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Some things stay the same 232

Posted on March 07, 2021 by

An extraordinary find by alert reader Ian Brotherhood in the archives.

(Click to enlarge.)

The paragraph at top right is a particular eye-catcher.

Heavy Is The Crown 123

Posted on February 25, 2021 by

Is the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service of Scotland institutionally corrupt? I don’t believe so, but it’s certainly a troubled organisation.

The cost and reputational damage to it from the Rangers FC case are of a magnitude never seen before, and the actions in the Alex Salmond case and related actions by the Lord Advocate and Crown Agent have called its independence into question.

There must be structural change and individuals must be held to account.

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The importance of kindness 190

Posted on January 29, 2021 by

When we saw this a few days ago, we wondered what they wanted to hide.

And now we know.

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The dead carrot sketch 346

Posted on January 17, 2021 by

There’s literally nothing about this that isn’t toe-curlingly embarrassing:

The only challenge is knowing where to start.

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From the archives #15 43

Posted on December 30, 2020 by

To mark today’s events, a look back at more innocent times.

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The empty omelette 198

Posted on December 11, 2020 by

For much of last year, this site advocated a rational but unpopular position – namely that the SNP, which at the time held the balance of power in the UK parliament, should offer to support Theresa May’s soft-Brexit deal in exchange for the transfer of powers to hold a second independence referendum.

The logic was clear – nothing was ever going to stop Brexit from happening, but passing May’s deal would save the UK from the catastrophe of a no-deal. Everyone would be a winner – England and Wales would get what they voted for, Remain-voting Northern Ireland would get special terms that kept it in the EU in all but name, and Scotland would get the chance to stay in the EU as an independent nation.

“But no!”, everyone screamed at us. “We can’t possibly do any sort of deal with the Tories or we’d be electorally crucified and lose the referendum, you idiots!”

Record scratch, jump-cut to the present day.

[Pause for long, weary sigh.]

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Any minute now 129

Posted on November 22, 2020 by

From 2016 (and another classic in the “missing words” category).

We were keen to read the article, obviously.

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An Auld Sang 70

Posted on August 13, 2020 by

Chilling indeed, 1992 Sunday Times. Chilling indeed.

Premature chickens 84

Posted on July 05, 2020 by

We were looking for something else this afternoon, but accidentally found this:

Just two weeks before the last Holyrood election, widely-respected analysts Weber Shandwick had put together a prediction of how the results would pan out. Just for a bit of fun, let’s compare it to the reality.

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From the archives #14 675

Posted on June 29, 2020 by

We were rummaging around semi-aimlessly in the vaults last night, readers, and we were rather startled to come across this:

Shows what YOU lot know, eh?

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Letting the days go by 278

Posted on June 18, 2020 by

BBC Scotland, then and now.

We’re pretty sure they used the same “separating rival groups” phrasing at Tianenmen Square too, but we’d have to go and check. Meanwhile, here’s what really happened.

From the archives #13 657

Posted on June 14, 2020 by

We’ve noticed a fair few Unionists this week proudly claiming that an independent Scotland would have been too broke to survive the coronavirus pandemic. They might not listen to our many and comprehensive rebuttals, but maybe they’d heed the words of Tony Blair, from way back in October 1987:

The sliding doors of history, there, readers. When Unionists tell you Scotland is feeble, remember who made it that way, and never forget how it could have been.

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