Yesterday was quite an eventful day, so it’s moderately possible you may have missed the alarming news that some shady Mafia-backed hedge fund or such has apparently funded these irresponsible and morally-suspect chancers (last seen shilling on air for literally Vladimir Putin and BBC Scotland, in that order) to produce an all-new series of scurrilous and dubious fact-grubbing for some inexplicable reason.
We have alerted the appropriate authorities. For safety, remain in your homes.
As you can see, the Speaker offers Ian Blackford MP, who was protesting about last night’s silencing of Scottish MPs, a choice of when to hold a vote under Parliamentary standing orders, but then improperly refuses his choice and orders Blackford from the chamber, at which point the rest of the SNP’s MPs followed him.
Let there be no mistake about what just happened. Last night, Scottish devolution – an institution 111 years in the promising, just 19 years a reality – died. Iain Macwhirter summed it up concisely and accurately.
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.
Angus on The Promise: ““It’s time for action.” Those even more condemnable than the criminals are those who have deliberately failed to bring the…” Jun 27, 03:13
robertkknight on The Promise: “If it walks like a duck…” Jun 27, 00:48
Confounder on The Promise: “Yeah, but ‘No true Scotsman…yada, yada, yada.’” Jun 27, 00:34
Confounder on The Promise: “False logic in spades, there, I think.” Jun 27, 00:31
100%Yes on The Promise: “Thank you to you both, I never knew that.” Jun 27, 00:23
Spartan 117 on The Promise: “Quite possible, but I think Occam’s Razor would dictate its more likely they are just a bunch of corrupt degenerate…” Jun 26, 23:52
Effijy on The Promise: “https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1E6r5H6ZbK/?mibextid=wwXIfr Wee truthless the Baroness requiring her neck re-brassed.” Jun 26, 23:21
willie on The Promise: “Standard computer generated email response I suspect issued to anyone making a donation, with in this case, Mr Henderson being…” Jun 26, 23:16
sarah on The Promise: “When you’re sending the same email to a whole raft of people who don’t know each other and therefore don’t…” Jun 26, 22:38
robertkknight on The Promise: “What’s that stock response employed by other contributors to BTL in similar circumstances? Ah yes, I remember now… “Prick”” Jun 26, 22:09
Hatey McHateface on The Promise: “And if Police Scotland and the Crown Office charge various Scottish SNP names, and levy fines and other punishments on…” Jun 26, 20:31
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The Promise: “Stuart Campbell’s Scottish Sun interview from 2 weeks ago is freely online here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or1V9HuR2qU” Jun 26, 20:18
100%Yes on The Promise: “Why would Jim Henderson be sending a email from himself to himself?” Jun 26, 19:57
Alf Baird on The Guilty Party: ““The Pentalina and Alfred were a snippet of the cost of the Loch Seaforth, Glen Sannox or the Glen Rosa”…” Jun 26, 19:51
robertkknight on The Promise: “If Police Scotland and Crown Office decline to take any action with regard to the (missing) Indyref2 funds then that…” Jun 26, 19:26
Lorncal on The Promise: “There are certainly rules governed by statute for the disposal of ring-fenced funds in the charity sector and local government,…” Jun 26, 19:16
Young Lochinvar on The Guilty Party: “CC @ 11.09 I read your post, sometimes nodding in agreement, other times shaking it in disagreement. What I’d like…” Jun 26, 18:20
Jim Anderson on The Promise: “Whilst there is a clear case of maladministration by the SNP leadership they also have a fiduciary relationship in respect…” Jun 26, 17:57
Spartan 117 on The Promise: “Typically used when an eMail recipient list is kept secret, usually for GDPR or security.” Jun 26, 17:56
Anthem on The Promise: “Agents, I clocked that as well. Any explanation anyone?” Jun 26, 17:49
Paul Eden on The Promise: “It’s damming. And conclusive. I suspect they’ll get away with it but they shouldn’t.” Jun 26, 17:42
agentx on The Promise: “Just a minor point – the first email seems to be from Jim Henderson to Jim Henderson?” Jun 26, 17:18
robertkknight on The Promise: “Bang to rights!” Jun 26, 16:52
David Ferguson on The Promise: “It appears to me that the 9 March 2020 email is more legally damning. The others say that the money…” Jun 26, 16:37
Alf Baird on The Guilty Party: ““Stu is very much better at the forensic stuff than I am” You are too modest, Peter; few have reached…” Jun 26, 16:25
Brotyboy on The Promise: “Agreed. It’s almost the opposite of a tautology. This statement is false by virtue of the meanings of the words…” Jun 26, 16:24
agentx on The Promise: “Why were you rueing the day?” Jun 26, 16:08
Tartan Tory on The Promise: “When Johnston Carmichael (who were both the SNP’s accountants and my own company accountants) refused to endorse the SNP’s figures,…” Jun 26, 16:04
Ex President Xiden on The Guilty Party: “These morally vacuous, pea brained cultists are so suceptible to group think that they should never be anywhere near public…” Jun 26, 16:01
