Last year, as we’ve done a number of times in the past, we wrote about the dangers of handcuffing the independence movement to a particular narrow political agenda. Conflating a Yes vote with a number of hardline ideological positions which are more or less unquestioned within the liberal commentariat and the radical left, but actually highly unpopular with the general public, is self-evidently a huge strategic mistake.
Many of those positions are ones which this site supports in their own right, such as abolition of the monarchy and the abandonment of nuclear weapons, but our stance has always been that those arguments – like membership of the EU and NATO – are ones which ought properly to be conducted among the people and elected politicians of an independent Scotland in their own good time, not imposed without debate as part of the package of independence.
This weekend the notionally pro-independence Sunday Herald newspaper – as well as taking part in a media-wide Unionist smear campaign against this site and defending a “Better Together” activist who’d written a deeply offensive clickbait Guardian article claiming that Scottish nationalism was racist – carried a front cover and inside spread on the heated topic of mandatory gender quotas, which the paper supports.
As it happened we’d asked about the subject in our Panelbase poll last month.
Our attention was drawn today to hardcore shrieky Loyalist nutter collective Scotland In Union releasing “new research” on an independent Scotland’s finances, which in fact came out last year but which for unknown reasons they’re touting again now.
Commissioned by the loongroup from a London-based thinktank that we’d never heard of by the name of “Europe Economics”, it predictably produces a doom-and-gloom conclusion that independence would have cost over £10bn in the first year.
There are so many gaping chasms in the logic we could hardly stop laughing for long enough to type, but one in particular was worth wiping the tears from our eyes for.
It’s important to note, firstly, that the version of Sadiq Khan’s speech to the Scottish Labour conference he tweeted on Saturday morning simply flat-out said that Scottish nationalists were the same as racists and sectarian bigots. Its meaning was as clear as crystal to the Daily Record, a newspaper which is hardly hostile to Khan’s party.
“No difference” is a stark and unambiguous phrase. The speech did not contain the hastily-added qualifiers about “in this respect” and “of course I’m not saying the SNP are racist” which suddenly appeared when he read it out onstage that afternoon.
Yesterday afternoon, Scottish Labour tweeted some comments from Kezia Dugdale’s keynote speech to the party conference that might be the most self-evidently idiotic thing ever said by a Scottish politician.
Now, whether you support independence or not it’s a plain, measurable, empirical fact that it IS all of those things. Saying it’s not “an alternative”, in particular, is roughly on a par with asserting that the Earth doesn’t revolve around the Sun.
We were about to go on a rant about the jaw-dropping stupidity of the claim when it struck us that it might be a bit more interesting to see how the speech, and indeed the conference, had gone down with its intended audience – Scottish Labour delegates.
We were very pleased to hear Gary Robertson challenge Kezia Dugdale on the curious matter of Scottish Labour’s membership and income figures on today’s Good Morning Scotland. Dugdale flapped and dodged and waffled for as long as she could before diverting the topic onto federalism, and eventually managed to wriggle away from the subject without any sort of proper answer (through no fault of Robertson’s).
George Ferguson on Push The Button: “@Mark Beggan Just a few short articles ago I mentioned the precarious nature of the X38 bus route from Edinburgh…” Apr 26, 19:45
George Ferguson on Push The Button: “@Mark Beggan A few articles ago I detailed the precarious nature of the X38 bus route from Edinburgh to West…” Apr 26, 19:33
Steve Ashton on Push The Button: “Button! They tried to proof test the nuclear button. But the man there to press it had brains of dead…” Apr 26, 19:25
James on Push The Button: “Well, you’re the “shite” expert right enough… maaaaate.” Apr 26, 18:58
Chas on Push The Button: “What a load of shite……. as usual.” Apr 26, 18:30
Sven on Push The Button: “And, indeed, below the self proclaimed breast enhancer, the former David Paulden.” Apr 26, 18:09
Mark Beggan on Push The Button: “Wouldn’t it be karmic if all the Left wing,Antifa,Trans warriors all got their doors kicked in by a dozen armed…” Apr 26, 17:35
TURABDIN on Push The Button: “This piece is by a selfstyled «thinktank»….dohh! As all foreign correspondents rarely quit the London bubble it is not surprising.…” Apr 26, 17:33
Mark Beggan on Push The Button: “You just love the old violence. Who are you going to “tear to shreds”? Just stand at the back and…” Apr 26, 17:19
Mark Beggan on Push The Button: “Is it a coincidence that the evil regime and the Lefty Europa both advocate violence against anyone who disagrees with…” Apr 26, 17:12
Cynicus on Push The Button: ““ This article on the fractious trends in UK politics is signally notable by the absence of Scotland or Wales…” Apr 26, 17:03
Northcode on Push The Button: “Contrary to popular belief… blue buttons are intrinsically socialist, red buttons capitalist. Socialism is for the many, capitalism is for…” Apr 26, 13:42
Captain Caveman on Push The Button: “What’s the wealth per capita of Norway, in terms of natural resources? Asking for a friend. Also, using China as…” Apr 26, 13:40
Alf Baird on Push The Button: ““lousy, sub-optimal, unsustainable results” Here this is the inevitable consequence of UK Gov privatisation of public utilities which today are…” Apr 26, 13:34
Northcode on Push The Button: “Buttons are boring… unless they are those buttons made from a protein (casein) found in milk. For those interested, casein…” Apr 26, 13:25
Geri on Push The Button: “China has lifted 800 million ppl out of poverty. They’re described as socialism with Chinese characteristics. A mix of both.…” Apr 26, 12:50
Aidan on Push The Button: “Would they “bomb them tae fuck” Geri?” Apr 26, 12:12
Jamie on Push The Button: “Socialist Norway is one of the richest countries in Europe and regularly voted one of the best countries in the…” Apr 26, 12:01
Geri on Push The Button: “Or the scenario where the majority pressed the Red button but the powers that be just kill everyone anyway cause…” Apr 26, 10:52
TURABDIN on Push The Button: “BROOKINGS is a US thinktank based in Washington. This article on the fractious trends in UK politics is signally notable…” Apr 26, 10:51
TimePilot on Push The Button: “Darwin was right. The Red people thank you for your vote, off you pop.” Apr 26, 10:23
TURABDIN on Push The Button: “THESE NATIONAL(IST) PARTIES seem not too keen on their respective country’s independence. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq59xvdzjv7o A woeful act by tired old hasbeens….kindly…” Apr 26, 09:02
Captain Caveman on Push The Button: ““Socialism wants (insists) you vote blue and like it.” Very true – and invariably with lousy, sub-optimal, unsustainable results.” Apr 26, 08:54
wally jumblatt on Push The Button: “Socialism in a nutshell. Throw yourself at the mercy of the collective or sort your own world out. If you…” Apr 26, 07:45
Angus on Push The Button: ““Rationally, there is no reason for anyone to press the blue button. If you press red, you definitely live no…” Apr 26, 00:35
Phil on The Narcissism Of No Differences: “Interesting take on history Alf Baird and highly amusing fantasy figure. Believe that nonsense if it keeps you warm at…” Apr 26, 00:04
Jennifer Livingston on Push The Button: “All of these questions were asked to google AI: Asking how many people can be cared for on earth at…” Apr 25, 22:45
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Push The Button: “It seems appropriate enough here to reprise the following which I posted a while back. I originally came across it…” Apr 25, 21:51
Jamie on Push The Button: “The question is only really interesting as a political metaphor for example, the arguments for and against taxation. Taxation funds…” Apr 25, 20:41
