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.
Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: ““Want me to describe how” Of course. But you won’t. For all sorts of reasons. But mainly because you can’t.” Jul 29, 22:58
Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “Ah, Confused, some casual racism of the real kind, not the “doctrinal” sort dreamed up by Alf. And some of…” Jul 29, 22:51
Confused on The Nobodies: “what does that even mean? I pointed out the “blowback” / unintended consequences of – the west – “arming up…” Jul 29, 22:50
Marie on The Nobodies: “Well Burnham and most of his cabinet (and most Westminster MPs) are members of L-F-O-I and many accept donations. Westminster…” Jul 29, 22:34
Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “Another from Confused in which we glean some indication of what his main concern is. But enough of that. His…” Jul 29, 22:27
Confused on The Nobodies: “your posts are like a one man “dirty protest”, and never troubled by any coherent point. Still, quantity, not quality.…” Jul 29, 22:17
Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “Which side did em fight for? Can’t be too careful!” Jul 29, 22:15
Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: ““on the wrong side of history and morality” Oh, yeah, sure. I’m not cheering on the people who want to…” Jul 29, 22:12
Confused on The Nobodies: “Sudan? I pointed out a while ago that the worst nutters we have imported to roam our streets tend to…” Jul 29, 22:12
Young Lochinvar on The Nobodies: “Happy anniversary tomorrow of the Battle of Boroughmuir (Edinburgh) 1335. Fought during the second wars of independence, another one the…” Jul 29, 21:47
Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: ““sitting on it’s fat arse” Ah, Wally W, you’re another who should make the effort to post in Scots. That…” Jul 29, 21:38
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The Nobodies: “« In another place [Carl] Schmitt calls sovereignty “true state omnipotence.” He holds that sovereignty lies with the person who…” Jul 29, 21:07
Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “You give way too much attention, Northy, to the voices in yer heid.” Jul 29, 19:28
James on The Nobodies: “LOLZ…..says the Keyboard Warrior – sitting on it’s fat arse in East Kilbride posting Unionist Shite on here all day,…” Jul 29, 19:26
Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “Ah, Wally, as ever you show us why the smart money is on you still wondering, as the emergency services…” Jul 29, 19:24
Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “What’s that you say, Sooty? Burnham’s going after people on benefits? Well, well. Maybe he will live up to the…” Jul 29, 19:09
James on The Nobodies: “Nah, everyone here knows you’re just a Unionist “Prick”…..” Jul 29, 19:05
Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “This is Scotland, sam. Why should we believe you know what a woman is?” Jul 29, 18:39
Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “We have serious claims from Professor Baird that I’m a racist and a fascist. We have serious claims from Professor…” Jul 29, 18:37
Captain Caveman on The Nobodies: ““My point wasn’t about the emotional harm of mockery… it was about its structural uselessness.” Well I daresay, Northy, if…” Jul 29, 18:22
Alf Baird on The Nobodies: ““It sounds good but it’s not right.” Spot on, James. The statement (“Scotland did fine as a colony from 1750…” Jul 29, 16:03
Confused on The Nobodies: “Burnham’s been in the job 5 seconds and what has he been doing : – FUCK OFF SCOTLAND was near…” Jul 29, 15:39
Northcode on The Nobodies: “You’re raising points about government size and historical interpretation, but none of them actually engage the argument you’re responding to.…” Jul 29, 15:31
Northcode on The Nobodies: ““Mockery and insults are different.” Your distinction makes sense at the level of tone, but my point was about their…” Jul 29, 14:53
Ross on The Nobodies: “BTW, There’s an easy fix for the ITV screen capture problem – in the browser settings, do a search for…” Jul 29, 14:09
James on The Nobodies: ““Scotland did fine as a colony from 1750 to 1900, not asset stripped. It was only when big government arrived…” Jul 29, 13:50
Ian Smith on The Nobodies: “The colonialism is not a serious claim, it is presenting obscure academic opinions as fact. While there are none so…” Jul 29, 13:01
Ian Smith on The Nobodies: “Assuming no mainstream political party is going to radically improve anything for the country, there is still a good case…” Jul 29, 12:55
diabloandco on The Nobodies: “If any silly sod replies to derogatory comment at 12.10 then hell mend ye! On a completely off topic subject…” Jul 29, 12:45
