When presenter Matt Frei sympathetically puts to her that she left Scotland because she was being “given a very very hard time” by Yes/SNP supporters, Mone denies it, saying “I didn’t actually leave, that wasn’t the main reason to have left Scotland”.
So where could Frei have come by such a misapprehension?
You can’t move for Michelle Mone in the media today, which is just the way she likes it. Almost every newspaper and broadcaster has been running lengthy stories and interviews about the publicity-craving ex-Labour supporter being commissioned by Iain Duncan Smith to produce a report on starting up businesses in disadvantaged areas.
(So excited was Mone – who now backs the Conservatives and is widely expected to be given a peerage in the next honours list by David Cameron for campaigning against Scottish independence – to be working for IDS that she just couldn’t keep the news in until the midnight embargo on the press release, tweeting it at 11pm last night.)
Nationalists have in the main reacted to Mone’s apparent imminent ennoblement as an unelected lawmaker in the manner you’d expect, but they’re not the only people to question her credentials as an expert business adviser and employment guru. So we thought we’d do a little digging and compiling.
There’s much noisy chat at the moment about Jeremy Corbyn being 20 points ahead of his Labour leadership rivals on first-preference votes. His rivals seem to agree; they’ve turned their main efforts to competing amongst themselves for second and third preference “stop Corbyn” votes.
But could any of them really close such a huge gap? And what if they don’t?
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.
Aidan on Vibecoding A Better World: “Care to share a link from a reputable news source for this story? Ru**ian propaganda is typical for accusing their…” Nov 10, 17:03
James on Vibecoding A Better World: “DaveL; Well, ye ken what they say; “once a Prick….”” Nov 10, 16:17
James on Vibecoding A Better World: “Way to go, Hatey! Site Prick Supreme! Last Monday, news broke about an underground torture chamber in a private house…” Nov 10, 16:16
DaveL on Vibecoding A Better World: “Walking a mile in your shoes we’d all be wearing SS uniforms and on our way to a party celebrating…” Nov 10, 15:27
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “Ah, c’moan noo, James. Everything you read on here is telling you more than you can know. Be honest with…” Nov 10, 13:44
James on Vibecoding A Better World: “Ah – the Yoon pile-on. Tells you everything you need to know. Keep going, Alf; you’ve got the twats rattled.” Nov 10, 13:27
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “On the subject of shoes, I’ve strived to live my life by the following words of wisdom: Never criticise someone…” Nov 10, 13:23
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “I guess, Alf, if you can replace the very real political and economic union between England and Scotland with a…” Nov 10, 13:17
Minceheid on Vibecoding A Better World: “Hatey McHateface says: 10 November, 2026 at 9:15 am In a just world, where karma rules, the building burners would…” Nov 10, 12:10
Alf Baird on Vibecoding A Better World: “Robin and others on the left are coming ever closer to realising that the key issue Scots face is not…” Nov 10, 11:32
Aidan on Vibecoding A Better World: “You are absolutely right Northcode – if you respond to a specific, evidenced-based argument quoting relevant facts and statistics with…” Nov 10, 11:31
Northcode on Vibecoding A Better World: “Here’s an argument framed almost entirely in quoted text. “Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not…” Nov 10, 10:51
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “McAlpine has been writing about the pointlessness of the SNP for some time now, so it’s not quite breaking news.…” Nov 10, 09:15
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “Every True Scot’s worst nightmare, MH. I mind like it was yesterday losing a fiver in 1986. May 27th it…” Nov 10, 08:23
Minceheid on Vibecoding A Better World: “Minds me of the time when a younger Minceheid discovered that the clappit-oot work jeans which he was wearing had…” Nov 10, 07:14
sarah on Vibecoding A Better World: “And Robin McAlpine has finally caught up with the Rev i.e. the SNP isn’t worth saving.” Nov 9, 21:43
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “The big, bad English barsturts may have thieved our wind, but somewhere in Bonny Scotia tonight, oor very ain world’s…” Nov 9, 19:14
James on Vibecoding A Better World: “Aye, Dan; it’s one sad bastart of a bot. Quite an achievement, though, to be on the wrang side of…” Nov 9, 18:59
Neil Waugh on Vibecoding A Better World: “Hey Rev Looks like you got a shout-out in the Herald today. Without getting a mention, of course. With her…” Nov 9, 16:03
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: ““understand that your population and its inevitable and longstanding ‘demographic manipulation’ and ‘perishing culture’ under colonial rule is a matter…” Nov 9, 14:00
Captain Caveman on Vibecoding A Better World: “Heh! Spot the luddite philistine eh – there’s me going on about “leather effect” watch straps and dials when OF…” Nov 9, 13:41
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “Liking it, CC. What about a moby app, monitoring your speech and texts in real time? Analysing for key indications…” Nov 9, 13:24
Alf Baird on Vibecoding A Better World: ““Many Scots just need to look at the strangers hanging around their High Streets” ….and the need to better understand…” Nov 9, 13:16
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: ““discrediting just about everyone on Wings” Some on here seem unable to distinguish between Wings and Wings BTL. I feel…” Nov 9, 13:12
Spartan 117 on Vibecoding A Better World: “A bizarre statement from Alf. Many of us don’t need to look to the media, state or “culture” for intellectual…” Nov 9, 13:04
Captain Caveman on Vibecoding A Better World: ““Jeezo, one day I’m the colonised, the next I’m the coloniser.” Maybe we could each wear a large “colonis-o-meter” dial…” Nov 9, 13:03
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “@ Aidan says: 9 November, 2026 at 11:05 am Excellent post. Many Scots just need to look at the strangers…” Nov 9, 12:51
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “““endless questions” posed by the colonizer” Jeezo, one day I’m the colonised, the next I’m the coloniser. Any chance of…” Nov 9, 12:41
Hatey McHateface on Vibecoding A Better World: “Prick and twat, eh, Dan? Sounds like you’re one confused individual. Nae wonder ye hae tae mak all yer ain…” Nov 9, 12:35
