This was Scottish Tory uberdunce Jamie Greene a few weeks ago, bitterly attacking the SNP for spending £22,000 on consulting the public over a policy on which the party won a landslide victory in the 2016 Holyrood election.
You might think that a government pursuing the manifesto policies it was elected on was a pretty legitimate thing to do, especially when it was asking voters for their views in order to shape that policy. Perhaps Greene was confused because the Tories have been acting as if they, not the SNP, won the election. But that raises another question.
A story from the Financial Times this week revealed the UK government’s latest act of sabotage against the Scottish renewable energy industry. It’s just one more in a long line stretching back to just after the independence referendum, when a string of “Better Together” promises were broken almost the minute the No vote was secured.
It was a particularly weak argument in the first place – if there’s a market in the rUK for Scottish energy, it’ll be there whether Scotland is independent or not. But it unravelled faster than most as soon as it had done its job.
20 years ago today, Scotland voted to have a Parliament for the first time in almost three centuries, by an overwhelming margin (although with modest enthusiasm – less than 10% more people actually voted for devolution than voted for independence in 2014, at 1.78m and 1.62m respectively).
Just 20 months after the vote the Parliament came into being, and Scotland’s media has been complaining about how useless it is ever since.
Today’s newspapers commemorate the anniversary by unleashing the full pontificating weight of the punditariat – most of whom have been opining wearily on Holyrood’s failings for the entire period – to bleat with their customary single voice about what a disappointment it’s all been.
The weird thing is that after all that time, none of them can actually explain why.
The Scottish Tories came under fire yesterday for a crass attempt by Scotland’s least-elected MSP (2,062-vote Annie Wells) to hijack World Suicide Prevention Day with a blog complaining that more people were being prescribed anti-depressants, which for many are an effective and life-saving solution.
Scottish Labour duly joined in by attacking mental health provision in Scotland despite it having significantly more NHS consultant psychiatrists per head than anywhere else in the UK. (One for every 10,000 people in Scotland, compared to 1 for every 12,500 in England and one for every 17,000 in Wales and Northern Ireland.)
But is there any explanation for why more people are suffering mental health issues?
So once again, Unionist politicians are bitterly castigating the Scottish Government for problems caused by UK government policy. It’s enough to drive you mad.
After a few months with no Scottish polling, today’s Sunday Times carries the results of a Panelbase one which, among other things, reinforces our oft-stated view that Scottish subsamples of UK-wide polls are completely meaningless.
While several of those have shown Labour or even the Tories in the lead, the full-size, properly-weighted poll still has the SNP a massive 14 points in front on 42%, with the Tories trailing behind on 28% and Labour in their now-customary third place at 22%.
Support for independence is also slightly down, with the numbers at 43-57, but it’s some other findings that are the eye-openers.
Great news, readers! After years of requests, it’s now finally possible to possess and cherish your very own adorable cuddly toy version of Wings’ symbolic embodiment of benign and welcoming independence, Hamish the lion!
One of the handiest things for truth-seeking political commentators (admittedly a rare breed) is that the three component nations that make up Great Britain currently all have different parties in government, so it’s always possible to measure the rhetoric of the main parties against their actions in the bit they’re actually in charge of.
(The same is true for many other policies the Scottish Government has implemented to fight Tory austerity, like free university tuition and mitigating the bedroom tax.)
A Scot living in the EU, and an EU national living in Scotland, discuss the implications of the Brexit being forced on Scotland against its will by the UK government.
This week’s publication of party accounts by the Electoral Commission, along with a string of recent stories about election expenses, served as a reminder to anyone who might have forgotten that the SNP are still, despite 10 years in power, the massive underdogs in Scottish politics.
Labour and the Tories, in particular, can always rely on handouts from their UK parent parties, who are in turn funded by massive donations from trade unions and big business respectively. In 2016 Labour trousered almost £15m from donors (over and above their membership revenues of £14m), while the Tories pocketed almost £19m in donations from their rich pals.
The Nats, meanwhile, have to gather most of their money from membership fees, but have been able to stay competitive in the campaign-heavy climate of the 2010s (since the turn of the decade the SNP have had to fight three expensive UK general elections, two Holyrood elections, two council elections, a European election and two referendums – that’s ten major votes in seven and a half years) thanks largely to extra help from lottery winners Colin and Chris Weir.
And the fact that Scottish politics can be something like an even remotely fair fight still leaves Unionists raging furiously at the burning injustice of it all.
Chas on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Dan I did not respond to the wrong post. There was not a ‘reply’ option to your ‘percentages’ mince. You…” Mar 25, 20:32
Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Iran nailed it at the UNHCR with it’s warnings to it’s neighbours. & Well said by that lady who politely…” Mar 25, 20:23
Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “They’re not dead. I hate to break it to you but they already won on day one. Pay the toll…” Mar 25, 20:04
George Ferguson on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “@Fearghas Of course this false debate is coming to a conclusion. But meantime others have suffered Stu, Father Ted, A…” Mar 25, 19:53
Dan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “And seeing as Confused mentioned Jim Rogers and the lady in red shiting herself the other day… It’s only a…” Mar 25, 19:27
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “GIRLGUIDING WILL BE FEMALE-ONLY FROM SEPTEMBER Girlguiding has announced that any gender-confused boys who identify as girls will have to…” Mar 25, 19:25
Dan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “C’mon tae fuck Chas. I hope you don’t play golf like you act on here. At least try to respond…” Mar 25, 19:22
Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Breaking news for Chas who seems permanently in the dark to current world affairs happening outside of his basement. The…” Mar 25, 19:22
James on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Wow. Just wow. Utter bollocks that was de-bunked years ago being sicked-up by English Yoon “Chas”. Is this really the…” Mar 25, 18:35
Chas on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Dan I have seen your post with the various percentages several times previously. Where you gleaned them from and at…” Mar 25, 18:33
George Ferguson on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Agreed Stu I am not voting for anyone on May 7th. Last year on this blog I said Scottish Labour…” Mar 25, 18:33
Captain Caveman on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Well, “Geri”, I might well be Del Boy but at least he’s popular and British. Unlike some, eh pal. As…” Mar 25, 18:26
Sven on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Sorry Geri, I just can’t accept any definition of anything involving Ms Sturgeon involving the descriptor “honest” as being applicable.…” Mar 25, 18:22
Young Lochinvar on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “No Geri I don’t think so. I can’t put my finger on it but it’s got similarities to (here) Hateys…” Mar 25, 18:17
Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Of course he isn’t anti immigration & of course he’ll do absolutely nothing to fix it. It’d upset his wealthy…” Mar 25, 18:10
Dan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “And an apology and admittance from Main that coal actually was a resource worth mentioning. https://wingsoverscotland.com/never-learned-to-shovel/#comment-2778577 And more so now…” Mar 25, 18:00
Dan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “@Chas I’ve previously proffered a suggestion on how a self-governing Scotland could be run, and it’s based on using the…” Mar 25, 17:56
Sven on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “I so wish I believed you were mistaken, Red, unfortunately I believe you’re completely correct.” Mar 25, 17:54
Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “A confabulator? Tho in her case I wouldn’t associate it to being in any way sincere. She’s just a psychopath…” Mar 25, 17:47
Chas on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “I note that there have been a few replies to my original post. Unfortunately not one of them gives any…” Mar 25, 17:29
Red on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “The entire purpose of the SNP is to keep the gullible busy with useless displacement activities until it’s too late…” Mar 25, 17:20
Young Lochinvar on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Sturgeon was interviewed a day or 2 ago about, frankly, effing off. I read her cockamamie BS with growing disbelief…” Mar 25, 17:03
Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Cappy Caveman, fck off back tae yer stall, del boy. You know nothing. I’ve never been banned, unlike you, &…” Mar 25, 16:53
James on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Working class hero Wilma Flintstone; “maaaaaaate” Can’t you just hear the annoying accent? Wish he/she/it would just f*ck off to…” Mar 25, 16:16
James on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Breastplate; brilliant – headshot! Another Yoon Troll put in their place.” Mar 25, 16:10
Mark Beggan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “@Sven When the going gets tough. The tough hide under the table.” Mar 25, 15:50
lothianlad on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “How can we be so close to achieving independence but so far away??? gravy train SNP subservients of course!!” Mar 25, 15:29
Insider on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Breastplate @ 2:10 pm Thank you for admitting you cannot understand even the most basic questions about Scottish Independence !…” Mar 25, 14:38
