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The cost of failure 57

Posted on December 04, 2025 by

For several years now, this site has recorded how the SNP’s continued existence is now entirely dependent on UK state funding. The party would simply go bust without Westminster money. And how precarious a position that puts it in is sharply illustrated by the latest release of donations income from the Electoral Commission.

In a 12-month period running up to the last UK general election, the UK state gave the SNP a little over £1.3 million.

In the corresponding period for the last year, after the party was reduced to just nine seats, that figure plunged to just over £0.4 million, a drop of over £0.9 million.

And that’s money the SNP can’t afford to lose.

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Wishing for swans 88

Posted on December 01, 2025 by

For lack of anything more interesting to write about, we thought we might do a monthly rundown of polling in the leadup to next year’s Holyrood election, with seat projections from a neutral source, in the shape of the newish Devolved Elections website.

And very quickly, things got a bit weird.

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The Groomers’ Friends 130

Posted on November 27, 2025 by

We’re just putting this here for the record, really.

It’s a “debate” from the Scottish Parliament last night, on a motion from Patrick Harvie complaining that vulnerable children aren’t being pushed into a programme of lifelong medicalisation, sterilisation and mutilation quickly enough.

The motion completely ignored both the findings of the Cass Review and the Supreme Court judgment in For Women Scotland, but not a single MSP spoke in opposition to it. (Jenni Minto, the Minister For Public Health And Women’s Health, actually broke down in tears at the end because she wasn’t managing to get children’s futures permanently destroyed with sufficient urgency, mainly because the UK Parliament took legislation out of Holyrood’s hands to protect them.)

The list of those who spoke in favour of child harm was:

Patrick Harvie (Scottish Greens)
Paul McLennan (SNP)
Mercedes Villalba (Labour)
Maggie Chapman (Scottish Greens)
Elena Whitham (SNP)
Monica Lennon (Lab)
Rona Mackay (SNP)
Jenni Minto (SNP)

We hope one day they’re held publicly accountable for their actions.

Searching And Looking 226

Posted on November 22, 2025 by

Disgraced ex-policeman and notorious vexatious serial complainant Lynsay Watson is having quite the meltdown on the groomer-and-paedophile haven Bluesky tonight.

Let’s listen in.

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Reach For The Stars (And Stripes) 296

Posted on November 19, 2025 by

To be honest, we’re mainly putting these here so you don’t have to keep looking at that picture of Alan Cumming.

But they also show what you can achieve, whether in football or politics, if you actually attack rather than being content to endlessly shuttle it all sideways and backwards until you get beaten without even taking a shot.

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Over The Hill And Down The Slope 250

Posted on November 14, 2025 by

We’ve just been leaked the SNP’s first poster roughs for Holyrood 2026.

One more push, everyone!

Grift Away 328

Posted on November 08, 2025 by

Oh good, another plan. Just three and a half years to wait.

Should we, what’s the phrase, “Save The Date”?

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Rise Of The Machine 110

Posted on November 07, 2025 by

It’s Wings’ 14th birthday today, and to be entirely honest with you, readers, like a lot of teenagers we’re having a bit of an existential crisis. It’s quite difficult to see any point in being a Scottish political journalist for the next five years, because it’s just going to be one depressing Groundhog Day after another.

So rather than moan on as usual, today we’re handing over to a precocious new talent whose enthusiasm can’t be dimmed. It’s one that garnered a lot of attention this week by delivering a comprehensive and very entertaining spanking to SNP MP and devoted friend of the site Pete “Cosy Feet” Wishart. 

Wishart threw such a petulant strop that he accused a code algorithm of defamation and threatened legal action against the inanimate collection of 1s and 0s.

With skills like that already placing it well beyond the abilities of most of the Scottish political commentariat, we thought we’d give it a tryout and ask it to take a look into the country’s future.

The following article is completely unedited other than a bit of formatting, though we did ask it (with only partial success) to tone down the haggis-and-bagpipes stuff slightly from its first draft. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Grok. Unlike most journos, it provided links and it did write its own headline.

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How To Create Racists 565

Posted on October 29, 2025 by

This really is an extraordinary headline, for multiple reasons.

Because what actually IS “the rise of Reform”?

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Great news, everyone! 223

Posted on October 27, 2025 by

We’re important!

Something to look forward to there, then.

The Music That Nobody Likes 145

Posted on October 24, 2025 by

Perhaps the key graphic from last night’s by-election in Caerphilly is this one (green means Plaid Cymru in the context of Wales):

In the end, Plaid won pretty comfortably in what had been predicted to be a very tight contest between them and Reform, with a majority of almost 4,000. But Plaid aren’t going to be the next government of the UK, so what’s the real story?

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The Icarus Folly 133

Posted on October 22, 2025 by

Last month, when half a football team of armed police ambushed and arrested comedy writer Graham Linehan at Heathrow Airport for a couple of tweets, we said this:

Today, even more swiftly than we thought, this happened:

Rarely can a hand have been overplayed so badly.

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    • twathater on Ginger beer and fruit and nuts: “@ JCD If you want independence for Scotland and there is a candidate from Liberate Scotland standing in your constituency…Dec 5, 03:20
    • Cynicus on The cost of failure: “Hatey McHateface says: 4 December, 2025 at 8:26 pm “To be fair to El-Nakla, they don’t have high buildings where…Dec 5, 01:32
    • James on The cost of failure: ““What a pair of w*nkers”.Dec 5, 00:30
    • James on The cost of failure: ““Prick”.Dec 5, 00:26
    • Mark Beggan on The cost of failure: ““take the Northern Isles” no thanks. They’re fine where they are. “When not if..” In the name of the wee…Dec 4, 22:59
    • Hatey McHateface on The cost of failure: ““Independence will never happen” Ah, c’moan noo, Mark. Never is a very long time. When, not if, independence happens, it…Dec 4, 22:40
    • Mark Beggan on The cost of failure: “As the BBC always like to say ‘This is what we know so far .’ Independence will never happen. The…Dec 4, 21:24
    • Hatey McHateface on The cost of failure: “To be fair to El-Nakla, they don’t have high buildings where he hails from. He wouldn’t have been aware of…Dec 4, 20:26
    • Peter McAvoy on The cost of failure: “On reporting Scotland tonight the report showing John Swinney speaking he called Nigel Farage racist,has he forgotten Humza Youseff’s white,white…Dec 4, 20:02
    • Hatey McHateface on The cost of failure: “It’s your craven fear of the “resident multi ID troll” reading here that stops you from writing the faintest outline…Dec 4, 20:02
    • Mark Beggan on The cost of failure: “In Scotland even the government’s on Benefits.Dec 4, 19:53
    • Mark Beggan on The cost of failure: “‘The public wants what the public gets’. Soar Giro!Dec 4, 19:50
    • Hatey McHateface on The cost of failure: ““We must spend the next 6 months showing people the truth and showing them the way to get what we…Dec 4, 19:49
    • agentx on The cost of failure: ““Holyrood demands answers over Humza Yousaf and Aamer Anwar friendship as lawyer nets ‘significant public funds’ through public inquiries The…Dec 4, 19:47
    • Hatey McHateface on The cost of failure: ““it will take significant time for any initiative to grow and garner decent levels of support” Oh aye, Dan. If…Dec 4, 19:41
    • agentx on The cost of failure: ““Humza Yousaf’s brother-in-law goes on trial over ‘extortion and dealing heroin and cocaine’ Ramsay El Nakla, 37, is on trial…Dec 4, 19:40
    • Aidan on The cost of failure: “@Dan- why don’t you just state outright what you think rather than setting up these metaphors? I think you seem…Dec 4, 19:35
    • Hatey McHateface on The cost of failure: “You’ll still have some popcorn from last time! Hark at me. “Some” popcorn. You’ll still have every last kernel of…Dec 4, 19:29
    • sarah on The cost of failure: “@ 100%Yes at 4.46: very well said and spot on. It is the SNP “leadership” that has blocked our escape…Dec 4, 19:26
    • Hatey McHateface on The cost of failure: “Money grubbing bastards! They already get well paid for working from 0900 to 1700, with an hour off for lunch.Dec 4, 19:26
    • Dan on The cost of failure: “And recent blow in Aidan enters the chat. Of course, Liberate like other initiatives before hasn’t reached significant levels of…Dec 4, 19:24
    • Hatey McHateface on The cost of failure: “Dan puts me right, again. Who knew that on Wings BTL, to describe somebody as a “gurning, wee, talent-free wifie”…Dec 4, 19:22
    • Willie on The cost of failure: “Strangled by their own Ptard on every metric policy, delivery, evaporated membership, donations, legacies and now voters, the SNP from…Dec 4, 19:18
    • David Holden on The cost of failure: “God I hope the yoons pay their keyboard warriors by the word as with any luck our resident multi ID…Dec 4, 19:13
    • Anthem on The cost of failure: “Totally agree Sarah. The fun is about to begin.Dec 4, 19:12
    • Kate L on Ain’t Got Time To Bleed: “The most beautiful “dear Sir” I’ve read in my life.Dec 4, 18:53
    • Aidan on The cost of failure: “@Dan – but 100% yes is right. The Liberate Scotland group has both no funding and no strategy. “Deaftism” is…Dec 4, 18:50
    • Dan on The cost of failure: “Shilling for Sturgeon now Main. Of course, it wasn’t all down to her ya rocket. There was Angus Robertson who…Dec 4, 18:49
    • Bob on Ain’t Got Time To Bleed: “Rev, I may not always agree with everything you write, but that is a classic reply and I salute you…Dec 4, 18:46
    • Mark Beggan on The cost of failure: “The Scottish government has been on benefits since 1707.Dec 4, 18:35
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