We all knew this already, of course. Last year we commissioned a poll from Panelbase which found an enormous 41-point gap between Yes and No voters on immigration. But it was still nice to have it both confirmed and laid out so clearly by Sir John Curtice on Good Morning Scotland earlier today.
(About 1h 55m in. We’re having some trouble recording sound on our new PC at the moment, we’ll get you a proper audio link as soon as we’ve figured it out.)
It’s worth keeping to hand the next time some witless Scottish Labour goon tries to tell you that independence is bad because it’s “separatist” and that voting for the Union is the international-solidarity option. Because that’s a flat-out lie.
We now have the verdicts on Brexit from three of the UK’s four nations. The Scottish Parliament, speaking for the Scottish nation, voted overwhelmingly this afternoon to reject both Theresa May’s draft agreement and leaving the EU without a deal.
At a time of unprecedented political chaos and uncertainty, just about the only thing you can still count on is that for any given situation, senior Labour figures will issue proclamations both firmly in favour of it and stoutly opposed to it, usually the same day.
So the stories below, which are respectively from today’s Scotsman and today’s Times, won’t come as much of a shock to anyone.
But against the odds, we think we’ve made some sense of it.
The front page lead of today’s Scottish Daily Mail:
As alert readers of this site will know, the Mail has a particular fondness for presenting statistics bereft of any context so that people have no idea how big or small they really are. So is 1,600 passengers a week receiving compensation for delays a lot or a little? Let’s find out.
All political discourse is plagued with genuine imbeciles, of course. But what’s far more depressing is when educated and normally perceptive people merely act like imbeciles for money, such as the case of Alex Massie in the Sunday Times today.
Because for the last two years, commentators who ought to know better have insisted in presenting Scotland’s choice as between Brexit or Brexit plus independence, and solemnly concluding that the uncertainties and risks of the latter being piled on top of those of the former prove that independence is no solution.
And we don’t care to have our intelligence insulted in that way.
Northcode on Yelling at the tide: ““Pax tecum” Et cum spiritu tuo. “An quhen all cessyt he spak” Thanks for the link, Fearghas.” Jan 25, 07:16
Willie on Yelling at the tide: “The use of troops to intimidate and kill protestors in Minnesota is now very much beginning to resemble the actions…” Jan 24, 23:02
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Yelling at the tide: “Meant to add this link to the online text: VIRGIL’S AENEID, TRANSLATED BY GAVIN DOUGLAS (1513) www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/49884/pg49884-images.html” Jan 24, 22:33
DaveL on Yelling at the tide: “Aye, there’s Wee Adolf McHateface reliable as ever. Wee Adolf, I’ve got to say it, It’d be a first for…” Jan 24, 21:35
Alf Baird on Yelling at the tide: ““You tell me whoever it was prevented you from learning Scots” First nursery school, then primary school, followed by secondary…” Jan 24, 21:12
Northcode on Yelling at the tide: ““hundered ” Aye, a ken aboot that yin anaw. Whit am a like the day? A’m aw flustered because nane…” Jan 24, 20:50
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “Great post, Northy. See that “theirs” in your last sentence? Is that the Scots leid richt their? Always keen tae…” Jan 24, 20:41
Northcode on Yelling at the tide: “Aye, Hatey, they are a shower o cunts, right enough. Thank fuck for you, though…” Jan 24, 20:39
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “@TURABDIN You just don’t get it. Scots invented the modern world. Only, the “modern” world our ancestors invented was the…” Jan 24, 20:34
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “Aye, Willie, what’s the world coming to, eh? You can’t even threaten armed cops with your own handgun any more…” Jan 24, 20:26
Northcode on Yelling at the tide: ““…why are the online introductory pages of DSL all in English?” Whit leid sud thae be dae ye think? “Why…” Jan 24, 20:17
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “Morning Northy! Sorry it’s been near 12 hours and nae cant has stirred himself to respond to your post, other…” Jan 24, 20:16
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Yelling at the tide: “Pax tecum. “Quhen he spak all cessyt” (Virgil’s AENEID, translated by Gavin Douglas, 1513)” Jan 24, 20:12
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “Confused writes on humility and shutting your fucking mouth. Sorry, words fail.” Jan 24, 20:08
robertkknight on Yelling at the tide: “Ermmm… Last time I checked, Lowland Scots a.k.a Lallans, or synthetic (modern) Scots, isn’t the only dialect of Scots with…” Jan 24, 20:06
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “You tell me whoever it was prevented you from learning Scots, Alf, and as one, Wings BTL will seek them…” Jan 24, 20:02
Willie on Yelling at the tide: “Just watched the latest citizen of Minnesota beaten to the ground by ICE agents and then dispatched with some 10…” Jan 24, 19:27
TURABDIN on Yelling at the tide: “Just a thought…why are the online introductory pages of DSL all in English? Why does the DSL effectively treat the…” Jan 24, 18:59
Northcode on Yelling at the tide: ““…if some cite “Pictish DNA” (not so Billy Kay) as prime reason for championing it [Scots?], that logic seems not…” Jan 24, 18:54
Alf Baird on Yelling at the tide: “Its not that complicated at all. What you are describing are merely various forms of Cultural Imperialism. Language is one…” Jan 24, 18:38
sam on Yelling at the tide: “It is rather more complicated. https://media.scotslanguage.com/library/document/Scots%20Timeline%20Post-1700.pdf 1720’s Introduction to Scotland of the New Method of teaching English based directly on…” Jan 24, 18:20
James Cheyne on Yelling at the tide: “Chagos Islands, Thank goodness that Trump is stopping the financial fraud of funneling tax payers money out of Britain, Foreign…” Jan 24, 17:35
Marie on Yelling at the tide: “The world’s greatest living half-Scotsman (lol) has backtracked on his offensive lies – trouble is the dough ball has already…” Jan 24, 17:33
Alf Baird on Yelling at the tide: “As ‘a fowk’s’ langage is a determinant o the identity o the ‘fowk’ wha speak hit, it staunds tae reason…” Jan 24, 17:14
TURABDIN on Yelling at the tide: “if you compose text offline then paste and post, do you get moderated? it does seem so.” Jan 24, 16:44
James Cheyne on Yelling at the tide: “Following the archaeology of pictish digs, there is a pattern that implies the territorial boundaries and scope of pictland, i…” Jan 24, 16:33
sam on Yelling at the tide: “https://theconversation.com/how-celtic-languages-spread-across-britain-and-ireland-why-we-need-to-reconsider-the-early-story-271338 “..Recent studies of ancient DNA have revealed waves of migration into Britain from regions that are now in France…” Jan 24, 16:13
TURABDIN on Yelling at the tide: “Lallans speaking Scots settling in Orkney & Shetland aka Hjatland eventually ousted the local Norse, athough it survived long enough…” Jan 24, 15:47
DaveL on Yelling at the tide: ““… which was better than WW1 where they were 3” Aye and it took them six months to organise themselves…” Jan 24, 15:39
