If you’re a fan of lazy, superficial political analysis from the mentally unwell, you might have read this week about John Swinney’s great strategic triumph of having “coaxed” an “endorsement” out of the Daily Record for Thursday’s by-election in Hamilton.
And if so, you might be forgiven for thinking that that analysis looks pretty stupid now.
(Holiday Boy is still jetting his way around the globe, and indeed will be for the next few weeks, so in the absence of cartoons what else can we do but look at comics?)
But what, if anything, do those front pages tell us?
Alert readers will be familiar with this site’s ongoing quest for an explanation as to why controversy-plagued charity LGBT Youth Scotland continues to operate in dozens of Scottish primary and even nursery schools, pushing gender ideology onto children as young as four despite only having a remit to support 13-25-year-olds.
Last month we were, to coin a phrase, stonewalled by Scotland’s charity regulator, the OSCR, but we filed a review request and today we received – a couple of weeks past the deadline – a response.
The entire Scottish media and professional-politician community is currently in a self-righteous froth about a campaign ad being run by Reform for the Hamilton by-election targeting Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar.
Obviously none of the acres of press coverage trusts voters to see the ad and decide for themselves, because that simply isn’t how journalism works nowadays. You’re told that a bad thing happened – whether it be a campaign ad, a comedian’s joke or the supposed terrible abuse sent to a celebrity – and how outraged various pundits or other celebrities are about it, with the clear implication that you should feel the same, but you almost never get shown or told what was actually said.
So to start with, as a basic journalistic principle, here’s the ad itself in its entirety.
Now let’s look at what you’re being ordered to think about it.
Don Paterson is a celebrated Scottish poet, writer and musician. The essay below comes from a new anthology of Scottish writers called Irish Pages: Scotland, and is reproduced with his permission.
Remember The Vow? Most of us have tried to forget it. This was Westminster’s Hail Mary as polling day approached in the 2014 referendum; a vote that Yessers – people tend to forget this part too – initially had no real expectation of winning, until an inspirationally positive campaign saw the polls draw neck-and-neck.
Then lo! There it was, splashed across the Daily Record: a fancy-font promise from Westminster party leaders that if Scotland voted to stay within the UK, we would enjoy new devolved powers. There was some other waffle about defence and opportunities and having an equal share in the UK’s prosperity. But the message was clear enough. We would be listened to.
The Scottish Tory MSP reacted furiously to a story in The National which said Scotland had been absorbed into England by the 1707 Act Of Union, rather than becoming a “partner” in anything, and had ceased to exist as a state in international law.
Which was a weird response, because that’s been the official stated position of both the UK government and the Conservative Party for at least the last 12 years.
Despite everything, we almost allowed ourselves just the very tiniest little micro-flicker of optimism when we read Tommy Sheppard’s latest in The National.
Because that much is certainly true, and it’s uncommonly candid to have anyone in the SNP admit it. So what’s the answer?
(Kelly’s article is here. Link to Grok’s answer here. The ChatGPT analysis that triggered the article can be read in this tweet thread. A verifiable analysis by Grok of the debate, based on a neutral question, can be read here.)
The legal imprint at the bottom means that that’s official SNP election communication. One assumes it’s intended for leaflets to be put through actual voters’ letterboxes.
Hi! I noticed, with very considerable amusement, your complaint last night that I hadn’t made a “substantive reply” to the [EDIT] EIGHT posts (totalling nearly 11,000 words) of semi-coherent ranting about me that you’ve made on your site in the last eight days.
(I’ll be absolutely honest, I’ve only skimmed the last few.)
We both know the reason that’s so tear-streamingly comical, of course.
In so far as it’s worth talking about Scottish constitutional politics at all these days, it’s worth taking a moment to analyse the bloodless, anodyne nothingness spouted by the First Minister on The Sunday Show at the weekend.
That clip is less than three minutes long, but it’s so soul-crushingly boring and full of content-free drone and waffle that it’s almost impossible to sit all the way through it, so we’re going to translate and summarise it for you.
James Cheyne on The Long Walk To Freedom: “Political division speil of global planning, The pensioners being older already paid taxes in their life to ensure financial security…” Dec 8, 12:28
lothianlad on The Long Walk To Freedom: “They fear the truth!!! This is an SNP Scottish Government remember! Parcel of rogues in a nation!” Dec 8, 12:27
Hatey McHateface on The Long Walk To Freedom: ““aggressive Anglicised ways” of the culturally assimilated See what you just did there, Alf? You wrote Anglicised where you should…” Dec 8, 12:26
Hatey McHateface on The Long Walk To Freedom: ““for fear of my mocking your ignorance with some witty and scathing retort” Dinna fash, Northy. The fear is all…” Dec 8, 12:17
Mark Beggan on The Long Walk To Freedom: “Exodus (20:16) ‘You shall not bear false witnesses against your neighbour’” Dec 8, 11:14
Alf Baird on The Long Walk To Freedom: “Inevitably a colonized society is compelled “to make major compromises with outer forces of oppression” but in doing so a…” Dec 8, 10:22
Northcode on The Long Walk To Freedom: “It should hardly come as a surprise that a corrupt criminal enterprise operating in the guise of a legitimate democratic…” Dec 8, 09:58
Aidan on The Long Walk To Freedom: “OH NO James isn’t onboard with the strategy! I guess it’ll be another soiled ballot from you?” Dec 8, 08:34
Hatey McHateface on The Long Walk To Freedom: “So, factchecker, how are you getting on with your crash course in tribalism? Penny dropped yet? Ask James to explain…” Dec 8, 08:10
Hatey McHateface on The Long Walk To Freedom: “Maybe they’re all channeling their inner Trump. Why should they act on behalf of a people, nation, culture, etc that…” Dec 8, 08:04
Hatey McHateface on The Long Walk To Freedom: ““the weakest are just the start” Since when have pensioners been the weakest demographic? They’re far more likely than youngsters…” Dec 8, 07:59
Willie on The Long Walk To Freedom: “And for all the senior pensioners reading Wings today they can uplift their spirits recognising that as a group of…” Dec 8, 06:15
Willie on The Long Walk To Freedom: “Information delayed is information denied is an apt line. But as we can see that is only one of the…” Dec 8, 01:37
Mark Beggan on The Long Walk To Freedom: “Where did you get your professorship? Tehran. An academic versed in colonial studys would know all the aspects good and…” Dec 8, 00:31
BLMac on The Long Walk To Freedom: “It’s about time someone in another country, eg Australia or USA revealed the names of the perjuring Alpha-Betties.” Dec 8, 00:06
Alf Baird on The Long Walk To Freedom: ““the truth is not just being delayed. It is being denied.” Should we really expect anything different in a colony?” Dec 7, 21:55
James on The Long Walk To Freedom: “Baiy and switch? Vote Yoon, because, you know, reasons. Nice try.” Dec 7, 21:12
Confused on The Long Walk To Freedom: “just asking. I thought I had “seen this before” somewhere and was wondering if it was new. All keep up…” Dec 7, 20:31
GM on The Long Walk To Freedom: “John Smythe, the people assisting him and Benjamin Harrop are all on the same path but aye, what do you…” Dec 7, 20:19
Confused on The Long Walk To Freedom: “How does this relate to https://johnsmytheinvestigations.wordpress.com/2025/10/03/foi-202500456798-selective-redactions-on-james-hamilton-correspondence/ and are you the same GM?” Dec 7, 19:00
Dan on The Long Walk To Freedom: “Stated this a few years back, but probably need an updated version of this old article, and it would likely…” Dec 7, 18:56
factchecker on The Long Walk To Freedom: “David, to use your image, we’re getting our faces hit with a broken bottle right now. They’ll keep getting hit…” Dec 7, 18:42
factchecker on The Long Walk To Freedom: “Dan, I agree with you about Labour’s record in the past. I’m just suggesting the only scenario I can see…” Dec 7, 18:30
Hatey McHateface on The Long Walk To Freedom: “There you go, factchecker, Dan says no. I’m afraid things still have to get a lot worse in Scotland before…” Dec 7, 18:18
David Holden on The Long Walk To Freedom: “An epic article in both length and breadth. A few reads will be required but after one pass I was…” Dec 7, 18:17
Dan on The Long Walk To Freedom: “Lolz, you maybe laid that voting initiative on jist a wee bitty too heavy. Aye, coz previously Labour in Scotland…” Dec 7, 17:39
factchecker on The Long Walk To Freedom: “Not a fact, this time – a personal thought. NUSNP has shown itself unworthy to govern the Scottish people consistently…” Dec 7, 17:08
Effijy on The Long Walk To Freedom: “I can’t digest such beating about the bushes, trees, and gorse. My conclusion, the SNP is rife with corruption and…” Dec 7, 16:16
James Cheyne on The cost of failure: “Also forgot to mention the destruction of infrastructure like roads, trains, water supplies, localised businesses, NHS, and other public services.…” Dec 7, 16:13
