Here’s the Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, speaking to BBC News this morning and giving a striking illustration of the term “dancing on the head of a pin”.
Comically, his excuse for demanding another referendum on leaving the EU while opposing a second Scottish independence referendum is that his new EU vote would be a completely different question – he’d be asking voters if they wanted to accept the Brexit deal and exit from the EU (which one might reasonably summarise on the ballot paper as “Leave”), or to refuse to approve the deal and stay in the EU (or put another way, “Remain”).
Glad we cleared that up, then. But then it got weirder.
The announcement that the Scottish Government would seek the uncontested legal right to hold a second independence referendum met with an outpouring of rage and ignorance from the massed ranks of the UK media that was in one sense entirely predictable yet still startling in its fury and ferocity.
Most prominent was the assertion, stated as fact by every pundit and broadcaster – including those required by law to be fair and impartial – that a second referendum would be conducted in the environment of a significantly worse economic case.
And that’s a remarkable claim, because the indisputable fact is that nobody has the slightest clue what the economic case for No will be.
Judging by the first 24 hours, we’re in for a two-year festival of utter horror from the UK and Scottish media. Yesterday saw a never-ending parade of metrosplaining idiots dragged willingly in front of cameras and microphones to pontificate their clueless and mind-numbingly ignorant drivel about Scotland.
It wasn’t possible to keep track of it all, because it was frequently happening on five channels at once, and it was harder still to watch it for any extended period of time without hurling a brick through the screen in frustration at the offensive stupidity of it.
Feeding into that was a stream of Scottish politicians who actually did know better, but who are too catastrophically dim to adapt to changing circumstances and had no strategy other than to endlessly repeat the same cretinous soundbites over and over.
(Adam Tomkins in particular was ubiquitous, spending what felt like several hours on various airwaves reciting the same brainless 10-second schtick forever.)
The constitutional politics of the UK and Scotland are in flux, and many aspects of the situation are complicated. But quite a lot of them aren’t, and if we’re all going to make it through the next two years without stabbing each other in the throat, it’d be a lot better if everyone accepted the things that are definite, empirical, indisputable facts.
Alert readers will of course be aware that one of this site’s most frequently-recurring themes is “phantom news”, whereby events or unpleasant opinions that newspapers or broadcasters really want to have happened are conveniently brought to life, either by some random nobody on the internet, or an unnamed “source” or “insider”.
So when Nicola Sturgeon did something today that nearly everyone in the Northern Hemisphere knew she was going to do sometime soon, but wasn’t expecting just yet, there wasn’t time to prepare actual real people with the required quotes.
In the modern media world, though, that isn’t a problem.
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Push The Button: “An effort at Scottish Gaelic lyrics for “OH SHENANDOAH” – https://gobha-uisge.blogspot.com/2026/04/oh-shenandoah-paul-robeson-bryan-terfel.html” Apr 27, 23:51
Willie on Push The Button: “The charges relate to three incidents: a vehicle fire in Kentish Town, a fire at the prime minister’s private home…” Apr 27, 22:52
TimePilot on Push The Button: “You are missing the point of what is otherwise a straighforward rational logic puzzle by imprinting it with your own…” Apr 27, 22:30
Alf Baird on Push The Button: ““oddball ragtag of misfit Yoons” The colonialists aye noo suffer fae anxiety near every Scottish election, because they ken fine…” Apr 27, 22:01
Southernbystander on Push The Button: “It was and I’m a Ronnie fan. Great match and Higgins came on really good towards the end of the…” Apr 27, 19:44
Dan on Push The Button: “CC says: “B.O. that could make a grown man weep – and breath that could strip the fur from a…” Apr 27, 19:23
agentx on Push The Button: “Great win by the “Wizard of Wishaw” today 🙂” Apr 27, 19:23
Lorncal on Push The Button: “I meant that ‘suicidal empathy’ must be excised, not liberalism and tolerance. The ‘suicidally empathetic’ regard all old-style liberals (small…” Apr 27, 19:18
Lorncal on Push The Button: “All the -isms do that, Captain: Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, Stalinism, Maoism, Nationalism, Britishism, Americanism… They all demand that we make…” Apr 27, 19:12
sarah on Push The Button: “Rev, we need a reprint of the Wee Blue Book so that all the people who couldn’t vote because under…” Apr 27, 18:59
James on Push The Button: “Adrian; see post above, petal. Away back to your glossy mag.” Apr 27, 18:52
Captain Caveman on Push The Button: “Exactly Aidan, maybe “more to be pitied than scorned”. He hasn’t exactly been spoilt has he? Penniless, porcine, B.O. that…” Apr 27, 18:52
Lorncal on Push The Button: “‘Suicidal empathy’, Confused is almost entirely the preserve of the middle class/political class and is not bull of any kind.…” Apr 27, 18:50
Aidan on Push The Button: “Exactly CC – the whole time I’ve been posting I don’t think I’ve seen “James” post a substantive comment or…” Apr 27, 18:31
James on Push The Button: “There’s a phrase…..what is it again…..? Oh aye; “Away and take a flying fuck to yourself”. Next.” Apr 27, 18:25
Grog on Push The Button: “No I meant if your statistical confidence in the blue vote being between 78-82% was 99% let’s say. That isn’t…” Apr 27, 18:12
Sven on Push The Button: ““Who would press it ?” Probably the same people who have to test, “Wet Paint, don’t touch” signs and stroll…” Apr 27, 18:09
Northcode on Push The Button: “I am cancelled… by a unionist here whose sparkling wit I have long admired! Yes, folks, set aside my heavy…” Apr 27, 18:02
Mark Beggan on Push The Button: “I think this question could have been made a lot easier if there was just one button saying: Do Not…” Apr 27, 17:35
Captain Caveman on Push The Button: “Yeah…. as opposed to you randomly spouting “Prick” in response to posts, eh Fatso. I’m sure we’re all in awe…” Apr 27, 17:31
Hatey McHateface on Push The Button: “@Aidan Relax. They’d deploy the F16s. They’d never get aff the groond!” Apr 27, 16:31
James on Push The Button: “The comments section on Wings is poor with the repetive, accumulated shite from the likes of Chas, Adrian, Wilma Flintstone…” Apr 27, 16:28
James Che on Push The Button: “Now we know that the UN is not independent as it claims to be, and it will never be allowed…” Apr 27, 16:23
James Che on Push The Button: “Not a rational thinker I note, having difficulties achieving thinking links that join a to b and b to c,…” Apr 27, 16:03
Hatey McHateface on Push The Button: ““There’s no objective evidence that being alive is better than being dead” I believe the Romans had a saying that…” Apr 27, 16:00
Hatey McHateface on Push The Button: “Occam’s Razor says it’s because Independence is but a matter of weeks or months away at most. 7th May. That’s…” Apr 27, 15:53
Athanasius on Push The Button: “You accept it as a foundational assumption. There’s no objective evidence that being alive is better than being dead, but…” Apr 27, 15:20
Hatey McHateface on Push The Button: ““Socialist Norway is one of the richest countries in Europe and regularly voted one of the best countries in the…” Apr 27, 15:19
Chas on Push The Button: “The comments section on Wings is poor with the repetive, accumulated shite from the likes of Northclown, Baird, Confusused etc…” Apr 27, 15:15
Hatey McHateface on Push The Button: ““This is not a black and white dilemma” No, it’s a red and blue dilemma. That means there’s a great…” Apr 27, 14:22
