…on Good Morning Scotland yesterday, then we suspect you’re going to love the Lib Dems’ heroically glaikit MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton on the same show today.
We joke, of course. The Spanish government has made this position abundantly plain several times over a number of years, and it still doesn’t stop idiot Yoons (and media pundits who should know better) from spouting it.
But this time, in the flesh, it’s really quite hard to spin a way out of.
We don’t want to fall into the trap of portraying the Liberal Democrats as a party of any political relevance or consequence in Scotland, but for the sheer comedy value alone Willie Rennie’s interview with Gary Robertson on today’s Good Morning Scotland is worth a couple of minutes of your time.
First Minister’s Questions today (featuring stand-in FM John Swinney in a theatrical mood) was one long howl of “TOO WEE AND TOO POOR!”, with both Ruth Davidson and Kezia Dugdale using all of their questions to hark back to oil revenue forecasts from 2013 and insist that an independent Scotland would face economic apocalypse.
It was a dispiriting spectacle, and we found ourselves experiencing (not for the first time) pangs of sympathy for the remaining tiny rump of Scottish Labour voters, who must surely watch in broken despair at the antics of the hapless pack of squawking diddies representing their views in the Parliament.
(As an alert reader wryly noted: “Well, that’s a first. A one party state raises a motion against its own policy and defeats itself.”)
And we thought you’d like to be reminded that the Scottish Parliament was expressly designed from the beginning so that it would always work like that.
They must be pretty chuffed with how it’s turned out.
We haven’t said much about the huge furore whipped up by the Guardian in recent days around spurious allegations of racism/online abuse by supporters of Scottish independence, made first by Sadiq Khan and then by a deranged “Better Together” activist who also thinks all vegans are racist (or something).
Partly that’s because we covered the initial speech by Khan and the fallout from it pretty extensively, and partly because we didn’t want to feed the Guardian’s clickbait.
However, when the activist who was allegedly “hounded off Twitter” in fear for her life – fear caused by supposed comments that nobody has actually seen – miraculously recovered her bravery less than a week later (coincidentally just in time for the launch of her book), we thought it was probably time someone started keeping some records.
Last year, as we’ve done a number of times in the past, we wrote about the dangers of handcuffing the independence movement to a particular narrow political agenda. Conflating a Yes vote with a number of hardline ideological positions which are more or less unquestioned within the liberal commentariat and the radical left, but actually highly unpopular with the general public, is self-evidently a huge strategic mistake.
Many of those positions are ones which this site supports in their own right, such as abolition of the monarchy and the abandonment of nuclear weapons, but our stance has always been that those arguments – like membership of the EU and NATO – are ones which ought properly to be conducted among the people and elected politicians of an independent Scotland in their own good time, not imposed without debate as part of the package of independence.
This weekend the notionally pro-independence Sunday Herald newspaper – as well as taking part in a media-wide Unionist smear campaign against this site and defending a “Better Together” activist who’d written a deeply offensive clickbait Guardian article claiming that Scottish nationalism was racist – carried a front cover and inside spread on the heated topic of mandatory gender quotas, which the paper supports.
As it happened we’d asked about the subject in our Panelbase poll last month.
TURABDIN on Looking up at the stars: “The MASSIVE elephant in the room is the US and its emerging absolutist «monarchy». If the sun sets on the…” Mar 13, 18:52
sarah on Looking up at the stars: “O/T Does anyone know what is happening with the Voices for Independence site? There has been no entry for today…” Mar 13, 18:41
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: ““the case with most of” What’s this, Alf? Are Cesaire’s ideological foundations starting to crumble? That “most” permits some doubt…” Mar 13, 18:09
twathater on Looking up at the stars: “WOW John boy Main is getting more unhinged by the day, he is now telling Geri that her views could…” Mar 13, 17:58
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “Drink! Haha, just my wee joke, Alf. Obviously the only option open to us is to buy a copy of…” Mar 13, 17:53
Alf Baird on Looking up at the stars: ““I see a few are waking from the ways that were taught them, will the all wake up or will…” Mar 13, 16:23
Alf Baird on Looking up at the stars: ““pet-Jock moon howlers” Ah, and there’s plenty of them, each following Mannoni’s “dependency complex…that these groups are psychologically made for…” Mar 13, 15:56
sam on Looking up at the stars: “I know, Sven. It is impossible to know anything with certainty about illegal immigration numbers. You can get some idea…” Mar 13, 15:55
agentx on Looking up at the stars: “Following the Union St fire the demolition company is Burnfield Demolition. Ironic.” Mar 13, 15:54
Mark Beggan on Looking up at the stars: “Police Scotland refused a request under the freedom of information to reveal the criminal numbers connected to immigrant hotels. Their…” Mar 13, 15:29
Mark Beggan on Looking up at the stars: “That has been the elite establishments plan all along. The socialist post-colonial ideology. Get into bed with the death cult.…” Mar 13, 15:23
Mark Beggan on Looking up at the stars: “That would be the exact Nasty Nats answer just get to one over the English bastards. Then they would staple…” Mar 13, 15:14
Mark Beggan on Looking up at the stars: “@ Sam How many illegal immigrants came into Scotland? I don’t know They don’t know. You don’t know. Did they…” Mar 13, 15:03
Sven on Looking up at the stars: “Sam @ 14.26. I’m guessing that would be legal immigrants, Sam. As I doubt asylum seekers awaiting classification, illegals or…” Mar 13, 14:50
Sven on Looking up at the stars: “Mark Beggan @ 14.12. I do, Mark. And if they don’t, I believe the full power of the state will…” Mar 13, 14:31
sam on Looking up at the stars: “Jist fir til let ye know, ken? https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/2022-reports/scotland-s-census-2022-ethnic-group-national-identity-language-and-religion/ The largest group of immigrants in 2022 was from the category, “Other…” Mar 13, 14:26
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “Careful you dinna scuff the covers of your holy book, Geri. If you do, some meditative, focussed cant will have…” Mar 13, 14:15
Mark Beggan on Looking up at the stars: “I think you mean the government. The country is fit and able. This summer is going to be the crunch…” Mar 13, 14:12
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “I miss oor national mammie. She excelled at topping whatever England did. That was more or less her entire and…” Mar 13, 14:07
Geri on Looking up at the stars: “Meditation is good for the soul. Focus is good for the mind. If a child can recite an entire book…” Mar 13, 13:58
Sven on Looking up at the stars: “Too little, too late, Mark B. I doubt this country has either the will nor the means to locate, identify,…” Mar 13, 13:19
Mark Beggan on Looking up at the stars: “Should Scotland seriously consider sending the illegal immigrants hame tae think again?” Mar 13, 13:09
Mark Beggan on Looking up at the stars: “Too late your mask slipped there Herr Von Leichtenvar.” Mar 13, 12:53
Mark Beggan on Looking up at the stars: “In yer dreams big boy. Mr Apple comes first too geezer dead clever cunt. Then there’s wee Bert the atom…” Mar 13, 12:50
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “Could you clarify who’s first, Mark. Is it me or you?” Mar 13, 12:37
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “You continue to ignore the reality, Alf, that your remaining Naw voters maybe just check out the incompetent, corrupt, grifting,…” Mar 13, 12:31
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “An oath’s an oath, YL. Whoever telt ye itherwise lied through their teeth. Must have been anither whose word is…” Mar 13, 12:20
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “As always, Northy, your Pathetic Scottish Cringe renders you incapable of understanding my point. Alf continually quoting some third world…” Mar 13, 12:13
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “You raise an interesting point, Geri. I was reading in the MSM yesterday, that one of the schoolgirls tragically killed…” Mar 13, 11:53
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “Ah, C’moan noo, Mark. Let me keep the sand atween ma toes. It’s a bugger tae shift. And a dish…” Mar 13, 11:44
