There’s a truly abominable piece of hatemongering in today’s Times. A grotesequely dishonest Nat-bashing smear job based on stupendously misrepresented fragments of quotes, it’s penned by Patrick Harkness, someone who the paper identifies as “a past co-chairman of the RSE [Royal Society of Edinburgh] Young Academy of Scotland”.
For some reason it’s chosen to leave a few lines off his CV.
Alert readers will of course be aware that a recurring theme on this site is looking for the alleged abusive behaviour by supporters of independence which gets regularly reported in outraged terms by newspapers but is mysteriously almost never supported by any actual evidence of the supposed abuse.
In every case the papers and/or alleged recipients of all these dreadful separatist haranguings screamed “VILE ABUSE!”, swooning at the horror of it all, then suddenly turned deaf and dumb when asked to provide any examples.
So we were quite surprised yesterday when a previous complainant – brutal stickering victim and lonely Scottish Labour MP Ian Murray – actually came up with the proof.
Five minutes and 51 seconds, to be precise, is how long David Mundell, Secretary of State for Scotland, spent frantically quacking out meaningless noise on this morning’s Sunday Politics Scotland in order to avoid answering a simple Yes/No question until the interview ran out of airtime.
We could quibble with presenter Gordon Brewer making the assertion that a Section 30 order would in fact be necessary for a second referendum (something which has never been established in law or conceded by the Scottish Government, with strong and genuine legal opinion on both sides of the argument), and with him letting Mundell get away with the blatant falsehood that an overwhelming majority of Scots don’t want another referendum – in fact, 50% want one within the next two years.
But sometimes you have to let some smaller things slide to avoid distraction and stay focused on your main point, and in our view this was one of those occasions.
Should we check out that link and find out whether the then-FM really DID “claim that the Scottish NHS would be privatised if Scots voted No”, readers? Let’s do!
These are the comments of UK defence secretary Michael Fallon in a short interview with today’s Herald. We don’t know about you, folks, but to us it feels like Christmas.
We think our favourite line is “There are other voices in Scotland now, not least Ruth Davidson’s”, but there are a lot to choose from.
This is Conservative MP Dominic Raab, a member of the Brexit Select Committee, speaking on the BBC News Channel’s “Hard Talk” programme at 00.45 this morning. Perhaps imagining that nobody would be watching at such an ungodly hour, it seems he felt able to be unusually candid.
We left the last bit on in order to demonstrate that he was still talking about Scotland as well as Ireland. (He went on to recite the usual boilerplate about all leaving together as the UK etc etc, you can watch the whole show for yourself on iPlayer.)
But let’s just get that key early exchange down in writing for the record.
Readers familiar with our standing advice to newspaper customers that the headline is nearly always a lie might like to consider today’s Press & Journal.
The word “pyre” comes from the Greek word “pyra”, meaning “fire”. Surprisingly, it’s NOT the same root as “Pyrrhic”, as in “Pyrrhic victory”, meaning one that’s achieved by metaphorically burning your own city down. (Which in fact is named after the Greek general Pyrrhus of Epirus.)
Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: “Guardian Online reporting the funeral of Stanislav Orlov. That such a tragic fate should strike down early such a nice…” Dec 24, 13:04
Dan on A matter of class: “Hmm, what are the views and concerns of Scots… https://wingsoverscotland.com/the-ginger-stepchild/ Immigration being in the top three, and the rise of…” Dec 24, 13:01
Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: “Hey Young Lochinvar. I do hate it when none of the usual suspects can be arsed to respond to a…” Dec 24, 12:49
Andy Ellis on A matter of class: “Independence for Scotland does not necessarily mean your version. But rather the Scots people as a whole,.. Perhaps not, but…” Dec 24, 12:47
James Cheyne on A matter of class: “The Snp , the dodgey trials, the governance, the gender issue, british media bias reporting or none reporting, resources and…” Dec 24, 12:25
James Cheyne on A matter of class: “Is it worrying that Scotland does not appear to be in the united kingdom of England and Ireland since 1800,…” Dec 24, 12:01
James Cheyne on A matter of class: “Name calling and sarcasm are the lowest form of wit my granny used to say,” Dec 24, 11:48
Young Lochinvar on A matter of class: “Aidan @ 8.49 Oh dear; a few too many dry sherrys for you last night and the intemperate sore head…” Dec 24, 11:43
James Cheyne on A matter of class: “It never falls far from the thread of supporting Scottish independence, whereas your own falls into name calling and personal…” Dec 24, 11:42
Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: ““I have been around here a LOT longer than you have” Sure, Cynicus. All the more perplexing then that judging…” Dec 24, 11:29
Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: ““we also live in that of the eternal, conceited, bully boy superpower” Sorry, TURABDIN, but I can think of at…” Dec 24, 11:21
Cynicus on A matter of class: “Andy Ellis says: 24 December, 2025 at 9:14 am “You must be relatively new here if you think off-topic posting…” Dec 24, 11:02
Cynicus on A matter of class: “Hatey McHateface says: 24 December, 2025 at 8:05 am “Defo worth a read” ====== Agreed. Why don’t you give it…” Dec 24, 10:55
TURABDIN on A matter of class: “INTERPRETATION is all. We live in the shadow of the semantic Tower of Babel & we also live in that…” Dec 24, 10:43
Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: ““it was never a good idea to accept mass migration which wasn’t predicated on those who chose to live here…” Dec 24, 10:32
diabloandco on A matter of class: “Ha! Ha! Ha! Oh you are a one – best joke so far!” Dec 24, 10:11
Marie Clark on Off-topic: “Hi folks, to anyone still looking in now and again, Merry Christmas to you and yours. I hope Santa will…” Dec 24, 10:07
sam on A matter of class: ““Corrections” may not be allowed. Amendments for “clerical errors” are permitted. What is being done is unlikely to be viewed…” Dec 24, 09:57
Andy Ellis on A matter of class: “It is earnestly to be hoped that a future Scottish government takes a more Danish approach to immigration. I suspect…” Dec 24, 09:29
Andy Ellis on A matter of class: “You must be relatively new here if you think off-topic posting is somehow novel. In its pomp when Rev Stu…” Dec 24, 09:14
Aidan on A matter of class: “@YL – there is nothing wrong with an evening out, in fact I am constantly encouraging the regulars here to…” Dec 24, 08:49
TURABDIN on A matter of class: “A SCOTSMAN on the make in London. Be leery as the English say. Archive.is/ph etc is flaky & the captcha…” Dec 24, 08:32
Achnababan on A matter of class: “These new corrections are all fairly trivial j think and I suspect this has been done deliberately to create the…” Dec 24, 08:18
Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: “On Scotland’s most read politics website, an apposite link to an essay discussing 21st Century international realpolitik: https://unherd.com/2025/12/the-curious-liberalism-of-the-axis-of-evil/ Defo worth…” Dec 24, 08:05
Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: ““A self-governing Scotland would have control of our immigration policy” That which is claimed without evidence can be refuted without…” Dec 24, 07:43
Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: ““the MSM is giving this very thread some attention” FFS! We all have to hope that Rev Stu has been…” Dec 24, 07:36
Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: “Hey Northie. I’ve been mulling over the best way for you to leverage the term Porridge Wog, at least until…” Dec 24, 07:29
Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: ““Looking forward to seeing analysis on here” I bet you’re looking forwards to the brand new Ferrari you’ve asked Santa…” Dec 24, 07:08
Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: ““one more shift to go tomorrow before the holidays” The Christmas Holidays, you mean? Lord save us! What an admission.…” Dec 24, 07:04
Cynicus on A matter of class: “Whoops!! Another Kempian slip. The phrase, “on -topic “above should read, “off -topic”. What is it the other way about?…” Dec 24, 02:03
