The Sun (English edition only, the Scottish one goes for a domestic murrdurr story) has an inflammatory front page today, as Parliament debates the most important series of votes so far on Brexit, including one to overrule devolution.
It’s a rerun of a(n in)famous previous front-page illustration from the paper, which you can see below. But there’s something odd about it.
It’s probably fair to say that the voters of Scotland have been feeling a little put-upon lately. In the last decade they’ve been sent to polling stations on no fewer than 12 occasions (Holyrood elections in 2011 and 2016, UK elections in 2010, 2015 and 2017, council elections in 2012 and 2017, European elections in 2009 and 2014, and finally referendums on AV, independence and the EU).
And they’ve been subjected to endless weeks, months or even years of campaigning and haranguing each time. One woman – who only had to endure nine of those 12 – had famously had enough of it.
Yet Scots face possibly three more in the next 12 months or so, if various factions get their way, taking the total to 15 major votes in a decade. And if we want to secure the desired outcome in any of them, we’re going to have to ease the load on folk a bit.
This Wings story from April about a wildly untrue Scottish Daily Mail front-page splash has been entirely vindicated by a correction in the paper today, conceding both of the key complaints we made in our piece.
The Mail has, as you’d imagine, printed the correction rather smaller than the original story, so we thought we’d blow it up a little here for easier reading.
Because we’re sure they wouldn’t want anyone to miss it.
Some new data from the long-running Scottish Social Attitudes Survey was released tonight, and it makes for fascinating reading.
The headline stat is that for only the second year in the 18 years the study has been running, independence is the most popular option for the governance of Scotland:
This doesn’t, however, mean that it’s the majority view, because while independence is backed by 45% the “No” option is split into two – support for devolution (41%) and those ultra-Yoons who want Holyrood abolished (8%).
Now, considering that as recently as 2012 those figures were independence on 23%, devolution 61% and no Parliament 13%, that’s still a remarkable shift in Scottish public opinion in a very short space of time – support for indy has DOUBLED in five years while devolution has dropped by a third.
And indeed, when the survey asked a straight Yes/No question the results came out even closer, at 48% Yes to 52% No – a 3% swing to Yes from the 2016 figures.
We must admit, folks, that our initial reaction to this Scotsman headline from a couple of days ago was simply a weary sigh of “Oh FFS, here we go again”.
Blaming the Scottish Government for a private company’s decision to close down its plant and make hundreds of Scottish workers redundant is just the sort of ludicrous negative spinning we’ve come to expect from the country’s press over the past seven years, so this latest example just seemed like nothing more than par for the course.
But there turned out to be a little more to it than that.
So this story is the front page of tonight’s Evening Times.
It’s a pretty slim piece deploying a Glasgow mother to attack the SNP-run city council over a recent increase in nursery fees, and it sounds like the new higher cost might be a pretty big deal to her.
And no, we don’t even mean the FOUR spelling mistakes in this 42-word tweet.
We mean the bit that we’ve highlighted above in blue. Because what Scottish Labour’s lowest-watt bulb was gloating about earlier today was that Lord Bracadale concluded there’d been no gap created in the law by the Kelly-driven abolition of the OBFA.
And that’s… well, that’s not quite what Lord Bracadale said.
twathater on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “Unfortunately Johnny boy to achieve your goal you will have to fall out with the Franchise Fanny and his assorted…” Mar 8, 03:37
Young Lochinvar on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “MB Calm down “old boy”.. You are out- hating old Hatey himself! (And that’s going something!!) 🙂 You’ll give yerself…” Mar 8, 03:22
Chris Downie on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “I wonder if George Galloway’s supposed Damascene conversion to independence will hold much sway with leftist voters in Scotland? Putting…” Mar 8, 02:43
Young Lochinvar on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “No DL I think it’s when they got the colonial twitch and aced the red Indians then the Spanish to…” Mar 8, 02:30
Young Lochinvar on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “OK David I agree. But what about the manager and coaching staff? Unless I miscounted fingers (and apologies if I…” Mar 8, 02:04
DaveL on Scotland’s Most Frightened: ““…have got to ask, when did Uncle Sam actually last win a war?“ I think it was way back in…” Mar 8, 01:07
Cynicus on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “David Holden says: 7 March, 2026 at 6:50 pm “Oh well I see Italy has just beaten the mighty England…” Mar 8, 00:22
Young Lochinvar on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “I see The Donald is now saying he doesn’t need British support now “the war is won” (sic). Juvenile. Well,…” Mar 7, 22:29
Mark Beggan on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “Shield of the Americas. The cartels are Toast.” Mar 7, 20:02
Mark Beggan on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “Rugby is a hooligans game played by gentlemen. Football is a gentleman’s game played by hooligans.” Mar 7, 19:52
Hatey McHateface on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “Nine tenths of all rational BTL comments, Alf. Don’t you ever feel an overwhelming urge to mock some of the…” Mar 7, 19:16
agentx on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “Yes Scotland were great today and England were crap.” Mar 7, 19:06
David Holden on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “Oh well I see Italy has just beaten the mighty England at rugby union only a few years after our…” Mar 7, 18:50
TURABDIN on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “VIVA L’ITALIA…… the «big one», bring it on Donaldo, after your mega dose of viagra of course.” Mar 7, 18:43
Red on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “whatever happened to the Scottish independence movement? When they killed nationalism, which was the intellectual foundation of the independence movement,…” Mar 7, 18:38
Mark Beggan on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “The majority of their drones have been fired at the UAE. Who also think Starmers a wanker.” Mar 7, 18:25
TURABDIN on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “Forget Eurabia, we have Euramerica….. Some one’s end is nigh. Very Sad. Classical reason is cowering in a corner.” Mar 7, 18:17
Mark Beggan on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “It was on the good ship Dragon The deckhand started cryin’ His lipstick broke Coz he’s a poncy woke As…” Mar 7, 18:13
Alf Baird on Scotland’s Most Frightened: ““you already have a solid track record of mocking anybody” Pot and kettle, Hatey over Scotland, as ‘mocking anybody’ is…” Mar 7, 18:12
Hatey McHateface on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “Thousands, Willie? Reports indicate dozens certainly, maybe into the low hundreds in total. But thousands? Naw.” Mar 7, 18:11
Cynicus on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “Had you told me last week that France would come to Murrayfield and scored 40 points I would’ve put my…” Mar 7, 17:11
Willie on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “Seems that one of the UKs aircraft carriers is being readied in case it needs to head off to protect…” Mar 7, 16:59
Sven on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “I take it our Prime Minister was successful then, and they must have, “Released the sausages” then Mark. Calls for…” Mar 7, 16:38
Hatey McHateface on Scotland’s Most Frightened: “Does Milliband know it’s going full speed? That must be slaying the nautical miles per gallon figure. Won’t anybody think…” Mar 7, 16:35
