The world's most-read Scottish politics website

Wings Over Scotland


Archive for the ‘uk politics’


Another paranoid cybernat 163

Posted on June 17, 2014 by

Charlie Brooker in the Guardian, 17 June 2014:

“David Cameron has responded to [the ‘Trojan Horse’ schools] crisis by declaring we need to celebrate ‘Britishness’ with more enthusiasm.

More enthusiasm? More? We’ve been celebrating Britishness with the strained determination of a man desperately trying to shit a cricket ball for the past five years. There’s a Union Flag on every cushion, bedspread and Rimmel commercial. Twee cartoons of the London skyline adorn packets of biscuits. TV can’t shut up about Britain. The Great British Menu. The Great British Summer. The Great British Sewing Bee. The Great British Bake Off. The Great British Bayou. The Great British Bull Run. The Great British France.

We had the Olympics, for Christ’s sake. We spent the whole of 2012 waving flags like a semaphore dictionary on fast-forward. And that wasn’t enough? Now, years later, just as the Keep Calm and Carry On posters are finally starting to yellow and peel and fall from the wall like scraps of torched parchment, now Cameron wants MORE of that bullshit?”

Nice to know it’s not just us noticing.

Read the rest of this entry →

The evolution of tone 180

Posted on June 15, 2014 by

WEDNESDAY: Panini “politics sticker album” jokes are evidence of vile abuse:

abuse

SUNDAY: Panini “politics sticker album” jokes are light-hearted comedy material:

The BBC: you have to pay for this or you go to jail, readers.

In the public interest 131

Posted on June 06, 2014 by

We got another letter from the government today. After a sudden outbreak of candour last week with regard to the civil service writing Buzzfeed articles, this is more the sort of thing we’re accustomed to from Freedom Of Information requests.

Read the rest of this entry →

OBAMA INTERVENES IN REFERENDUM 581

Posted on June 05, 2014 by

Yeah, whatever.

We don’t need your pity 131

Posted on June 05, 2014 by

One of the most commonly-occurring arguments proffered by the left side of the No camp (regardless of how often it’s comprehensively debunked) is that should Scotland decide to leave the Union, it would condemn the English to perpetual Tory rule.

mrt

It’s essentially an appeal for Scotland to give up the chance of self-governance in order to mitigate someone else’s problem. But it could be even worse than that.

Read the rest of this entry →

Startled like a fox 72

Posted on June 03, 2014 by

We’ve had so many Freedom Of Information requests knocked back that we’re still a little bit wrongfooted when one comes in that doesn’t try to wriggle out of it and actually answers the questions we asked. So we’ll just let this one speak for itself.

Read the rest of this entry →

An Englishman not abroad 143

Posted on May 30, 2014 by

Why would an Englishman vote for Scottish independence? Why would a whole group of English people vote Yes? It’s a question I’ve been asked many times, and which the group I helped to co-found last week, “English Scots for Yes”, intends to answer.

engscots

Read the rest of this entry →

Just so you know 109

Posted on May 30, 2014 by

From today’s Guardian:

“Labour cannot afford to undo the coalition’s cuts in the next government and must expect to be unpopular, one of the party’s most senior finance spokesmen will say on Friday.

Chris Leslie, the shadow chief secretary to the treasury, will say some of the spending decisions ‘will be the toughest faced by an incoming Labour government for a generation’ if Ed Miliband wins the next election.

‘We won’t be able to undo the cuts that have been felt in recent years, and I know that this will be disappointing for many people. A more limited pot of money will have to be spent on a smaller number of priorities. Lower priorities will get less.'”

And as well as being bad news for the whole UK, we already know what that means for Scotland too. Because Labour has openly said, over and over, what its plans are.

Read the rest of this entry →

A good point well made 245

Posted on May 26, 2014 by

We’re rather kicking ourselves for not having spotted this one when it was staring us in the face, so kudos to Welsh professor of political science Roger Scully for the catch.

In the 2009 European elections, UKIP got 16.5% of the vote in the UK as a whole, and 5.2% in Scotland – a gap of 11.3%. In this year’s election the tallies were 27.5% in the UK and 10.5% in Scotland – a gap of 17%.

fraserukip

In other words, despite all the bluster from Unionists about how Scotland can no longer claim to be different to the rest of the UK in terms of supporting Nigel Farage’s party, in fact the degree of difference has substantially increased, by a whopping 55%.

It just seems worth pointing out.

Friends and enemies 178

Posted on May 26, 2014 by

According to Mandy Rhodes of Holyrood Magazine, this afternoon Johann Lamont issued a press release bizarrely calling on all supporters of “progressive” politics to unite against the SNP and UKIP. Now, that’s fairly mindboggling in itself in all sorts of ways, but we can’t help wondering whether she ran it past her deputy first.

prouk

Because that tweet raises a whole host of questions.

Read the rest of this entry →

Let’s talk about last night 189

Posted on May 26, 2014 by

Some considered thoughts on the evening’s events, then.

faragelaugh

Yeah, nice work, Britain.

Read the rest of this entry →

A clear choice 138

Posted on May 26, 2014 by

ukipok1

  • About

    Wings Over Scotland is a thing that exists.

    Stats: 6,870 Posts, 1,235,014 Comments

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Tags

  • Recent Comments

    • Robert Burns on Shield Of The Phantom: “From this article… https://sanityunleashed.substack.com/p/ai-facilitating-the-misleading-and The piece doesn’t just discuss Sandie Peggie’s ‘trial’, but the use of A.I. by law courts.…Jan 27, 08:49
    • Willie on Shield Of The Phantom: “Banana Republic you say RK and it wouldnt be a quip too far to opine that a banna republic is…Jan 27, 08:41
    • Hatey McHateface on Shield Of The Phantom: “I realise that teaching you to sing a new dirge is as impossible as teaching an old dog new tricks,…Jan 27, 08:40
    • Cynicus on Shield Of The Phantom: ““ Why would a tribunal judge make such gross errors?” Use Occam’s Razor. The simplest explanation is that the “judicial…Jan 27, 02:45
    • Cynicus on Shield Of The Phantom: ““This Judge Kemp has been shown to be a liar” ========= That is too strong. Less diligent than his high…Jan 27, 02:35
    • Saffron Robe on Shield Of The Phantom: “Colin, your point about a deliberately flawed judgement makes sense and seems very likely to be true.Jan 27, 01:43
    • robertkknight on Shield Of The Phantom: “Zero accountability in the Banana Republic that is the SNP’s Scotland. Only thing to do…kick the B***ARDS OUT!Jan 26, 23:43
    • Lorna Campbell on Shield Of The Phantom: “You make excellent points, Colin. The thing is: if there was political interference, it has not served whoever did it,…Jan 26, 23:20
    • Young Lochinvar on Yelling at the tide: “Who knows what goes through the heads of our super(ior) fan daby dozy southern neighbours. Probably have a contingency plan…Jan 26, 22:59
    • McDuff on Shield Of The Phantom: “This is outrageous. Is there no one with power and prominence within the political and judicial system to challenge this…Jan 26, 21:16
    • Colin Dawson on Shield Of The Phantom: “Perhaps the purpose of the judgement was to try to delay the resolution of the issue of safe spaces for…Jan 26, 21:04
    • Iain More on Shield Of The Phantom: “Off topic probably. So when is Starmers Rent Boys Trial? Will we ever see one? I guess the days when…Jan 26, 20:05
    • Nae Need! on Shield Of The Phantom: “An interesting point, lothianlad. When we consider that Sturgeons idol WAS, in fact, Thatcher. And then when we consider the…Jan 26, 19:25
    • Nae Need! on Shield Of The Phantom: “It is. They will obfuscate, though. There’s a part of my mind that still can’t fully understand how government business…Jan 26, 19:16
    • Lorna Campbell on Shield Of The Phantom: “I think you may be right, Rev. Had Kemp used AI, or listened to his two lay colleagues, he would…Jan 26, 19:12
    • Nae Need! on Shield Of The Phantom: “It appears not.Jan 26, 19:05
    • 100%Yes on Shield Of The Phantom: “Just watched a political broadcast from the Scottish Greens, no mention of transgender or Independence, not surprised. What I will…Jan 26, 19:05
    • Nae Need! on Shield Of The Phantom: “Aye.Jan 26, 19:04
    • Nae Need! on Shield Of The Phantom: “Spot on, Northcode.Jan 26, 19:03
    • Nae Need! on Shield Of The Phantom: “No surprises there. Thank you for pushing at the firmly closed door, Stu, cos nobody else would have. Now we…Jan 26, 19:01
    • agentx on Shield Of The Phantom: ““Nicola Sturgeon MUST be called to give evidence about deadly super hospital as she dodges scrutiny Scottish Labour leader Anas…Jan 26, 18:51
    • Effijy on Shield Of The Phantom: “The confidence tricksters posing as a judicial system are using a blackout curtain for transparency. A response such as this…Jan 26, 17:52
    • Willie on Shield Of The Phantom: “An absolute outrage of a response. No one, and I mean no one can have any confidence in the integrity…Jan 26, 17:18
    • 100%Yes on Shield Of The Phantom: “@bobo bunny, The National still has the offer of 1 years subscription for £20, just think you’ll be able to…Jan 26, 16:48
    • James Cheyne on Shield Of The Phantom: “Or we could walk away legally not being in a 1707 treaty of union with neither the UK parliament or…Jan 26, 16:47
    • 100%Yes on Shield Of The Phantom: “One thing is certain Scotland will never become Independent by the hands of the SNP and I’ll be my house…Jan 26, 16:41
    • Hatey McHateface on Shield Of The Phantom: “Crash course in Arabic (focus on water features) and a chequered T towel and you’ll be ready to rock n’…Jan 26, 16:10
    • Hatey McHateface on Shield Of The Phantom: ““elect wee nige and let him destroy HR and give our SNHS to his american millionaire pals” You’ve got in…Jan 26, 16:05
    • bobo bunny on Shield Of The Phantom: “Time to start burning things down, and blowing shit up.Jan 26, 16:02
    • bobo bunny on Shield Of The Phantom: “You’re hardly 100%Yes then, are you?Jan 26, 16:01
  • A tall tale



↑ Top