit of a lark, although the retrospective part will probably be rather more fun than the looking-forward part. I don’t get out much, so if you want to come along and throw some rotten fruit and/or say hi, tickets are here.
In the dying days of World War 2, as Berlin crumbled to rubble under Russian bombs and rockets, the Nazis played a desperate last card in the shape of the Volkssturm, an ad hoc fighting force primarily comprised of old men, invalided veterans and those not deemed fit for normal military service. (As most of those were already dead.)
They were rounded up and sent off to the front (usually only a few hundred yards away) in their civilian clothes, armed with whatever odds and sods of weaponry could be scrabbled together – most commonly the one-shot Panzerfaust anti-tank grenade, as seen in the pic above – and invariably slaughtered in the streets by the disbelieving battalions of the Red Army, because it didn’t matter to Hitler whether they lived or died.
Wings Over Scotland is 12 years old today. And since absolutely nothing is happening in the world of Scottish independence – and hasn’t for, frankly, years – we thought we’d take you on a trip back to the day we were born, since when things DID change.
Remember when we had a leader who could get the UK government to do stuff it didn’t want to do, readers? AND actually increase support for independence? Good times.
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
James Che on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “It would appear that Stu is dealing with the wrong Crown offices of England and english laws, not Scots law,…” Aug 18, 16:01
James Che on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “Union minded people are beginning to fight a losing battle in its efforts to hold Scotland even as a Colony.…” Aug 18, 15:47
Aidan on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: ““So universities now teach there is no union between Scotland and England” Which universities teach that?” Aug 18, 15:39
Northcode on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “A fit of boredom came upon me… so I had a closer look at the lawyer’s letter for something to…” Aug 18, 15:30
Jay on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “They say your name is J. Main: you speak only for yourself.” Aug 18, 15:21
James Che on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “Just talking to a lady from England with full qualifications on studies on geography and world war one and world…” Aug 18, 15:16
robertkknight on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “Agreed, Alf. Ignore the site pricks/usual suspects.” Aug 18, 15:08
Hatey McHateface on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “I was unaware of the correlation between republicanism and Christianity, Spartan. In fact, I thought it was republicans who foisted…” Aug 18, 12:51
Mark Beggan on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “Yes Alfie that’s right. Now tell us about your academic journey and any marathons you took part in.” Aug 18, 12:46
Spartan 117 on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “KCIII’s deliberate abandonment of Christianity is just one of the many and varied reasons I am a Republican.” Aug 18, 12:35
Hatey McHateface on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: ““they are a servile people” “they will always be slaves” Yet one quarter of the world atlas used to be…” Aug 18, 12:32
Hatey McHateface on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: ““aside from … some traditions of dress” (Fanon). Praise be! I was worried that Professor Baird was about to tell…” Aug 18, 12:24
Captain Caveman on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: ““– I will enjoy watching the muslims r4pe you and your kind into oblivion.” Well, I daresay I shouldn’t be…” Aug 18, 12:20
Confused on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “first they came for the autists, but I said nothing as my disability increment was due to ADHD … then…” Aug 18, 12:02
Confused on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “Hey Caveman – concern yourself less with Scotland and keep tae yir ain midden, your problems are greater https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/08/16/eritrean-man-raped-pensioner-outside-church/ -…” Aug 18, 12:00
Confused on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “oh dear. I thought you really had them, this time … Much as I salute your indefatigability and dog with…” Aug 18, 11:48
Nicky T Naquetti on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “It’s not 1707 any more, hen. I swear… whatever the story might be, it could be, say – aliens landing…” Aug 18, 10:27
Alf Baird on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: ““And for the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates Roddy Dunlop KC he has just been told he and his…” Aug 18, 10:25
Northcode on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “Yes, it was Queen Elizabeth’s former chaplain, Gavin Ashenden, who accused the King of “deserting Christians” and failing to uphold…” Aug 18, 10:19
Captain Caveman on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: ““First they’ll have to stir themselves from the indifferent, apathy they’re comfortable in. Then they’ll have to wean themselves off…” Aug 18, 10:01
Hatey McHateface on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: ““it is going to get worse, much worse as the common citizen increasingly comes to both hate and fear the…” Aug 18, 09:47
Robert on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “Could an excuse be incompetence? One person, with good intent, collects “ringfenced” money, pays it into the SNP bank account…” Aug 18, 09:41
gm on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “I would vote to close it. No doubt about that. it is doing the Scots harm now and ‘the purpose…” Aug 18, 09:40
Hatey McHateface on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “When the troughers at the wee, pretendy parliament voted themselves medals of congratulation back in July 1999, many Scots (and…” Aug 18, 09:35
willie on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “Frankly this latest refusal by Police Scotland to pursue criminal established criminal activity reinforces how institutionally rotten and corrupt our…” Aug 18, 09:32
Chas on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “I see that Che has been discharged from the loony bin again. It won’t be long before it is readmitted.…” Aug 18, 09:32
Hatey McHateface on The Land Of Do-As-You-Please: “You over complicate things, James. No government can bind its successors. No group of people will consent indefinitely to be…” Aug 18, 09:28
