The former Scottish Secretary’s excuse for lying on air is a feeble, Hothersall-esque semantic dodge, and his excuse for not resigning is that his years of service as a constituency MP ought to outweigh the fact that a UK government minister abused his office and lied to the public in order to undermine the democratically-elected leader of Scotland and cling on to his own job.
Having now heard the case for the defence, readers can reach their own verdicts.
I was driving along under a lovely London sky yesterday and heard Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s interview on BBC Radio 4’s PM (package starts at 33.26).
As it progressed, it became clear that Sturgeon was turning in one of the best political performances on a radio programme ever. I say that as a Labour supporter, albeit one who’s belatedly grasping just how good she and her party folk are.
It’s for you, and then the pundits, to reflect on her words and style. But what I heard moved me across a line of argument in a way I can’t remember being moved by anyone on the radio or telly before.
This is a non-trivial matter. The (at the time) Secretary of State for Scotland seems to have just admitted deliberately and knowingly undermining the democratically-elected First Minister. The report may have been sneakily published on the eve of a Bank Holiday weekend, but we suspect this one won’t have gone away by Tuesday.
Sorry for the wait, readers, but having fancy custom stuff made simply takes time.
However, we’re delighted to report that all of the donor perks for our 2015 fundraiser are now in our possession, and will be winging their way out to generous contributors over the next few days.
We’re still on semi-holiday and the sun’s out, so rather than do any actual work by analysing and commenting on the last few questions we asked people in our most recent poll, we thought we’d just stick the tables up, let you have a nose through them and discuss them amongst yourselves. Click the image to enlarge.
Hatey McHateface on Shield Of The Phantom: “Any advance on tertiary? Anybody prepared to believe that syphilis hasn’t been curable since before President Trump was born? Anybody…” Feb 1, 18:15
agentx on Shield Of The Phantom: “Is it just me or are the general public just not as interested in the Ep files as the News…” Feb 1, 18:15
Hatey McHateface on Shield Of The Phantom: “G’wan, Marie, mak a start. What with being named after the Mother of God, you must have special insight.” Feb 1, 18:08
Cynicus on Shield Of The Phantom: ““Extreme orthodoxy of EVERY main ABRAHAMic (my emphasis) faith is frightening” -Marie ======== Trump’s son in law Kushner donates to…” Feb 1, 17:30
Aidan on Shield Of The Phantom: “@Xaracen – I posted one of the quotes from the judgement further up in the thread. You can read the…” Feb 1, 16:01
Lorna Campbell on Shield Of The Phantom: “You are right, H McH, as far as domestic legislation is concerned, but not international legislation, which a treaty is.…” Feb 1, 14:19
Marie on Shield Of The Phantom: “Monarchy is a religious relic – time to get rid. Religions are anti-scientific nonsense – ALL of them. The archaic…” Feb 1, 13:47
James Cheyne on Shield Of The Phantom: “Marie, Maybe all nonsense to you or I, but the monarch of England believes in that nonsense, follows his beliefs,…” Feb 1, 13:14
Marie on Shield Of The Phantom: “Another appalling scandal being deliberately hidden from us. Thanks for the info.” Feb 1, 13:05
James Cheyne on Shield Of The Phantom: “DaveL Thats because It is medical malpractice to follow an ( ideology ) medically when practicing medicine, “To do no…” Feb 1, 12:59
James Cheyne on Shield Of The Phantom: “Confused, It is a sexual deviance among the elites to pray on young people and children and women, The only…” Feb 1, 12:52
Saffron Robe on Shield Of The Phantom: “Very good comment in reply to the points Lorna raises, Alf, as are all your comments. I like how you…” Feb 1, 12:50
Marie on Shield Of The Phantom: “Halal, Kosher, not eating meat on Fridays – it’s all archaic nonsense.” Feb 1, 12:36
DaveL on Shield Of The Phantom: “A quote from msn news: “A woman who received a double mastectomy at the age of 16 under the guise…” Feb 1, 12:32
James Cheyne on Shield Of The Phantom: “Good day to you too north Code, The worlds still unrelentingly crazy even for a Sunday, my own religion is…” Feb 1, 12:30
Confused on Shield Of The Phantom: “interesting rumour – trump has tertiary syphilis, after 20 years it starts to rot the brain and it removes your…” Feb 1, 12:17
James Cheyne on Shield Of The Phantom: “Marie, Indeed a king that change his faith to differ than that wrote down in the treaty of union, And…” Feb 1, 12:13
James Cheyne on Shield Of The Phantom: “Scotland holds itself captive, a prisoner without bars,” Feb 1, 12:07
James Cheyne on Shield Of The Phantom: “To peruse around the details of Scotland/ England supposed union is not only extremely amusing and interesting, but also alters…” Feb 1, 12:01
James Cheyne on Shield Of The Phantom: “Lorna Campbell, For Scotland, and perhaps England, the way out of the all the confusing modern day politics is the…” Feb 1, 11:08
Marie on Shield Of The Phantom: “I find religious people absolutely terrifying now. Extreme orthodoxy of EVERY main Abrahamic faith is frightening. People in power who…” Feb 1, 10:53
Xaracen on Shield Of The Phantom: “Aidan, you said; “in his opinion on the subject Lord Hope of Craighead said explicitly that the treaty did extinguish…” Feb 1, 10:47
Northcode on Shield Of The Phantom: “Guid day tae awbody wha fidders aboot this gaitherin place. Micht this Saubath day be tae yer likin an micht…” Feb 1, 10:45
James Cheyne on Shield Of The Phantom: “King James V1 of Scotland- was given a Second title of king James 1st of England. Queen Elizabeth11 of England-…” Feb 1, 10:35
Cynicus on Shield Of The Phantom: “Lorna Campbell 31 January, 2026 at 3:40 pm? “Evidence please, Iain? Nothing has come to light to suggest that Trump…” Feb 1, 10:26
James Cheyne on Shield Of The Phantom: “” No parliament can bind its successor” Wether that is the law of England, the law of Scotland or the…” Feb 1, 10:16
Hatey McHateface on Shield Of The Phantom: “On the subject of tradition, some traditional mince and tatties from Professor Baird. The archetypal fascist countries were, of course,…” Feb 1, 09:44
Willie on Shield Of The Phantom: “Undernoted is a link to a Hersld article by Kevin McKenna on the persistent problem of public bodies in Scotland…” Feb 1, 06:42
Young Lochinvar on Shield Of The Phantom: “I had to think hmmm at the apparent “speed” with which good ol’ Uncle Sam’s Justice Department has released an…” Feb 1, 06:03
