At the edge of the deep blue sea 76
Posted on
April 04, 2023 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
So a week and a bit after the deadline, this arrived.
And it’s not quite what you were told before.
Archive for the ‘scottish politics’
Inside The Cult 161
Posted on
April 03, 2023 by
Kenny McBride
In June of last year, I started work at Transport Scotland. It wasn’t the best job I’ve ever had. It was pretty much an entry-level post and it was only a temp gig through an agency, but after spending almost six years out of the workforce following a bout with cancer, two frozen shoulders, and chronic knee and hip pain, it was a huge relief just to be earning my keep again.
Of course, June is Pride Month, and Saltire (the Scottish Government’s intranet) was full of news and blogs about “LGBTI+” issues.
Also on the Saltire front page was a prominent invitation to two training sessions to understand the issues facing these groups: “LGBT+ Awareness 101” and “Trans 101”.
These were both run by the LGBTI+ Network, one of several “affinity networks” for civil servants belonging to different groups. With the GRR Bill on the horizon, and having heard stories about how difficult it had been for gender critical groups to get a hearing from the Government in relation to it, I was very curious to hear what this training involved, and I signed up to attend via Teams.
The first session was “LGBT+ Awareness 101”. This session was fairly inoffensive. The content regarding gay people was about what you would expect, and the T+ stuff was clearly biased, but not terrible.
However, the tone of the event suggested quite strongly that you weren’t meant to disagree with anything that was said. Towards the end, when questions were invited, I typed my question into the chat:
“How does the Scottish Government handle conflicts between TERFs and trans people?”
And there my troubles began.
Whatever else may change 161
Posted on
April 01, 2023 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Scottish politics might be a binfire floating down an overflowing sewer, but it’s nice to know there are at least a few things that are reliable constants, and one of them is that George Foulkes is an idiot.
But while his tweet is wrong, it’s not VERY wrong.
Minority Report 131
Posted on
March 31, 2023 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
It’s not often we have to correct the figures of an esteemed KC like Joanna Cherry, but she’s made a straight-up mistake in her column for The National today.
Because of course Ash Regan and Kate Forbes did rather better than that.
Before the storm 394
Posted on
March 29, 2023 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
To be honest, Humza Yousaf’s new Cabinet satirises itself – everyone’s picking on the absurdity of noted idiot Shona Robison becoming Finance Secretary but the funniest is surely omnifailure Shirley-Anne Somerville as Trans Rights – sorry, “Social Justice” Secretary – so rather than waste our breath on it today we’re going to catch up on some results from our latest Panelbase poll that we haven’t managed to squeeze in amid the mayhem of the last couple of weeks.
They tell us some interesting things about the Scotland the new FM now leads.
Better living through higher prices 331
Posted on
March 28, 2023 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Well, we’re off to a flying start.
This is certainly what the public want. So let’s see his plans.
The beginning of the end 361
Posted on
March 27, 2023 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
The beam on Kate Forbes’ face was quite something.
She’d clearly been exhausted by the contest some time ago, and must have been dreading winning and having to continue fighting the assault from within her own party. Her evident delight and relief at her own failure was a revealing moment.
The great unknown in this election was just who the SNP membership was. No poll could tell us, and with over 50,000 people having quit the party in the last three years, nobody knew who was left. But we know now: idiots.
The Hollow Crown 197
Posted on
March 27, 2023 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Today is the last day of Nicola Sturgeon’s record-breaking reign as First Minister of Scotland. In a few hours we’ll know who is to succeed her in the role. She was only the second SNP occupant of Bute House, and the legacy she bequeaths compared to the one she inherited from Alex Salmond is a matter of measureable record.
So let’s see the final scores on the doors.
The Smell Of It 113
Posted on
March 26, 2023 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
This is the second time Wings Over Scotland has asked Police Scotland a question through the proper official channels, only to read the response in the tabloid press before we’d heard it firsthand (which we still haven’t, incidentally, several days after the 28-day deadline expired).
But the sidebar piece in today’s Sunday Mail raises more questions than it answers.
Humza’s Sneaky Peek 85
Posted on
March 24, 2023 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Wait what now?
And how would he know that, exactly?
