Today the Scottish Parliament spent several hours heatedly debating a motion to call for a second Section 30 order to enable a new independence referendum (several more will follow tomorrow before the vote). We watched all of it so you didn’t have to, and are delighted to present you with a few clips that probably won’t make the news.
On such a momentous topic, this was the intervention that Scottish Labour list MSP Monica Lennon felt was the most pressing issue to raise, for example:
We’re very touched, obviously, and will add it to our file of other mentions in the chamber and elsewhere. But there were probably more important things to discuss.
It seems counter-intuitive – given Rupert Murdoch’s often-overstated (despite endless and fevered speculation, the Scottish Sun didn’t back a Yes vote) but still seemingly real support for Scottish independence – that Sky News should be seen as the most hostile of the nation’s broadcasters to the Yes movement.
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.
Aidan on Or Something: “The leadership of Liberate is a ragtag bunch of retirees and some cranks, as you might expect. They’ve paid a…” Aug 4, 14:20
Jay on Or Something: “Does the SNP have astructure of financial authority such as would indicate who spent monies on what goods and or…” Aug 4, 13:35
Young Lochinvar on Or Something: “HMcH @7.53 & 10.44 Ah! First the mouse squeaks Then the coney roars! Save us from these “terrors”!! 🙂” Aug 4, 13:22
BLMac on Or Something: “Judging by the responses a reasonable person might come to the assumption that cronies of the embezzlers are embedded in…” Aug 4, 13:21
Hatey McHateface on Or Something: ““shredded banners declaring Scotland’s ambition to be free” There you go again, Northy. Appropriating to all of Scotland the democratically…” Aug 4, 12:23
Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “@CC There’s one experience where Scotland comes out top every time. Summer evenings, post rush hour, away from the cities,…” Aug 4, 12:10
Chas on Or Something: “Maybe the likes of you drove them away Northy?” Aug 4, 11:57
Northcode on Or Something: “I suspect most independence supporters have already abandoned this place. It feels like a post-apocalyptic, tumbleweed-strewn wasteland where tattered Saltires…” Aug 4, 11:28
Ex President Xiden on Or Something: “If that’s the case why don’t the crown office just say that?” Aug 4, 11:13
Captain Caveman on The Nobodies: “@Hatey You get idiots in all manner of cars, it isn’t the car’s fault. How many Audi drivers do you…” Aug 4, 11:01
Hatey McHateface on Or Something: “@ Chas says: 4 August, 2026 at 10:06 am Never underestimate the effect on a black representative of a former…” Aug 4, 10:57
Hatey McHateface on Or Something: “It’s certainly all too easy to wonder how commemorating some not very nice boys hacking each other to bits 600+…” Aug 4, 10:44
Ian Smith on Or Something: “Refusing to hand over the books to a financial audit committee must come as close to evidence of who was…” Aug 4, 10:42
Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “@CC I see a few of them around here. They absolutely boss the reserved disabled parking and the double yellows…” Aug 4, 10:22
Chas on Or Something: “Who are the Office bearers, high heid yins, of Liberation Scotland, Salvo or any of their offshoots, if there are…” Aug 4, 10:06
Captain Caveman on The Nobodies: “Hey Aidan, it’s the PHEV hybrid Sport, meaning it has e-motor shove, as well as the 6-cyl Ingenium petrol engine…” Aug 4, 09:44
TURABDIN on Or Something: “thank you for that signal historical reference. it is all too easy to airbrush history, other people’s history. the stanza…” Aug 4, 09:39
Aidan on The Nobodies: “Aye James – I bet my posts give you a migraine, some of them contain more than one sentence and…” Aug 4, 09:28
Captain Caveman on The Nobodies: “@Fatso 6:09pm What is that incoherent, Frankenstein-esque AI cut ‘n paste even supposed to mean? Too thick to write your…” Aug 4, 08:33
Slim Jim on Or Something: “More power to you Rev but keep yourself safe.” Aug 4, 08:08
Hatey McHateface on Or Something: “Classic stuff indeed, Auld Lochnagar. Which do you prefer for your personal re-enactments: Tesco or LIDL? What about Sainsburys? They…” Aug 4, 07:53
Hatey McHateface on Or Something: ““Someone should tell trump he should not buy greenland, but scaatlan” Genius, Confused! It’s beyond belief that President Trump has…” Aug 4, 07:36
Young Lochinvar on Or Something: “Off topic.. Tomorrow is the anniversary of the 1388 battle of Otterburn. Froissart recounted this in detail and his commentary…” Aug 4, 00:27
Confused on Or Something: “Who reads mcalpine? It’s weak pish. As for UN recognition – everyone in the place hates “england” since they were…” Aug 3, 23:41
Hatey McHateface on Or Something: ““I was wrong” But then you’re used to that. Seriously though, Northy, even if your claim and your logic are…” Aug 3, 22:45
Carol Neill on Or Something: “@angus that’s exactly what they’re hoping for Oor Stu’s well up for them Little do they realise how many will…” Aug 3, 22:33
Hatey McHateface on Or Something: ““All the right credentials” Nah. White, white, white. “am I being just too cynical?” Naw. Not cynical enough. Peak cynicism…” Aug 3, 22:33
Alf Baird on Or Something: ““It would be good to sneer at the SNP as it couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch but there is…” Aug 3, 22:29
James Jones on Or Something: “Why on Earth would you think that when devolution hasn’t delivered “greater democratic accountability” and independence would only put greater…” Aug 3, 22:14
