Alert readers can’t have failed to notice a desperate Scottish Labour dusting off the old “Tartan Tories” attack on the SNP recently, over the Nats’ unwillingness to join in with Kezia Dugdale’s kerrazy kaper of hiking up income tax.
So after today we can only assume they’ll be looking for some similarly pithy zingers for their colleagues in Wales. They can have this one for free.
There’s nothing unusual about reading something in the Scottish media that makes your eyes widen. But a piece we saw in the Courier earlier today stretched ours out to Clockwork Orange-like proportions.
Now that’s a pretty intriguing opening (as the bishop said to the actress). At first we took it to mean that an independent Scotland could effectively take over Britain’s EU membership in the event of a Leave vote, ending any debate about whether and when it would be admitted on its own.
There’s an interesting article in today’s Guardian about the clown-shoed fiasco of a position the Labour Party has contorted itself into over Trident. It correctly identifies the conflict between a party representing its actual membership and being controlled by its Parliamentarians who insist they know better than the people they’re supposed to speak for, but then right at the end veers off to an irrational conclusion.
Because the obsessive insistence of the vast majority of commentators that political parties – and they’re nearly always talking about Labour – must at all times pander to the centre ground leads inescapably to one logical endpoint: that all political parties should disband themselves immediately and forever.
A revealing moment from a meeting of the UK parliament’s Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee last Tuesday, featuring the former Secretary of State for Scotland, Lord Forsyth of Drumlean.
Scottish Labour’s announcement that it wants to increase tax for everyone earning over £20k (and therefore anyone on under that who fancies making a little bit more, or might do a wee bit of extra overtime), reflects its acceptance both that the far left is in charge now and that this year’s Holyrood race is virtually over already.
SNP party folk will “take nothing for granted”, of course, and some aficionados might find it fun to see which candidates slink into list seats after they’ve lost the votes which count, but I’m really much more interested in what will come after that.
It’s been a fair few months since we last documented the Daily Record’s increasingly panicky attempts to save its own hide over its infamous eve-of-referendum “Vow”.
In its growing desperation, the paper bizarrely turns today to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, demanding that SHE should be the one to fulfil a promise that the Record made specifically in order to thwart Sturgeon’s lifelong goal of independence.
The Labour Party has today published Margaret Beckett’s report into why it lost the 2015 general election. We were rather struck by this line:
Let’s just go over that one again to be sure: Labour believed that an SNP victory in Scotland would make it “impossible” for the Tories to form the government.
Which is weird, because that’s not quite what we remember them saying.
Alf Baird on Looking up at the stars: ““Scotland will issue another framework on important issues, a starting point” Thankfully there is a published research-based ‘theoretical framework’ identifying…” Mar 17, 13:54
Geri on Looking up at the stars: “Nope! Setting out a general framework of where we’d be starting from is very different from a political parties individual…” Mar 17, 13:44
Aidan on Looking up at the stars: “Okay so now it’s exactly the opposite of what you were saying earlier, glad we ironed that one out.” Mar 17, 13:03
Mark Beggan on Looking up at the stars: “St Patrick was the first illegal immigrant to enter Britain in a dinghy.” Mar 17, 12:50
Lorncal on Looking up at the stars: “Dan: maybe you just don’t see others’ viewpoints as valid discussion issues? Wings is still, by far, the most influential…” Mar 17, 12:50
Geri on Looking up at the stars: “Scotland was perfectly capable of writing a framework before. Even Wings wrote the wee blue book along with thousands of…” Mar 17, 12:35
Lorncal on Looking up at the stars: “Anne: I honestly do not think that the vast majority of posters on here are Unionist trolls. It is just…” Mar 17, 12:33
Mark Beggan on Looking up at the stars: “For Scotland to achieve independence now the supporters will have to vote for the Unionist party most likely to form…” Mar 17, 12:24
Aidan on Looking up at the stars: “I’m not going through the bins sorry, but looks like you’re absolutely right, it ain’t from the Tay, perhaps it…” Mar 17, 11:55
Aidan on Looking up at the stars: “It’s a great strategy from Geri, I love it. So when people ask perfectly reasonable questions in hustings/on the doorstep/in…” Mar 17, 11:48
100%Yes on Looking up at the stars: “Why does it bother you? Ignore them entirely, most people do and they’ll just go away.” Mar 17, 11:33
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Looking up at the stars: “(Another attempt at the Gaelic version, hopefully free this time from misformatting question marks after each Gaelic accent) COIRE A’…” Mar 17, 11:23
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Looking up at the stars: “CORRYVRECKAN George Orwell wrote his novel 1984 on the Island of Jura. I saw something about it on tv recently.…” Mar 17, 11:07
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “That which doesn’t kill you makes you strong, Anne. It never ceases to amaze me how so many pro-Indy Scots…” Mar 17, 11:07
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Looking up at the stars: “COIRE A’ BHREACAIN Sgri?obh Seo?ras Orwell 1984 air Eilean Diu?ra. Chunnaic mi pi?os mu a dhe?idhinn air an tv o…” Mar 17, 11:05
Anne on Looking up at the stars: “This site isn’t what it was because of the increasing posts from unionist trolls but one area where Wings has…” Mar 17, 10:22
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “Ah hear it’s grand fer fleas oan dugs.” Mar 17, 10:19
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “Thanks fer the heids up, Geri. Ah’ll hae a wee wurd.” Mar 17, 10:16
Geri on Looking up at the stars: “Spot on, Alf. Poor shitey will see this for himself if Reform win. Someone did a montage of him the…” Mar 17, 10:13
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “Sorry, Alf, but after that response from you, I can only hope and pray that you never actually read the…” Mar 17, 10:02
Geri on Looking up at the stars: “I hate tae burst yer wee Yoon bubble but ye are aware Chucky has strong Islamic leanings? Or maybe that’s…” Mar 17, 09:53
Geri on Looking up at the stars: “Look Shitey It’s not rocket science. In a referendum the question is posed to EVERYONE regardless of their preferred political…” Mar 17, 09:47
Alf Baird on Looking up at the stars: ““the article’s author doesn’t account for Scotland’s exceptionalism” Scotland has suffered from Orwell’s thesis since long afore he wrote anything.…” Mar 17, 09:18
Young Lochinvar on Looking up at the stars: “HMcH Oh, I get it. You start it, don’t come out best so revert to spellchecking sanctimonious teacher mode. Honestly!…” Mar 17, 08:13
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “An interesting article on why, after every political revolution, Orwell’s pigs eventually turn into the humans they overthrew: https://unherd.com/2026/03/trumps-betrayal-of-his-base/ Of…” Mar 17, 07:59
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “I’ve not been allowed near my local mosque since I tidied up all the shoes, bagged them up in pairs,…” Mar 17, 07:41
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: ““Whose bitter” Dunno, YL. But you saw it first. Fill yer boots. Bet some cant already gobbed in it though.” Mar 17, 07:31
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: ““you buy the house first before you start arranging the furniture” You’re thinking like a schemie who’s been 20 years…” Mar 17, 07:23
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “Michty, Geri! Still only Tuesday and already you’re back to picking up the word on the streets. I see you’ve…” Mar 17, 07:16
