The world's most-read Scottish politics website

Wings Over Scotland


Archive for the ‘scottish politics’


Looking up at the stars 676

Posted on March 10, 2026 by

A fascinating line from the BBC this evening:

The number of parties who got MSPs elected at the last election is… five. (Though in fairness there are now six, Reform having a single MSP after Graham Simpson defected from the Tories. The Lib Dems are even outnumbered by independents, of whom there are seven.)

Read the rest of this entry →

Scotland’s Most Frightened 418

Posted on March 04, 2026 by

This was just two months ago. (Longer version here.)

And we’ll bet you anything you like he’s already wishing he hadn’t said it.

Read the rest of this entry →

The Tactics Of Suicide 170

Posted on February 26, 2026 by

Sorry, readers, we’ve been too busy boiling with rage at revolting, cretinous Americans for the last few days to trust ourselves with writing a full-length article, but we’ve just about calmed down enough in time for this month’s polling analysis.

Which is handy, because today is also the day of the Gorton and Denton by-election in Manchester (fun fact: a seat we’d very likely have lived in ourselves if not for Osama bin Laden, but that’s another story), and that throws up some interesting parallels.

Read the rest of this entry →

When the law breaks the law 251

Posted on February 19, 2026 by

There is a not particularly funny joke that is sometimes told in legal circles about why a law student failed to finish his coursework – because he had no conviction. With rare exceptions lawyers aren’t renowned for their sense of humour but I can’t help thinking someone, at the highest levels of our justice system, is having a right laugh at my expense and those who have loyally supported me over the past six years.

I’m talking about the Lord Advocate, Dorothy Bain KC – a sitting member of the Scottish Government’s cabinet who was nominated by Nicola Sturgeon to that post in 2021, five months after I was acquitted.

For those unfamiliar with my case, I offer this brief summary. In March 2020 I made a short video on my mobile phone that was two minutes and thirty eight seconds in length. I hadn’t planned to make the video when I went out for a walk in a field near my home. But I was annoyed and wanted to articulate that annoyance, although at the time I recorded it I wasn’t intending for it to go much further.

Later that night, just before turning in, I uploaded it to my YouTube channel on a closed, unlisted link and then posted that link to my Twitter account that, at the time, had a modest 1000 or so followers. I then forgot about it.

Little did I know that short mobile phone video would result in me facing initially a criminal trial, then a five year legal battle in the highest civil court in Scotland and now, most likely, an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Read the rest of this entry →

The Future Is Yesterday 48

Posted on February 18, 2026 by

So on the one hand there’s obviously very little point paying attention to the SNP’s regional list candidates for May’s Holyrood election, because as this website has comprehensively demonstrated over recent months, the chances of the SNP having any list MSPs elected are remote.

However, nothing is impossible, so let’s take a look at the B team, which also serves as a guide to the party’s upcoming talent taking its first steps towards the gravy bus.

Well, that was even grimmer than expected.

Read the rest of this entry →

Scotland In Numbers 46

Posted on February 17, 2026 by

Cost of keeping vital rape crisis services in Glasgow operating: £500,000.

Amount of money wasted by the Scottish Government fighting and losing court cases to try to remove women’s rights: £1.14 million.

Angry yet?

The Longest Road 115

Posted on February 16, 2026 by

As the six-year fight for justice for Alex Salmond continues, we thought you might like to see this clip from this morning’s Mike Graham Show, interviewing Paul McManus, the businessman and drummer in Glasgow rock band Gun who’s stepped up to fund the Salmond family’s case against the Scottish Government despite disagreeing with much of what Alex stood for politically.

We take our (hi-)hats off to him.

The Modern Politician 339

Posted on February 10, 2026 by

A play in three acts:

And you thought ours were spineless.

Read the rest of this entry →

A Dumber Nation 85

Posted on February 09, 2026 by

In politics, readers, evil and stupidity aren’t the same thing.

But nor are they exclusive.

Read the rest of this entry →

Echoes of history 68

Posted on February 08, 2026 by

The Sunday National’s front page today elicited a sigh of “So what?” from most.

We’ve already GOT a “pro-indy” majority at Holyrood and have done for the last 10 years, for all it’s been worth. But to be fair there was a paragraph in the article that at least raised a quizzical eyebrow.

Read the rest of this entry →

A Stitch In Timing 160

Posted on February 05, 2026 by

Readers will probably be aware that literally as you read this, the Scottish Government is in court trying to defend its policy of letting male murderers be housed in women’s prisons by arguing that the Equality Act 2010 (as ruled on by the Supreme Court in the For Women Scotland case) is incompatible with the Human Rights Act 1998, implementing the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (commonly referred to as the ECHR).

But this article isn’t about that case.

Read the rest of this entry →

The Marshalling Plan 230

Posted on February 02, 2026 by

Another month has passed, so we suppose it must be time for the third of our polling-analysis pieces for the Scottish Parliament election in May.

(Last time round we assessed the grotesque rank idiocy of voting SNP on the list if you want a pro-indy majority, and the time before that we considered the possible impact of Jeremy Corbyn’s Your Party on seat numbers, which now looks rather less potentially semi-interesting than it did last summer.)

So what can we look at this time?

Well, what if Unionists were slightly less stupid and tribal than SNP voters?

Read the rest of this entry →

  • About

    Wings Over Scotland is a thing that exists.

    Stats: 6,899 Posts, 1,240,434 Comments

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Tags

  • Recent Comments

    • Aidan on Seven Days Too Long: “Exactly CC, both “parties” are really just a collection of independents standing under a broad banner. The problem is, standing…May 1, 10:13
    • Captain Caveman on Seven Days Too Long: ““What “nothing else” screams to me (and to many others) is “we can’t agree on even the basics” and which…May 1, 09:48
    • Aidan on Seven Days Too Long: “So vote for a tiny micro-party which is vanishingly unlikely to win any seats, when you could instead vote against…May 1, 08:52
    • TURABDIN on Seven Days Too Long: “AS A GESTURE TO THE K&Q of ENGLAND, Trump cuts tax on uisge beatha…..that great foreign owned export. Did you…May 1, 08:43
    • diabloandco on Seven Days Too Long: “can anyone tell me how to get rid of Microsoft cretinous news , which pops up every time I open…May 1, 07:53
    • Athanasius on Seven Days Too Long: “Don’t vote. The government will get in.May 1, 06:30
    • Peter McAvoy on Seven Days Too Long: “Has the site of the fire in union street been examined to see if the buildings and roads are in…May 1, 02:05
    • Young Lochinvar on Seven Days Too Long: “FFS What is up with you lot? Vote ATLS. Simple. “Independence, nothing else”. Isn’t that what we are crying out…Apr 30, 23:49
    • Rob on Seven Days Too Long: “I did vote for Fergus, its not that I don’t like what the SNP used to stand for, its more…Apr 30, 23:27
    • Alf Baird on Seven Days Too Long: “The Crown as relating to the Kingdom of England seems clear enough, an thars nae doubt thon Croun is whit…Apr 30, 22:31
    • James on Seven Days Too Long: “Dan; I’m south Scotland and have an ATLS choice on the list so they will get my vote, sadly there…Apr 30, 22:12
    • Mark Beggan on Seven Days Too Long: “I think Scotland is about to become the land that time forgot.Apr 30, 21:17
    • Cynicus on Seven Days Too Long: “If you can, vote for Fergus Ewing. #No Votes SNP.Apr 30, 21:13
    • Cynicus on Seven Days Too Long: “If you van, vote for Fergus Ewing. #No Votes SNP.Apr 30, 21:12
    • diabloandco on Seven Days Too Long: “Please , please go and vote – spoil your ballot paper if no-one appeals – but please vote as even…Apr 30, 21:11
    • Dan on Seven Days Too Long: “The trouble is James, that after 10 years and two Scottish parliament elections, there is now a choice of voting…Apr 30, 21:06
    • Doug on Seven Days Too Long: “Our only hope for independence is Farage becoming PM in England.Apr 30, 21:02
    • Doug on Seven Days Too Long: “A leader with any integrity would resign. So, aye, Swinney will remain as leader. The gutless memebership will probably beg…Apr 30, 21:00
    • James on Seven Days Too Long: “Are you not missing the point? Agree to disagree on anything and everything except; Independence, nothing else nothing less. That’s…Apr 30, 20:23
    • Confused on Seven Days Too Long: “pessimism is just playing the odds, but it makes for a dull life 1. england is swallowed beneath the waves…Apr 30, 19:33
    • Potace on Seven Days Too Long: “I’m just not going to bother voting. What an utterly depressing shower they all are, and I’m left completely politically…Apr 30, 19:06
    • Highland Wifie on Seven Days Too Long: “Alf says “Scots need to elect radicals.” Alliance to Liberate Scotland made a huge mistake in parachuting in Craig Murray…Apr 30, 18:30
    • Sven on Seven Days Too Long: “twathater @ 17.54. “They may not be polished or grandiose” and, I’d add, not career or would be professional career…Apr 30, 18:20
    • 100%Yes on Seven Days Too Long: “Have you seen this below? https://neilslegalstuff.blogspot.com/2026/04/crown-of-england-post-1707-read-act.html Just wondered your thoughts?Apr 30, 18:18
    • Sven on Seven Days Too Long: “Cynicus @ 17.39. I’d guess that you have missed the opportunity to waste some hours of your life which you’d…Apr 30, 18:12
    • Alf Baird on Seven Days Too Long: ““a lackey for Sturgeon Don’t you mean “a lackey” for the ‘Union’?Apr 30, 17:56
    • twathater on Seven Days Too Long: “FFS whats wae awe the girnin and defeatism , a canny vote for this yin or a canny vote fur…Apr 30, 17:54
    • Cynicus on Seven Days Too Long: “I have not watched a single Party political broadcast or leaders’ debate.. Have I missed much?Apr 30, 17:39
    • Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Seven Days Too Long: “To be clear, Fergus Ewing is of course standing as an independent.Apr 30, 17:27
    • Alf Baird on Seven Days Too Long: “Independence is of course ‘radical’ in terms of totally transforming our society and governance which means Scots need to elect…Apr 30, 17:19
  • A tall tale



↑ Top