This is the SNP’s latest messaging. Ministers, MSPs, payroll drones and the central party account were all tweeting the graphic and variations on the line yesterday.
And it’s quite difficult even just to count the number of different ways in which it’s not just mind-bogglingly offensive, but also clatteringly, jaw-droppingly stupid.
The wild thing about this poll isn’t the headline that six months after winning a massive landslide majority, Keir Starmer now trails Nigel Farage – leader of a party with five MPs to Starmer’s 411 – as the electorate’s choice for best Prime Minister.
It’s the little grey numbers sitting quietly at the bottom.
Nobody really answered the question in this article from a few days ago. A few of the dimmer bulbs in the indy movement have been getting over-excited at what are still currently a couple of outlier polls from fringe polling companies, which suggest that the 2026 election could unexpectedly return a pro-indy majority due to the Unionist vote being split four ways in the wake of UK Labour’s implosion in government.
That scenario depends on all sorts of dubious propositions, but in any event what none of them have addressed is what that would change even if it did happen, given that Holyrood has a pro-indy majority RIGHT NOW (and has done so on every single day since the indyref more than a decade ago) and it’s produced nothing whatsoever in terms of movement towards independence by any possible measure.
And it occurred to us that we had genuinely no idea what the SNP’s current official indy strategy is, because the party’s been in such farcical chaos and turmoil ever since Nicola Sturgeon’s sudden resignation. So we thought we should go and check.
To be honest, we’re not much the wiser for having read it.
Look, we know that mocking front pages on The National is low-hanging fruit, and this particular example could hardly be any more of a self-parody if it tried.
But just for the sheer mental exercise in that stone-dead last week of December when nobody even knows what day it is, let’s imagine if it came true.
Poor old Tommy Sheppard’s got a contract, so he has to keep talking. And this week he said something that, if anyone really thought the constitution was still a current live political issue, would have attracted a lot more attention than it did.
Because even the SNP are now saying another indyref is – at best – a decade away.
The Hate Crime Act has rather faded into obscurity after the furore surrounding its introduction, with the police apparently just trying to pretend it doesn’t exist by ignoring thousands and thousands of complaints, and the useless Scottish commentariat duly proclaiming as a result that it was all just a big fuss about nothing.
But as soon as everyone stopped looking at it, there it was.
Lorna Campbell on The thickness of blood: “Yes, I think that they would have been very personal. Wouldn’t be at all surprised and come back in July…” Feb 15, 19:47
Lorna Campbell on The thickness of blood: “Absolutely agree. Most people don’t seem to grasp the sheer viciousness and spiteful reactions of the ‘trans’ identified men and…” Feb 15, 19:43
Lorna Campbell on The thickness of blood: “If he has a penis, he is a man and he has clearly breaching both the law and moral standards…” Feb 15, 19:39
Marie on The thickness of blood: “Well good luck to them!!!! The role of women may be highly restricted in their community but at least women…” Feb 15, 19:34
Lorna Campbell on The thickness of blood: “It is true, John. Almost every – no, every – public institution iOS captured by this nonsense and they all…” Feb 15, 19:27
Nae Need! on For Mridul And Sandy: ““Until that age group learns to interact with reality, my celebratory fizz will remain corked.” I know what you mean,…” Feb 15, 19:22
gregor on For Mridul And Sandy: “The Fraud (15/02/25) Neil Gray has said claims made by US vice president JD Vance about Scotland’s abortion buffer zones…” Feb 15, 19:12
Mark Beggan on The thickness of blood: “Was Eamon de Vallera a Nazi? Is he guilty of the mass exodus out of Ireland. Or was he a…” Feb 15, 19:08
Nae Need! on The thickness of blood: “Spot on. And much more nicely expressed than I could ever do. I am so fkn raging at what is…” Feb 15, 18:59
Mark Beggan on The thickness of blood: “It’s the way religion is interpreted. Most Muslims are among the most honest people in the world.” Feb 15, 18:58
Mark Beggan on The thickness of blood: “It doesn’t take a Superhero to bring these people to book. It just takes a Woman to say NO.” Feb 15, 18:56
TURABDIN on The thickness of blood: “Islam is more social ideology than religion. From its foundation all alternatives were to be either eliminated or restricted. I…” Feb 15, 18:54
gregor on The thickness of blood: “I support and respect Marie. She’s a Scotland Champion.” Feb 15, 18:44
Ali MC on The thickness of blood: “As a woman I’m weary of using the ladies after bumping into a man, wearing a short skirt, in the…” Feb 15, 18:40
Nae Need! on The thickness of blood: “I’m having issues too. Stu, I can access your back catalogue of articles through a saved URL , but your…” Feb 15, 18:39
Hatey McHateface on The thickness of blood: “Fa’s Geri? Twa deid in Munich. Mother and child. Reports coming in the driver’s name is Navid, or something like…” Feb 15, 18:34
Hatey McHateface on The thickness of blood: “As I’ve pointed out before, colonialism takes many forms, and many different strands work in parallel, which is why it’s…” Feb 15, 18:26
TURABDIN on The thickness of blood: “«Gender» is just another ideology. In common with all typical novel ideologies it will not rest content until all perceived…” Feb 15, 18:23
Mark Beggan on The thickness of blood: “Where as Yoon scum is seriously full shit” Feb 15, 18:18
Mark Beggan on The thickness of blood: “You get voted down not for the content. But the barrage delivery method you apply.” Feb 15, 18:16
Hatey McHateface on The thickness of blood: “I do and it’s not. Unless this “2 tier” thingy is a lot more advanced than I thought. In which…” Feb 15, 18:11
Mark Beggan on The thickness of blood: “I think maybe you go play with yours.” Feb 15, 18:10
gregor on For Mridul And Sandy: “The Bohemian (Pat Kane): Bosses are fated to lose their war against working from home: “…the commute – car, train,…” Feb 15, 18:06