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Wings Over Scotland


Feeling this 95

Posted on January 30, 2020 by

Just a matter of hours to go. Want it to be like:

But it’s more like:

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Here we are again 166

Posted on January 30, 2020 by

At 51-49.

But it’s weirder than that.

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A tale of two timestamps 379

Posted on January 28, 2020 by

Well, at least they gave it serious and respectful consideration first.

Be fair, that’s almost two whole hours before being told to sod off and eat our cereal. If that’s not one partner in a union showing the other respect, we don’t know what is.

No fire in the Reichstag 196

Posted on January 27, 2020 by

Less than 10 months ago:

Record scratch, jump cut to the present day:

Let’s just hear that again.

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Everything what goes with chips 256

Posted on January 25, 2020 by

Winning back Scotland 1,180

Posted on January 18, 2020 by

Hubris: A Warning From History 126

Posted on January 17, 2020 by

We had a brief but semi-enlightening debate on Twitter with some daft young idiot from Scottish Labour this morning, which culminated in his desperately clutching at votes for the Tories and Lib Dems last month as somehow representing a victory for Labour.

Readers can pass an idle moment by identifying all the obvious logical flaws in that tweet for themselves, but it did lead us to a striking realisation, which we instinctively knew was true but still had to double-check because it seems so ridiculous.

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Prisoners of time 462

Posted on January 15, 2020 by

So we’ve got a couple of weeks to wait to find out what the SNP’s grand plan that they should have had ready yesterday was, and in the absence of anything better to do we suppose we might as well speculate on the possibilities.

WARNING: if you’re one of the decreasing rump of ultra-faithful still clinging to the idea of a new indyref in 2020, don’t build your hopes up.

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There Is No Plan A 301

Posted on January 14, 2020 by

So it’s finally official: Boris Says No. He’s formally done the thing that we’ve all known he was going to do ever since he became UK Prime Minister last July.

So what’s the stunning, game-changing counter-response we’ve got for him, having known for six months that this was what he’d say and had all that time to prepare for it? What’s the stroke of strategic genius that all those SNP loyalists insisted we had up our sleeve and just weren’t revealing until the key moment?

“We’re going to wait for however long it takes for the Westminster establishment to accept that another referendum is inevitable.”

Brilliant. What a plan. To the barricades, everyone.

Her Loyal Subject 539

Posted on January 11, 2020 by

The Toady And The Trap 291

Posted on January 09, 2020 by

Anyone who’s followed the UK political media over the last decade or so with specific reference to Scotland will know that in a very crowded field, the standout poster boy for arrogant, condescending metropolitan cluelessness is the Independent’s chief political commentator John Rentoul.

For reasons which escape us, Rentoul – who was born in India and as far as we know has spent not a single day of his life resident in Scotland – identifies as Scottish. And yet he doesn’t appear to even recognise the concept of Scotland as a political entity, and today he demonstrated that fact in a manner so stark and striking that it’s worth recording for posterity.

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From the archives #12 410

Posted on January 07, 2020 by

Over the last few days, for want of anything more interesting happening in Scottish politics, we’ve been reviewing some of the entertainingly fluid criteria by which Unionist politicians used to assert that Scotland could supposedly achieve independence. But we hadn’t seen this one before:

A view apparently “almost universally shared among English Tory backbenchers” back in the late 1980s was that independence could be won by the SNP securing a majority of Scottish MPs at not one but two successive UK general elections.

Given that that line has now been crossed in THREE Westminster elections in a row, we’re all agog to find where Boris Johnson will move the goalposts to in his keenly-awaited response to the Scottish Government’s second Section 30 request, which he’s due to deliver any minute now.

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    • Confused on Scotland In Numbers: “we are doing so badly, there’s a waiting list for the r4ping these days https://archive.ph/4n6H5 – maybe they could open…Feb 18, 12:28
    • Lorna Campbell on Scotland In Numbers: “Partly, it’s spreading monies too thinly and partly punishment. I had a fair inkling that, if the UKSC Ruling was…Feb 18, 12:28
    • Lorna Campbell on Scotland In Numbers: “Absolutely, H. McH. That ship has sailed. It would be economic and social and political madness to resurrect the EU…Feb 18, 12:08
    • Andy Wiltshire on Scotland In Numbers: “‘Is there anything practical to show for it…?’ Yes. The right people still get invited to the right dinner parties.Feb 18, 11:58
    • Southernbystander on Scotland In Numbers: “Interesting, though you have to subscribe to read the bulk of it. I am in broad agreement with him. I…Feb 18, 11:42
    • Stuart MacKay on Scotland In Numbers: “Here’s a stick that could be used to beat every politician into oblivion, whether it’s the SNP (we hate women),…Feb 18, 11:36
    • sam on Scotland In Numbers: “Well done J K Rowling. Beira’s Place still functions in Edinburgh. It is funded by Ms Rowling.As well as Ms…Feb 18, 10:59
    • agentx on The Longest Road: “Wow – GB womens curlers just had a great win!Feb 18, 10:49
    • Frank Gillougley on Scotland In Numbers: “That is a huge lawyers ‘welfare’ bill. One million plus on that one issue alone. Is there anything practical to…Feb 18, 10:48
    • sam on Scotland In Numbers: “Alf, It is worth noting the role of King James I and VI. He used Scots to try to seize…Feb 18, 10:46
    • Patsy Millar on Scotland In Numbers: “DisgustingFeb 18, 10:25
    • diabloandco on Scotland In Numbers: “Indeed , a massive loss.Feb 18, 10:16
    • James Che on Scotland In Numbers: “100%Yes, If they had gone down the route in the beginning of Recognising Scotland was dissolved from the treaty of…Feb 18, 10:06
    • Alf Baird on Scotland In Numbers: ““The British state didn’t need to turn Sturgeon she did it herself” Not quite. Postcolonial theory tells us the colonizer…Feb 18, 09:49
    • 100%Yes on Scotland In Numbers: “The UKG could shutdown Holyrood today and blame the SNP and lets be honest they would have a good reason…Feb 18, 09:43
    • Alf Baird on The Longest Road: “Aye Aidan, and we also forgot to mention Norway’s $2 trillion wealth fund, whilst Scotland has been made impoverished by…Feb 18, 09:36
    • James Che on Scotland In Numbers: “Hatey, The 1801/1802 – United kingdom parliament of England and Ireland, agreement, thats “Starmers parliament” No Scottish parliament in it…Feb 18, 09:34
    • Hatey McHateface on The Longest Road: ““Scots are forced to pay the highest energy prices in the world” Our “goitrous academic” repeats his canard. Quite why…Feb 18, 09:31
    • 100%Yes on Scotland In Numbers: “Anyone who’s been critical of Sturgeon/SNP has been dealt with by a fist of Jury. This is indicative in these…Feb 18, 09:29
    • James Cheyne on Scotland In Numbers: “Insider, Your ignorance on the matter must be bliss, to wantingly work to remain ignorant is your own wish. One…Feb 18, 09:23
    • Aidan on The Longest Road: “@Chas – Alf knows these figures are wrong, as I have pointed out to him before and he has admitted,…Feb 18, 09:16
    • Hatey McHateface on The Longest Road: “Naw, Chas. Anybody writing anything the Baird/Northy axis disagrees with has been internally colonised. Think of it as a contemporary…Feb 18, 09:15
    • Chas on Scotland In Numbers: “Wow. I was never aware of your theory before. Come to think of it, I maybe have, but only about…Feb 18, 09:02
    • Alf Baird on The Longest Road: ““by 2011, Norwegian GVA per capita was more than double than that of Scotland and the UK.” Just like Norway’s…Feb 18, 08:56
    • Hatey McHateface on Scotland In Numbers: ““Yet another example of this SNP government’s contempt for women when most vulnerable” Like the statistics for ill health, unemployment,…Feb 18, 08:53
    • Hatey McHateface on Scotland In Numbers: “An interesting article by Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis on why the UK should not join the EU: https://unherd.com/newsroom/yanis-varoufakis-britain-should-not-rejoin-the-eu/…Feb 18, 08:45
    • 100%Yes on Scotland In Numbers: “Women, men and Scotland were sacrificed in order to turn Scotland in to the first fully blown LGBTQ+ only Country.…Feb 18, 08:44
    • Chas on The Longest Road: “You had better hope the learned Professor does not read that! He won’t be happy.Feb 18, 08:44
    • J Robertson on Scotland In Numbers: “Anger doesn’t cover it. And at a time where rape and sexual assault is increasing in Glasgow. Scottish Government figures…Feb 18, 08:42
    • Insider on Scotland In Numbers: “James Che says: “I’am leaving here this week coming” Please, dear God, let this be true !Feb 18, 08:20
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