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.
robertkknight on Whatever Can Have Happened?: “Must be an election in a couple of days and our rancid SNP Government needs to appear, I stress appear,…” Sep 30, 16:18
Hatey McHateface on Whatever Can Have Happened?: “As a matter of fact, Andy, Memmi predicted exactly this in one of his publications. But I’m not telling you…” Sep 30, 15:45
Hatey McHateface on Whatever Can Have Happened?: ““the former judge leading the review is himself a former Lord Advocate” I see. Everybody else must have been already…” Sep 30, 15:37
Sean Duffy on Whatever Can Have Happened?: “There will be no meaningful change. The politicians have the police and the judiciary firmly within their grasp. They won’t…” Sep 30, 15:34
Willie on Whatever Can Have Happened?: “Interesting nugget Colin Dawson about arrangemnts not so long ago being considered as ” appropriate “. Well according to Big…” Sep 30, 15:28
Stuart MacKay on Whatever Can Have Happened?: “Sadly no. You forgot a pithy quote from a prominent intellectual who was working with the CIA.” Sep 30, 15:16
Colin Dawson on Whatever Can Have Happened?: “In March 2026, just two months ahead of the last Holyrood election, the Scottish Government published an initial internal report…” Sep 30, 14:30
Willie on Whatever Can Have Happened?: “Cannot for the life of me guess why this has arisen Rev. Maybe Big John of the Independent minds she’s…” Sep 30, 14:15
Hatey McHateface on The Turning Point: “@Aidan You can see why it’s so important to sell the “colony” lie. Real former colonies don’t have to shoulder…” Sep 30, 13:52
Hatey Mchateface on The Turning Point: “Farage comes out swinging: “The state pension is not a handout, nor an act of government charity. It is a…” Sep 30, 13:34
Aidan on The Turning Point: “Yes and you could always take the view that since Scotland would be a new state, it cannot have any…” Sep 30, 13:26
Spartan 117 on The Turning Point: “A default and “clean start” would be utterly catastrophic and yet, arguably, the only remaining option for iScot to break…” Sep 30, 13:25
Spartan 117 on The Turning Point: ““Westminster has finally lost control” I’d argue we are already there, have been for several years and that most onlookers…” Sep 30, 13:20
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The Turning Point: “The Irish in me suggests perhaps better not to be starting from here: Anyway, as indicated in the past, my…” Sep 30, 13:03
sam on The Turning Point: “The weak of understanding, such as wee Johnny Main attribute my posting of links and quotations from them as being…” Sep 30, 13:02
Hatey McHateface on The Turning Point: “Very interesting what the former “green beacon”, Germany, is doing in the areas of coal mining and the use of…” Sep 30, 12:00
Hatey McHateface on The Turning Point: “@CC The US has expended too much of its arsenal in the ME this year. It will take years to…” Sep 30, 11:47
Aidan on The Turning Point: “Noting that this was written 16-years ago of course. There is no way that rUK Government would be willing to…” Sep 30, 11:42
Aidan on The Turning Point: “Assuming that an IScotland could negotiate a share of the UK’s national debt on a per capita basis (not an…” Sep 30, 11:33
Hatey McHateface on The Turning Point: “Sure, sam, if one side starts by making all kinds of convenient assumptions, then the final settlement can be massaged…” Sep 30, 11:29
Hatey McHateface on The Turning Point: ““The UK is rapidly collapsing” I agree. I’m wondering what the catalyst will be. The event that finally puts it…” Sep 30, 11:20
Captain Caveman on The Turning Point: “@Hatey If all those things you say about the rapidly changing tech of modern warfare are true – and personally…” Sep 30, 11:17
sam on The Turning Point: “Interesting post by Jim Cuthbert on how the negotiations on Scotland’s share of UK debt might be shaped post independence.…” Sep 30, 11:11
Captain Caveman on The Turning Point: “The only “way” out of it that I can see (if you could call it any sort of solution, probably…” Sep 30, 11:11
Hatey McHateface on The Turning Point: “@Spartan An iScotland could default. Cold turkey. I’m not advocating it, but it’s an option. It would mean probably 20…” Sep 30, 10:58
Spartan 117 on The Turning Point: “Yep. Uncomfortable facts. The UK state finances are ruinous like most Western nations. It’s difficult to see any way out…” Sep 30, 10:18
Spartan 117 on The Turning Point: “Good post. ArAndeh very much set out his stall yesterday – Moar Communism is the way, as is outsourcing democracy…” Sep 30, 10:13
Hatey McHateface on The Turning Point: ““Nail hit firmly on the head Hatey” Ground Zero for fixing any problem is to be realistic about what the…” Sep 30, 10:10
willie on The Turning Point: “Sadly we have seen the plunder of a country’s resources before for the benefit of others. That is what empire…” Sep 30, 09:19
