Alert readers will recall that this site has expended some energy on debunking the lazy myth – which suits the media and Labour alike – that a significant factor in the unexpected Conservative majority in May’s general election was voters being scared back to the Tories by a fear campaign about the prospect of the SNP influencing a minority Labour government.
Alert readers may recall a few weeks ago, when this was a thing:
The SNP standing for seats in England, of course, is an idea that’s been put forward before by some of the nation’s sharper and more insightful political commentators, but the party has for obvious and understandable reasons shown no inclination thus far to undertake the experiment.
But as we realised after chatting to a left-wing English chum this week (a successful creative and businessman), such a party actually already exists, and has dozens of MPs. It’s just that it’s currently trapped inside a corpse.
These pages from the 14 March 1998 issue of NME (just 10 months after the election of Tony Blair’s first Labour government) are a fascinating historical document.
They needed saving. So we found them and we saved them.
Alert readers may have noticed something of a glut of articles in the press recently by right-wing commentators angrily challenging the SNP to prove its left-wing credentials if and when the new Scotland Bill ever becomes law and grants Holyrood more powers over taxation, some minor aspects of welfare and – of course – road signs.
The zenith of the phenomenon must surely be today’s eye-rubbingly bizarre Scotsman story in which the Scottish Tories urge the SNP to increase tax in order to reverse, er, Tory cuts. But there’s method behind the seeming madness.
The battle-cry of right-wing Labour apologists all this week has been “realism”. It’s all very well people like Jeremy Corbyn having crazy old principles about what Labour is supposed to stand for, runs the argument, but you can’t argue with public opinion and public opinion is desperate for Labour to become Tories with a slightly softer edge.
We’re sorry to keep going on about this, readers, but we’ve been going over and over it in our heads and we just can’t get it to make sense.
Below is the failed Labour amendment to the Welfare Reform And Work Bill:
As you can see, its sole intended purpose was to refuse a second reading to the Bill. Labour voted for their own amendment (an achievement, we suppose), which means they didn’t want to see the bill get a second reading.
Willie on Yelling at the tide: “The use of troops to intimidate and kill protestors in Minnesota is now very much beginning to resemble the actions…” Jan 24, 23:02
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Yelling at the tide: “Meant to add this link to the online text: VIRGIL’S AENEID, TRANSLATED BY GAVIN DOUGLAS (1513) www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/49884/pg49884-images.html” Jan 24, 22:33
DaveL on Yelling at the tide: “Aye, there’s Wee Adolf McHateface reliable as ever. Wee Adolf, I’ve got to say it, It’d be a first for…” Jan 24, 21:35
Alf Baird on Yelling at the tide: ““You tell me whoever it was prevented you from learning Scots” First nursery school, then primary school, followed by secondary…” Jan 24, 21:12
Northcode on Yelling at the tide: ““hundered ” Aye, a ken aboot that yin anaw. Whit am a like the day? A’m aw flustered because nane…” Jan 24, 20:50
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “Great post, Northy. See that “theirs” in your last sentence? Is that the Scots leid richt their? Always keen tae…” Jan 24, 20:41
Northcode on Yelling at the tide: “Aye, Hatey, they are a shower o cunts, right enough. Thank fuck for you, though…” Jan 24, 20:39
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “@TURABDIN You just don’t get it. Scots invented the modern world. Only, the “modern” world our ancestors invented was the…” Jan 24, 20:34
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “Aye, Willie, what’s the world coming to, eh? You can’t even threaten armed cops with your own handgun any more…” Jan 24, 20:26
Northcode on Yelling at the tide: ““…why are the online introductory pages of DSL all in English?” Whit leid sud thae be dae ye think? “Why…” Jan 24, 20:17
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “Morning Northy! Sorry it’s been near 12 hours and nae cant has stirred himself to respond to your post, other…” Jan 24, 20:16
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Yelling at the tide: “Pax tecum. “Quhen he spak all cessyt” (Virgil’s AENEID, translated by Gavin Douglas, 1513)” Jan 24, 20:12
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “Confused writes on humility and shutting your fucking mouth. Sorry, words fail.” Jan 24, 20:08
robertkknight on Yelling at the tide: “Ermmm… Last time I checked, Lowland Scots a.k.a Lallans, or synthetic (modern) Scots, isn’t the only dialect of Scots with…” Jan 24, 20:06
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “You tell me whoever it was prevented you from learning Scots, Alf, and as one, Wings BTL will seek them…” Jan 24, 20:02
Willie on Yelling at the tide: “Just watched the latest citizen of Minnesota beaten to the ground by ICE agents and then dispatched with some 10…” Jan 24, 19:27
TURABDIN on Yelling at the tide: “Just a thought…why are the online introductory pages of DSL all in English? Why does the DSL effectively treat the…” Jan 24, 18:59
Northcode on Yelling at the tide: ““…if some cite “Pictish DNA” (not so Billy Kay) as prime reason for championing it [Scots?], that logic seems not…” Jan 24, 18:54
Alf Baird on Yelling at the tide: “Its not that complicated at all. What you are describing are merely various forms of Cultural Imperialism. Language is one…” Jan 24, 18:38
sam on Yelling at the tide: “It is rather more complicated. https://media.scotslanguage.com/library/document/Scots%20Timeline%20Post-1700.pdf 1720’s Introduction to Scotland of the New Method of teaching English based directly on…” Jan 24, 18:20
James Cheyne on Yelling at the tide: “Chagos Islands, Thank goodness that Trump is stopping the financial fraud of funneling tax payers money out of Britain, Foreign…” Jan 24, 17:35
Marie on Yelling at the tide: “The world’s greatest living half-Scotsman (lol) has backtracked on his offensive lies – trouble is the dough ball has already…” Jan 24, 17:33
Alf Baird on Yelling at the tide: “As ‘a fowk’s’ langage is a determinant o the identity o the ‘fowk’ wha speak hit, it staunds tae reason…” Jan 24, 17:14
TURABDIN on Yelling at the tide: “if you compose text offline then paste and post, do you get moderated? it does seem so.” Jan 24, 16:44
James Cheyne on Yelling at the tide: “Following the archaeology of pictish digs, there is a pattern that implies the territorial boundaries and scope of pictland, i…” Jan 24, 16:33
sam on Yelling at the tide: “https://theconversation.com/how-celtic-languages-spread-across-britain-and-ireland-why-we-need-to-reconsider-the-early-story-271338 “..Recent studies of ancient DNA have revealed waves of migration into Britain from regions that are now in France…” Jan 24, 16:13
TURABDIN on Yelling at the tide: “Lallans speaking Scots settling in Orkney & Shetland aka Hjatland eventually ousted the local Norse, athough it survived long enough…” Jan 24, 15:47
DaveL on Yelling at the tide: ““… which was better than WW1 where they were 3” Aye and it took them six months to organise themselves…” Jan 24, 15:39
willie on Yelling at the tide: “It is truly outrageous how fickle Donald Trump and his administration are and how they can turn on longstanding friends…” Jan 24, 14:52
