Patrick Harvie on a radio phone-in today, refusing to say if he knows what a woman is and refusing to guarantee them safety from men in women’s single-sex spaces.
Today is going to be by some distance the quietest one in Scottish politics this week, so I hope you’ll forgive me a personal indulgence, readers. Because while I just ignore unimaginably vast torrents of online abuse every hour of every day of every year, once in a blue moon some things get said that you just can’t let pass.
Paul Kavanagh made a lot of unpleasant personal-attack tweets yesterday off the back of an unpleasant personal-attack article on his blog, which I don’t propose to get into the many individual falsehoods and misrepresentations of here.
(While I believe his evidence in the Dugdale case actually did more harm than good, I don’t hold him responsible for that and I appreciated his willingness to try to help when others I’d considered friends had turned their back.)
Hey folks, remember the happy days when indyref 2 was going to be in “the first half” of the next Parliament? Well, here comes the totally surprising and unexpected news.
This was Ian Blackford on Sky News yesterday, quietly confirming that at best we can expect it in the SECOND half of the Parliament, ie 2024 at the earliest. (And that’s with all the usual waffly evasiveness about how it could be achieved.)
This isn’t quite yet a smoking gun, more of a starter’s pistol. But it’s already more than we’d expected from the Holyrood inquiry – an unambiguous statement that the First Minister misled it (and therefore Parliament) under oath.
What’s still missing at this stage is the word “knowingly”, which would turn it from a serious but non-fatal misdemeanour into a resignation offence. But nor, yet, is there any sight of the word “inadvertently”.
Writing about the Hate Crime Bill in the Herald today, Kevin McKenna summarises in a sentence a point this website has been making for many months.
Because the real question about the SNP’s sudden demented obsession with focusing the public’s attention on its most unpopular policies right before supposedly the most important election in its history isn’t “Why?”
Yesterday’s evidence session at the Fabiani inquiry had several standout moments, but by a narrow margin this was our favourite.
And just in case you were wondering, yes, that IS Scotland’s top prosecutor, the Lord Advocate, chief of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, James Wolffe QC, repeatedly refusing to tell an MSP whether or not it’s a criminal offence in Scotland to refuse to comply with a court-ordered search warrant.
So next time you’ve ramraided a load of iPads and the polis come knocking on your door asking if they can have a nosy around your attic for them, just tell them they can’t come in because it’s a matter of your motivations.
For the record, we thought you should see what the Scottish Parliament considers to be the appropriate treatment of an “Urgent Question”.
For a little over eight minutes, the Lord Advocate was allowed to ignore and avoid a series of questions put to him regarding the abjectly corrupt Crown Office’s recent interference with the work of the Fabiani inquiry by redacting evidence which in no way identified anyone as a complainer in the trial of Alex Salmond.
Because while pretty much every journalist, pundit and legal expert reporting the case agrees that the amendment made to the Section 11 order protecting the anonymity of the complainers in the Alex Salmond case is an important and significant one, it hasn’t impressed the only person whose opinion actually matters: Andy Wightwash.
duncanio on A Fishy Tale: “No doubt they’ll try to explain it away because of the reportage and bad publicity related to the Murrell guilty…” Jun 19, 10:31
ALANM on A Fishy Tale: “Millwall supporters now have something in common with the SNP. Everybody hates us but we don’t care.” Jun 19, 10:22
Nicky T Naquetti on A Fishy Tale: “That fake accent… you should never trust any “Scottish” person who doesn’t pronounce the letter “R” correctly.” Jun 19, 10:13
Spartan 117 on A Fishy Tale: “A good analysis as always, Stu.” Jun 19, 10:03
Willie on Response Level Upgrade: “Anyone heard from Anas Sarwar. Don’t like to gloat about a party down on its upper but what does he…” Jun 19, 10:03
Brotyboy on A Fishy Tale: “Dick Douglas? I went out with his daughter about 55 years ago. She came to her senses a few days…” Jun 19, 10:00
Spartan 117 on Response Level Upgrade: “Someone’s been watching too much Outlander. The history, which I’m fully aware of and find fascinating, is certainly a twisting…” Jun 19, 09:51
James Che on Response Level Upgrade: “Spartan 117. Ed milliband’s net zero agenda would not even be inScotland if the 1707 treaty of union was real,…” Jun 19, 09:44
James Che on Response Level Upgrade: “Alf Baird is pretty accurate in stating Scotland is a Colonised Country of England, It would be helpful however Alf…” Jun 19, 09:15
robertkknight on Response Level Upgrade: “So, Aberdeen South had a unionist MP yesterday, and has a unionist MP today. Plus ça change, mon ami, plus…” Jun 19, 09:12
Spartan 117 on Response Level Upgrade: “Very little shocking regarding the attendees or the topics being discussed. It’s not even hidden anymore that our masters are…” Jun 19, 09:12
Aidan on Response Level Upgrade: “And yet here you are again, obsessively following everything I post like some crazed stalker. I bet if I posted…” Jun 19, 08:57
TURABDIN on Response Level Upgrade: “MEANWHILE… the real masters of the universe play around with goofy ideas. https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/data-breach-exposes-secrets-peter-thiel-dialog-retreat-1803198 Watch out, the antichrist’s about….scary stuff. Tomorrow…” Jun 19, 08:56
Willie on Response Level Upgrade: “Thanks MaryB a typo on my part. The Tory victory in Aberdeen South reflects the utter disenchantment with voters about…” Jun 19, 08:53
Spartan 117 on Response Level Upgrade: “An enthusiastic rejection of tyrannical Net Zero policies by the voters of Aberdeen South who have seen high-quality employment and…” Jun 19, 08:34
James Che on Response Level Upgrade: “The Scots that went down to sit in the parliament of Englands Westminster were no longer members of a Scottish…” Jun 19, 08:13
Captain Caveman on Response Level Upgrade: “Wow, more random brain farts in the dead of night, YL? What has any of this nonsense got to do…” Jun 19, 07:52
James Che on Response Level Upgrade: “Sam. King James was known as the Great pretender in England and later in Scotland dueto him self declaring himself…” Jun 19, 07:51
MaryB on Response Level Upgrade: “Correction above: The SNP lost Aberdeen South” Jun 19, 06:33
Willie on Response Level Upgrade: “So, the SNP have lost Edinburgh South by election to the Tories and held on to the Arbroath Broughty Ferry…” Jun 19, 06:16
Cynicus on Response Level Upgrade: “SNP hold Arbroath SLab drop to 4th having run SNP close in 2024. “Starmer factor” seems to have benefited SNP…” Jun 19, 02:11
Cynicus on Response Level Upgrade: “SNP hold Arbroath and Broughty Ferry -with 41% of the vote. SLab down to 4th.” Jun 19, 01:59
Cynicus on Response Level Upgrade: “Tories have indeed won Aberdeen South Tories destroy SNP there with majority of c. 6000 votes Should they send their…” Jun 19, 01:52
Young Lochinvar on Response Level Upgrade: “Aidan Bad enough that it may have been so without you wishing it so and now crowing over it..” Jun 19, 01:31
Cynicus on Response Level Upgrade: “Tories tipped to win Aberdeen South. SNP source:”we have lost”” Jun 19, 01:15
Cynicus on Response Level Upgrade: “Tories tipped to win Aberdeen South. SNP siurce:”we have lost”” Jun 19, 01:15
Young Lochinvar on Response Level Upgrade: “Jimmy 6 of Scotland, held and tutored (mentally tortured?) by Protestant Lords and what I suppose you would call (English…” Jun 19, 01:04
Young Lochinvar on Response Level Upgrade: “CC My goodness! When you post all teary eyed and Unionist like this it’s difficult to read yer posts without…” Jun 19, 00:00
James on Response Level Upgrade: “Adrian got it half right for once. The first half, obvs; you’re right; I couldn’t give a flying fuck about…” Jun 18, 22:52