Billions of years from now, when the Sun finally dies and expands to swallow and burn up the Earth in a final cataclysmic explosion, the very last thing to turn to dust and atoms will be Scottish Labour’s brass neck.
Coming from The Eternal Abstainers themselves that’s already quite a breathtakingly hypocritical claim, but if you look at last night’s results closely it gets a lot worse.
The breakdown data from last week’s vote on Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement:
ENGLAND: 266 MPs for, 256 MPs against (51%-49%) SCOTLAND: 13 for, 45 against (22%-78%) WALES: 6 for, 33 against (15%-85%) NORTHERN IRELAND: 1 for, 10 against (9%-91%)
Normally when I go back to Bath after spending time in Scotland, it’s with a mixture of sadness and happiness, because – usually after a delightful but exhausting round of racing around working and catching up with family and old pals – I’m returning to the place where I’ve made my life, where most of my friends and familiar comforts reside.
This time it feels different.
Because I don’t think I’ve ever been this scared for Scotland before.
Last night’s farce in the House Of Commons, where MPs rejected in turn every single possible Brexit option and variant thereof, perfectly encapsulated the ridiculous state of British politics and may well have scuppered any chance of avoiding a no-deal Brexit, because the EU’s terms for a longer Article 50 extension than April 12 were that the UK presented a clear and achievable plan.
But who ultimately sank the plans for either a softer Brexit or a second referendum?
Well, hopefully there won’t be too much of that, as we’ve got a sitter in to keep the Separats in check while we’re away. But activity on Wings will probably be a little sparse over the next few days, for hopefully-obvious reasons.
There’s a limit on how much we’ll be able to say about the case, and chances to post on the site will be restricted in general, but we’ll try to keep on top of any important events. Normal service will be resumed ASAP. In the meantime, behave yourselves.
Wings Over Scotland isn’t the only website dedicated to scrutinising the truthfulness of things claimed by politicians and media pundits. There’s the widely-respected and diligent FullFact.org, there’s Scotland’s own The Ferret, and there’s the BBC’s Reality Check (which frequently takes the more unconventional approach of, er, not making a finding either way about what the reality of things is).
And then there’s Channel 4’s FactCheck, which we’re going to generously assume had a liquid lunch yesterday and was a little under the weather.
Because not only is the conclusion that it reached on the subject of an independent Scotland having to use the Euro utter nonsense that’s been debunked roughly 1000 times in the last six years, it doesn’t even agree with itself.
This was the Scottish Tories two years ago, when Scotland’s economy registered a small downturn for a single quarter, which was definitely the SNP’s fault:
Shall we find out what actually happened, readers?
Several media outlets today relate a story from BBC Scotland’s fascinating three-part documentary of the indyref, revealing that secret UK government polling in the first week of September 2014 gave Yes a lead even bigger than the famous 51-49 one published by the Sunday Times on the 7th.
And naturally we couldn’t help wondering what might have caused it.
Dr Craig Dalzell of the Common Weal is a very sharp guy we’ve run several pieces by on Wings, and he’s currently appearing all over the place with a highly accessible and concise explanation of how an independent Scotland could sensibly run its economy.
If you haven’t been able to make it out to see him, a quiet Sunday might be an ideal time to catch up with it.
Mark Beggan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Baby Senator Kennedy says; The Democrats have changed their minds on Homeland Security quicker than a one legged cat in…” Mar 27, 14:25
Mark Beggan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “The silence in Scotland concerning the Pakistani Grooming Gangs is deafening.” Mar 27, 14:10
Confused on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “here’s an interesting thing : why do highly vocal minorities wield so much power in democracies where naively “the will…” Mar 27, 12:36
Confused on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “every day is now a gay day on wings The PIPEworks on MetroPOLE Lane — billed as Scotland’s largest gay…” Mar 27, 12:32
Confused on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “fantasies of power and relevance https://archive.ph/OFQUr – they spend HUGE amounts on all this crap, the least you would hope…” Mar 27, 12:30
Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “The war with Iran (& R) is to cut off China. They can’t compete so are setting about cutting off…” Mar 27, 11:03
100%Yes on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Sven, May’s election is going to be a interesting night. I might just need to take a day from diet…” Mar 27, 10:44
agentx on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “It would have sent a stronger positive election message for Labour in Scotland if they had agreed to the China…” Mar 27, 09:54
Sven on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “100%Yes I doubt anything would persuade that particular Tite-Barnacle to voluntarily detatch himself from the rich pickings on the ship…” Mar 27, 08:22
100%Yes on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “I see James Kelly has nothing to right about so he’s attacking a Indy party instead. The guy a real…” Mar 27, 08:18
Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Yer not wrong but I think it is the holy sites that protect them. The Saudis don’t give a shit…” Mar 27, 07:57
Dan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Do we actually need any more windfarms built at this pint in time, when the grid is unable to cope…” Mar 27, 07:54
robertkknight on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “In other news… Former council leader guilty of sexually assaulting young men – BBC News https://share.google/7ALHmuqmWRW3TZMKR Who knew…” Mar 27, 07:46
Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “I dated I rugby player once.. all rugged & handsome. I asked, so how did ye get intae Rugby then?…” Mar 27, 07:21
Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Aye John, This is what happens when you spaff mandates up the wall & squander 56 MPs at Westminster. You…” Mar 27, 07:11
Cynicus on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “The Offord Joke: Hats off to The National for publishing it. Old hat. I’d heard a version of it decades…” Mar 27, 02:01
100%Yes on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Labour on track to lose 2000 Councillors in this coming May’s election, now this will cause Sir Starmer to resign…” Mar 26, 23:11
Del G on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Your Party had not so much a faint hope as no hope of impacting the Scottish election: formed far too…” Mar 26, 22:46
agentx on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: ““John Swinney has said it is “not a coincidence” that the UK Government announced its decision to block a Chinese-backed…” Mar 26, 22:41
Del G on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Your Party had not so much a faint hope as no hope of impacting the Scottish election: formed far too…” Mar 26, 22:39
Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “I wouldn’t feel safe visiting Holyrood. Imagine if you were a tourist stumbling intae the gayest gaff in all of…” Mar 26, 20:22
Mark Beggan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Couldn’t have said it better myself. Totally agree. I have never been to prison but I believe the first question…” Mar 26, 20:15
Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “He’s a nasty piece of work. That was him behind the astro turfing fake no borders campaign during indyref. Caught…” Mar 26, 20:00
Frank Gillougley on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Dan, 1kW Electricity for 8p 1 m3 of gas is 23p 1 litre of diesel is 135p in Hungary the…” Mar 26, 19:56
Confused on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “wonder if jordan the bummer will be taking excessively long showers in addiewell, dropping the soap repeatedly and asking if…” Mar 26, 19:39
Dan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Hi Frank, any idea how much regular diesel is out where you are? I had to do a double take…” Mar 26, 19:34
George Ferguson on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Day 1 of the election and I am already thinking about a complaint to Ofcom and the Electoral Commission. An…” Mar 26, 19:34
agentx on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: ““Former SNP politician sexually assaulted five young men and boys Jordan Linden, 30, is the former leader of North Lanarkshire…” Mar 26, 19:22
100%Yes on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “It says the crappiest newspaper in Scotland “Outgoing MSPs who made tough decisions on our behalf deserve thanks” I say…” Mar 26, 19:11
Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Would you look at that. Just in time for LA28 Olympic games. The yanks certainly wouldn’t want every Tik Toker…” Mar 26, 19:06
