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Kezia Dugdale Fact Check, Part 677 383

Posted on December 01, 2016 by

Here’s Kezia Dugdale at FMQs today.

Just for fun, let’s do the sums again, shall we?

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The passing of sentence 200

Posted on November 30, 2016 by

The Prime Minister of the UK, whose party has one MP in Scotland, officially tells the Commons that she doesn’t believe people on benefits should be able to survive.

Happy St Andrews’ Day, readers.

The patron saint of North Britain 132

Posted on November 30, 2016 by

St Andrew is of course the patron saint of ALL of Scotland. He doesn’t belong to the SNP, or to nationalists, but to everyone in the country.

saltireproj

So it hardly even seems worth pointing this out, really.

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Men without honour 315

Posted on November 29, 2016 by

I wasn’t going to mention this on the site because it’s basically a personal matter, but as most readers don’t use Twitter or Facebook it probably ought to be briefly filed for the record, given the amount of media coverage there’s been.

mcternanhassan

It won’t take long.

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Hitler elected again 285

Posted on November 28, 2016 by

Paul Nuttall (pictured below playing “Eddie Hitler” in the BBC sitcom “Bottom”) has just been elected by a landslide as the new leader of UKIP.

hitlernuttall

We’ve never felt more British, frankly.

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Comment superfluous 73

Posted on November 28, 2016 by

heraldnew

Don’t spend it all at once 395

Posted on November 26, 2016 by

img280

What they expect you to believe 309

Posted on November 25, 2016 by

For some reason the Unionist community has this week been turning the bullhorn up to maximum on the subject of pensions. Most likely provoked by the publication of Dr Craig Dalzell’s fascinating “Beyond GERS”, the usual suspects have returned to the scaremongering tactics deployed during the indyref, attempting to terrorise the elderly with blood-curdling threats of destitution once again.

mcdougallpensions

It’s a bewildering approach, given that the situation regarding pensions is one of the few around independence about which there is known certainty. The UK government already pays the state pension to millions of people outside the UK, under rules which would apply in exactly the same way if Scotland became a “foreign” country.

But just for fun, let’s look at exactly what the situation would be in the monumentally implausible event that Blair McDougall was telling the truth for once.

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Out of the cave 223

Posted on November 24, 2016 by

Readers of this site will be well aware of the many failings and limitations of GERS, aka Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland – the document which serves as the informal accounts of a devolved Scotland but tells us next to nothing about the finances of an independent Scotland, as noted just a few weeks ago by the impartial multinational auditors Deloitte.

deloittegers

An article I produced this week for the Common Weal White Paper Project – Beyond GERS – has generated much critical response from Unionists, though some of it has at least been constructive.

Spurred on by the mention of the article by David Torrance in Monday’s Herald, in a column containing several serious inaccuracies, I’ve seen various misunderstandings and misconceptions about it which ought to be addressed.

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The light at the end of the tunnel 128

Posted on November 24, 2016 by

We haven’t dignified the current media-imagined “crisis” in Scotland’s railways with coverage thus far, for obvious reasons, but it seemed worth briefly letting someone much better qualified to comment than us bring some perspective to the issue.

iaindochertyrailways

(From today’s Herald. Click to enlarge.)

Readers might well feel justified in wondering why it wasn’t until someone took it upon themselves to go to the trouble of writing to a newspaper, after days of sustained press hysteria, that some sane and balanced commentary on the situation appeared. But then again, if Mr Docherty’s expert opinion had been sought in the first place, we wouldn’t have been able to have a solid week of “SNP BAD” all over the airwaves.

The Prophecies 261

Posted on November 23, 2016 by

One of the videos below is a genuine “Better Together” campaign broadcast, pulled from TV at the last minute (despite costing £50,000 to make) and today revealed by Buzzfeed. The other is a spoof we made in June 2014.

Good luck figuring out which is the real one, folks.

The news we’ve all been waiting for 247

Posted on November 22, 2016 by

Namely, that of a 100%-certain victory in indyref 2:

mcternanpredicts18

We might take the rest of the day off to celebrate.

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    • Northcode on A matter of class: “The psychology behind the colonization of the mind is interesting… and very powerful. I read an article on psychology… years…Dec 28, 18:27
    • James on A matter of class: “Dan; yip, Unionist Troll Central on here now, both attack and concern varieties…They’e f*cking endless. Tragic.Dec 28, 17:54
    • Northcode on A matter of class: “Alf Baird @2:40 pm “I was long resistant to suggestions that Scotland has been colonised. But as I read Alf…Dec 28, 17:51
    • sam on A matter of class: ““Even the name ‘British Empire’ is fake, a disguise for a locus of power in London which in which the…Dec 28, 17:41
    • Mark Beggan on A matter of class: “Q.What do you call a person who likes to spend other people’s money? A. A socialist.Dec 28, 17:29
    • Andy Ellis on A matter of class: “….feel free to banish me from this shithole you’ve allowed to be filled with trolls for evading your ridiculous moderation…Dec 28, 17:25
    • Mark Beggan on A matter of class: “Child: When I grow up I want to be a socialist. Parent: You can’t do both.Dec 28, 17:18
    • Andy Ellis on A matter of class: “I particularly liked the conclusion: The Nationalism of the Scottish National Party is not based on ethnicity but territory, it…Dec 28, 17:17
    • Dan on A matter of class: “Or alternatively, to do a way with endless yak, jist go with the simple abbreviated version in the dictionary. colony…Dec 28, 17:02
    • Captain Caveman on A matter of class: ““Some of the many things said about the English is that they treat nothing seriously and the men are sublimated…Dec 28, 16:48
    • sam on A matter of class: “https://journal.thenewpolis.com/archives/1.1/Saville-Smith.pdf “The matter is settled, Scotland is not a Colony because it was part of an Incorporating Union. But what…Dec 28, 16:27
    • Andy Ellis on A matter of class: “You may be right. Reform’s rise seems mostly to be cannibalising disillusioned Tory voters and the hard core brexiteers though:…Dec 28, 16:21
    • James Cheyne on A matter of class: “Xaracen, I take on board you’re excellent analyses of the position of Scotland territory and Sovereignty still belonging to the…Dec 28, 16:14
    • TURABDIN on A matter of class: “Some of the many things said about the English is that they treat nothing seriously and the men are sublimated…Dec 28, 16:13
    • Captain Caveman on A matter of class: “In actuality, Andy, I believe British nationalism is enjoying quite the renaissance of late, most notably in the form of…Dec 28, 15:19
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    • Mark Beggan on A matter of class: “For those who can. I hope you are feeding the wee birds this winter. They also need fresh water at…Dec 28, 14:35
    • Northcode on A matter of class: ““Of course your keyboard being all sticky can’t help either.” Intellectual my perfectly smooth and rounded porcelain buttocks, Andy Inglis.…Dec 28, 13:47
    • Andy Ellis on A matter of class: “I’ve thought for a long time that the chief reason the British nationalist project is “going down the pan” was…Dec 28, 13:20
    • Alf Baird on A matter of class: “The ““Scotland as colony” narrative – is perfectly legitimate”, especially so for those having studied postcolonial theory in depth, then…Dec 28, 13:11
    • Andy Ellis on A matter of class: “@ Northcode Correction: “que the inevitable…” should, of course, read as “cue the inevitable…” I guess that’s what happens when…Dec 28, 13:05
    • Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on A matter of class: “Book review I did a few years ago which may be of interest to some – ‘CANADIAN GAELDOM: FADED FOOTPRINT…Dec 28, 13:00
    • Northcode on A matter of class: “Correction: “que the inevitable…” should, of course, read as “cue the inevitable…”Dec 28, 12:17
    • TURABDIN on A matter of class: “@ ANDY ELLIS, ENGLAND OR UK is going to the dogs, finished according to taxi drivers and Hampstead dinner party…Dec 28, 12:11
    • Northcode on A matter of class: ““Your contribution is little more than we’d expect from the intellectually low voltage usual suspects in here…” “The intellectually low…Dec 28, 12:03
    • Xaracen on A matter of class: “@James Cheyne; 1- The 1707 Treaty did not expire with the Irish treaty in 1800! Technically, the English/Irish agreement wasn’t…Dec 28, 11:56
    • Andy Ellis on A matter of class: “@ Alf 11.33am I happen to agree with the OP, however my contributions being directed towards addressing the wall to…Dec 28, 11:49
    • Alf Baird on A matter of class: “A point to note is that “Your contribution” to the subject matter of the article itself is non-existent, your purpose…Dec 28, 11:33
    • Andy Ellis on A matter of class: “@ Northcode 10.51 am Your contribution is little more than we’d expect from the intellectually low voltage usual suspects in…Dec 28, 11:12
    • Northcode on A matter of class: ““Oor Scots language is wha we are, aye Scots, an the verra grund o the independence/leeberation muivement” Aye, Alf, yer…Dec 28, 11:08
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