Yeah, we know, that could be a really long article. But we have a specific thing in mind.
Over the last few days, Jo Swinson and Willie Rennie have both endured toe-curling interviews trying to defend the comically-indefensible hypocrisy of the party’s positions on Brexit and independence.
(If you haven’t been following, official policy now is that a Lib Dem election win is a clear and unimpeachable mandate to carry out their manifesto promises, but an SNP election win isn’t a mandate to carry out theirs.)
But it’s not the mere crass, transparent hypocrisy that makes them stupid.
Sitrep: we’ve given up any hope of turning on the television and seeing a politician – any politician – telling the truth.
Boris Johnson is lying about negotiating a new deal with the EU. Jeremy Corbyn is lying about pretty much everything (in so far as he even knows what he wants the truth to be, let alone what it actually is). Jo Swinson is lying about wanting to meaningfully work with other parties to stop Brexit. Nicola Sturgeon is lying about wanting to stop a no-deal Brexit – she just wants to stop Brexit full stop.
(Unfortunately, this also means she’s lying about having any real intention of holding a second independence referendum before 2021. If she did, she wouldn’t have all her MPs and MSPs frantically running around parliaments and courtrooms trying to destroy her own democratic mandate for it, which would leave her needing to secure a fresh one 20 months from now. And assuming she’d have any more idea how to put it into practice than she has with the ones she’s already got.)
The government is lying about the fact that it doesn’t have confidence in itself, and the opposition is lying about the fact that it does. Everyone now says they want an election, but somehow it isn’t happening because nobody wants it yet, and nobody can agree when they DO want it, and they’re all lying about why.
And absolutely everyone is lying about the fact that whatever they’re trying to do right now has any chance of solving the present shambles. Johnson is just stalling to run the clock down until no-deal, although he swears blind that he isn’t, and the opposition just wants to drag the whole agony out for several more months with not the slightest clue what they’d actually do then.
Grimly, the closest thing that British voters currently have to an honest man is Nigel Farage, who is at least clear about what he wants and what he’s prepared to do to get it. Which is ironic, as he’s only anywhere near getting it because he’s spent his entire political career lying through his teeth about it.
We don’t mind telling you, folks, it’s been pretty hard to get up in the mornings.
So, British politics, eh? We’re basically on strike until things make at least an iota of sense, because there’s no point in attempting political analysis right now when events can overtake you before you’ve finished typing a sentence.
But let’s just have a quick recap on what we know.
We just watched a nine-minute segment on Sky News, purportedly on the subject of “Is the Union between Scotland and England under threat?”, which for maximum balance and impartiality included views from both Labour and the Tories – in the forms of Paul Sweeney MP and John Lamont MP – but nobody else.
Both men spouted some quite extraordinary claims, all of which went unchallenged by presenter Adam Boulton. Let’s just take a quick look at a couple of the best ones.
If you’re a writer for a living and you want to check if something you’ve written might be embarrassingly stupid, there’s an easy and quick technique you can use.
By way of example, here’s Kenny Farquharson in the Times today, on the subject of the supposed similarities in the relationships between the Tories and the Brexit Party, and the SNP and the potential new Wings party:
So here’s the trick: switch the protagonists around.
Still, at least the Record hasn’t been so completely lacking in self-awareness as to point a finger at others in Scotland and say something like “far too many people who should know better are complicit in the tragedy”.
We suspect that LBC’s Iain Dale might have been reading this morning’s Wings article before he interviewed Jo Swinson tonight.
We can only hope any subsequent Scottish interviewers do as diligent a job, and also pick her up on a few of the blatant lies she did manage to sneak past Dale.
TURABDIN on Yelling at the tide: “AI is neutral, it is sophisticated technology, but like the simple pencil it may be used to produce the sublime…” Jan 25, 14:30
Sven on Yelling at the tide: “Sorry “James”, please bear with an old duffer, I’m still not clear on if you feel being curious enough to…” Jan 25, 14:25
Aidan on Yelling at the tide: “@Alf – do you not feel that you are perpetuating the subjugation of Scotland by continuing to converse in the…” Jan 25, 14:23
TURABDIN on Yelling at the tide: “mair regairdand dhe quaestioun o langage restorans. https://lingodigest.com/when-a-language-wont-awaken-the-hard-truths-of-linguistic-revitalization/#google_vignette given the right tools, imagination, invention, the appropriate «can do»mindset and now…” Jan 25, 14:17
agentx on Yelling at the tide: “Sven says: 25 January, 2026 at 11:27 am Can’t really say it’s much of a surprise that in the US…” Jan 25, 14:17
James Cheyne on Yelling at the tide: “TURABDIN, AI as a assist tool in language is interesting, rather than attaining a higher intellectual grade than humans themselves…” Jan 25, 14:02
James Cheyne on Yelling at the tide: “Sven, That very question you asked of the messenger rather than of the message is exactly how modern psyops works,…” Jan 25, 13:34
Insider on Yelling at the tide: ““Get a grip, Alf. Why don’t you demand that the citizens of Venezuela, say, stop speaking Spanish? Brazil now. Shouldn’t…” Jan 25, 13:15
sam on Yelling at the tide: “And none of what you write in the first two lines happened.” Jan 25, 13:13
Northcode on Yelling at the tide: ““Who in Scotland really gives a shit about speaking Scots, apart from the few who think like you?” Oor name…” Jan 25, 12:27
Sven on Yelling at the tide: ““The mind that is curious enough to apply questions to serious events is seldom a useful tool.” I’m maybe misunderstanding…” Jan 25, 12:26
TURABDIN on Yelling at the tide: “Cherish the gifts of the past, but do not overlay those gifts with personal additions. Give the gifts room to…” Jan 25, 11:58
TURABDIN on Yelling at the tide: “As an enthusiast for the potential of so called Artificial Intelligence i link to the following article on an aspect…” Jan 25, 11:39
Sven on Yelling at the tide: “Can’t really say it’s much of a surprise that in the US if you aim a car or a handgun…” Jan 25, 11:27
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “Get a grip, Alf. Why don’t you demand that the citizens of Venezuela, say, stop speaking Spanish? Brazil now. Shouldn’t…” Jan 25, 11:07
James Cheyne on Yelling at the tide: “Should we just accept all the turmoil and chaos happening simultaniosly around the world or should we question why? The…” Jan 25, 11:02
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “@Marie Calm down dear. It’s a white guy got killed. No boxes ticked. Nothing to see here. Even the previous…” Jan 25, 10:57
James Cheyne on Yelling at the tide: “And now we can add AI imaging into the mix for confusing the narrative and directional purpose of goal.” Jan 25, 10:51
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “Sure, Willie. When you encounter an opinion you disagree with, then that’s abuse. I don’t mind so much that this…” Jan 25, 10:48
David Holden on Yelling at the tide: “I think You tube needs to work on its targeted ads as while watching a quite impressive often foul mouthed…” Jan 25, 10:46
James Cheyne on Yelling at the tide: “How many people are fallen prey to these multiple provided situations of psychological conditioning..” Jan 25, 10:45
James Cheyne on Yelling at the tide: “The question is who is funding all the disruptions, From just stop oil, Black lives matter, Antifa, Gender ideology Climate…” Jan 25, 10:39
Alf Baird on Yelling at the tide: ““As for the ludicrous idea that any young Scot should aim to graduate from university with a degree in Scots…” Jan 25, 10:23
Marie on Yelling at the tide: “They’re not doing their jobs. They’re murdering people in cold blood.” Jan 25, 10:07
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Yelling at the tide: “Un mot pour nous tous les vieillards… Dominique de Villepin: LA MORT D’IVAN ILITCH – PAR LÉON TOLSTOÏ www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7neR3E6jWU” Jan 25, 10:02
DaveL on Yelling at the tide: “Hey Wee Adolf, can’t you spell ‘cunt’?” Jan 25, 10:01
willie on Yelling at the tide: “Another thoroughly objectionable post by commentator Hatey. Rather than address issues being raised this commentator goes into personal attack making…” Jan 25, 10:01
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “Say something stupid or denigrating. Sure, how about “Wee Adolf”, will that do?” Jan 25, 09:56
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “Get a grip, Alf. That’s not “preventing” in any meaningful sense of the word. As for the ludicrous idea that…” Jan 25, 09:42
