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Wings Over Scotland


The Wage Thief 385

Posted on December 09, 2024 by

6 November 2024 was a normal sitting day in the Scottish Parliament, so we shouldn’t be surprised that Nicola Sturgeon spent the previous evening in London, watching a special screening of a dreadful BBC Three sitcom about – of course – drag queens.

But remarkably, though she must have been puffy-eyed and weary, the 6th was one of the few days when she did actually manage to turn up at Holyrood to do her job.

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Take your partners 163

Posted on December 07, 2024 by

The New Britain 562

Posted on December 03, 2024 by

So things are getting pretty strange.

Polling in Scotland, the UK and Wales in the last few days has shown Great Britain taking a fairly heavy swerve to the right after just five months of Sir Keir Starmer’s government. Labour now lead Reform (who have five seats to Labour’s 411) by just three points in the UK and are even more remarkably now in THIRD place in Wales, a country where the party has won every single election for over 100 years.

Scotland, meanwhile, is heading for a hung Parliament in 2026 in which – as this site has been telling its readers for the last year and a half – the only possibility of a stable administration will be an SNP-Labour coalition.

We live, as they say, in interesting times.

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What Went On 468

Posted on November 28, 2024 by

The proceedings at the Supreme Court this week were a tough follow even if you could get the court’s abominably bad livestream to work. They’re all archived here now, but non-lawyers will probably glaze over quickly during the nine hours of intense legalese.

We’re not allowed to clip up any illustrative sections, on pain of possible contempt of court, so perhaps the best way to explain the key parts of what happened in a vaguely comprehensible way is by showing you some commentary from social media.

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A Personal Best For Kezia 255

Posted on November 25, 2024 by

Credit where it’s due:

17 months is the quickest she’s ever caught up with us.

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The Unbargain Bin 215

Posted on November 23, 2024 by

Telling the truth by mistake 73

Posted on November 22, 2024 by

The Scottish Government has finally, and reluctantly, published its submission for next week’s crucial Supreme Court hearing on the definition of the word “woman”.

Many expert observers have already noted that the document flatly contradicts the Scottish Government’s previous repeated and strenuous assertions that a Gender Recognition Certificate confers “no new rights” on trans people, and have published extremely detailed assessments which are frankly all but impenetrable to non-lawyers but basically conclude that the Scottish Government’s position is a mess.

Our favourite line, however, is this one.

So if you’re obliged to have a 50/50 sex balance in your boardroom, you can do it by hiring a man with a GRC saying he’s legally female, or by hiring a woman.

We believe that the young folk nowadays call that a “self-own”.

The Long Unravelling 400

Posted on November 18, 2024 by

You’ve got to admit, that’s a zinger.

Craig Whyte is a man who knows all about financial doom looming on the horizon of a once-powerful institution. But it doesn’t take an expert with lived experience to spot what’s coming down the line for the SNP.

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The Way Forward 212

Posted on November 17, 2024 by

As a lifelong political geek and former SNP and Alba Party member, I’ve spent years supporting Scotland’s independence movement. However, over the last few years, I’ve watched the campaign (as opposed to support for independence) wither away. Being a Scottish nationalist has become increasingly disheartening, like watching someone you love succumb to a slow, debilitating illness. In frustration, I switched off from my homeland and turned my focus to the drama of US politics.

Over the last three years I immersed myself in it, watching both left and right-wing outlets. I became so hooked and invested that I jumped on a plane to Washington DC for the 2024 election. I canvassed with DC Democrats in rural Pennsylvania (that’s me third from the left in the pic below), attended Kamala Harris’s concession rally, and went to Trump’s only watch party in DC.

My journey led me to believe that Scotland’s independence campaign could learn a great deal from Trump’s victory and the Democrats’ failure.

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The People You Most Suspected 364

Posted on November 12, 2024 by

We’ll give you three guesses as to the highly controversial and extravagantly taxpayer-funded organisation that has its rainbow fingerprints all over this story, readers.

But you’re going to have two to spare.

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The Show Goes On 256

Posted on November 09, 2024 by

How it happened 421

Posted on November 06, 2024 by

So it looks like the USA has elected a mad orange rapist convicted of 34 felonies who could yet be in jail by the time of his inauguration. (He would remain President even if that happened, which would be really funny.) And we can’t even blame them for it, because the alternative they were offered was, remarkably and stupendously, worse.

Wings called it like we called Trump’s first victory (and most other things). We tweeted this last year when thinking about the upcoming election. It’s a variant on something we wrote about on Wings eight and a half years ago. We’re posting it again now in the desperate hope that one day, maybe, far in the future, someone will actually listen.

But, y’know, we’re not holding our breath or anything.

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    • Young Lochinvar on Seven Days Too Long: “AI Dun @ 5.23 But you suggested disenfranchised SNP voters voting elsewhere would tip the balance in the constituency you…May 1, 17:49
    • Northcode on Seven Days Too Long: “… your life must be pretty dull…you must reminisce frequently upon your halcyon days back in the “Roaring Twenties”… Almost…May 1, 17:46
    • Young Lochinvar on Seven Days Too Long: “Fat Slag Wilma Flintstone @ 5.01 Were you crying as you typed that? Oh dear..May 1, 17:44
    • Bilbo on Seven Days Too Long: “The individual in article is an economic migrant who sees better opportunities here in Scotland that is financially beneficial to…May 1, 17:33
    • Aidan on Seven Days Too Long: “Because Alliance are not a threat to the SNP at the levels their support is at at the moment! Nobody…May 1, 17:23
    • Young Lochinvar on Seven Days Too Long: “AI Dun @ 4.44 How so? Account for that.. I’d imagine those who vote alliance on the constituency ballot would…May 1, 17:10
    • Captain Caveman on Seven Days Too Long: “He’s always come across as an exceedingly bitter, verbose troll to me. Granted, he’s not as bad as “Geri”, YL…May 1, 17:01
    • Aidan on Seven Days Too Long: “Nope – but then of course the status quo would prevail and Scotland would be further and further away from…May 1, 16:44
    • Aidan on Seven Days Too Long: “@CC – do you get the sense that Northcode is moving from charming simpleton to banal troll? I used to…May 1, 16:43
    • Young Lochinvar on Seven Days Too Long: “JCD If you can’t bring yourself to vote for Tommy then just sharpie in large letters across the ballot “end…May 1, 16:25
    • Young Lochinvar on Seven Days Too Long: “AI Dun @ 4.09 They wouldn’t have to hold their nose if they voted for the alliance and similar and…May 1, 16:20
    • Captain Caveman on Seven Days Too Long: “Yes, your life must be pretty dull indeed, Northcode. I imagine you must reminisce frequently upon your halcyon days back…May 1, 16:16
    • Oneliner on Seven Days Too Long: “We need to find a pejorative for ‘English based unionist’ ‘County Lines’ or just simply ‘Colonial’May 1, 16:13
    • Aidan on Seven Days Too Long: “Yes and that’s perfectly sensible YL, but the Alliance isn’t going to hold the SNP to account when it comes…May 1, 16:09
    • JCD on Seven Days Too Long: “Could someone advise me on the most constructive way to spoil a ballot? What I’m looking for is the nearest…May 1, 16:01
    • Young Lochinvar on Seven Days Too Long: “Fat Slag Wilma Flintstone @ 3.35 “Maaaaaate”..May 1, 15:44
    • Young Lochinvar on Seven Days Too Long: “AI Dun @ 2.30 PS: Sinn Fein I believe take their seats at Stormont (not Westminster). It’s the Unionists now…May 1, 15:41
    • Mark Beggan on Seven Days Too Long: “One would have thought the Lady boys and the attempted brain washing of children would have been enough for most…May 1, 15:40
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    • Northcode on Seven Days Too Long: ““Oh my mistake…” That’s a pretty weak retort… you’re no fun to play with. In fact, none of the current…May 1, 15:27
    • Young Lochinvar on Seven Days Too Long: “Fat Slag Wilma Flintstone @ 2.48 Oh I’m perfectly comfortable to be rated as smaller than you Wilma thunderthighs, heck,…May 1, 15:24
    • Young Lochinvar on Seven Days Too Long: “AI Dun & 4.02 Somebody has to unambiguously hold the SNPs feet to the fire about actually striving for independence…May 1, 15:18
    • Aidan on Seven Days Too Long: “Oh my mistake, it’s just that all of your posts are so verbose, boring and absurd that it’s hard to…May 1, 15:11
    • sarah on Seven Days Too Long: “@ Potace: not ALL the candidates are “an utterly depressing shower”. You’re right about the established parties but there’s independents,…May 1, 15:09
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    • Captain Caveman on Seven Days Too Long: ““All parties start small, that’s life.” Well, the word on the street is you know all about “being small”, Rambo.…May 1, 14:48
    • Aidan on Seven Days Too Long: “I’m aware YL that all parties start small, but think also how many countless political parties have been started and…May 1, 14:30
    • Young Lochinvar on Seven Days Too Long: “AI Dun and Fat Slag Wilma Flintstone All parties start small, that’s life. I believe I made that pretty clear…May 1, 14:02
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