Just a brief update on some legal shenanigans. Having received no response to TWO lawyers’ letters, I’ve filed a court claim against Express Newspapers over false and defamatory claims made in an article by Siobhan McFadyen (sourced by JK Rowling) on the Sunday Express website of 30 October, as detailed in this Wings article.
The court fee was partly funded by popular politics pundit John McTernan.
Alert readers will remember that last month we debunked a front-page story from the Scottish Daily Mail about SNP MPs’ expenses, which made the spectacularly untrue claim that they were more expensive than their Unionist predecessors, when in fact they cost significantly less and did far more work.
A couple of days ago the Mail finally ran a “clarification”. And we thought you might like to know exactly how much more the Mail values lies than truth.
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We’ll be honest, there are some bits of this that make us wince, and unfortunately most of them come in the first two minutes where they’ll do the most damage in terms of getting a persuadeable voter to watch the rest of it. But it’s an important piece of work, containing stuff even we didn’t know about, and it should be seen.
Particularly alert readers may recall a phenomenon we haven’t covered much recently, whereby aspects of politics magically transform as they cross the border between Scotland and the rest of the UK. But this week we’ve had a sighting in a new area.
Reiner Luyken is a 65-year-old German journalist who’s spent more than half of his life in the Highlands, and seems to have a knack for upsetting the neighbours.
We’re sure it was just an unfortunate one-off misunderstanding.
Alert readers may have noticed with barely-concealed disinterest that Scottish Labour have announced their intention to have another really hard think about devolution.
With Labour not looking like being in power at either Holyrood or Westminster for at least a decade, and their opinions therefore being about as relevant as our ideas as to who should play in the back four for Real Madrid next weekend, most papers treated the news with the gravitas it deserved, such as this report in the Sunday Post:
But we thought it might be a snappy idea to keep track of all the times the Unionist parties have promised that they’ve come up with the ultimate form of devo-X.
Unionists got very excited last week about a YouGov poll for the Times which showed that not only had the post-Brexit bump in support for independence been undone, but that it was now (fractionally) below the level recorded in the indyref for the first time since the September 2014 vote.
(It was a slightly curious poll, with a massively disproportionate number – over 27% – of its respondents born outside Scotland, mostly from the rest of the UK, but it was weighted so that shouldn’t have been much of a factor. It also found majority support for a second EU referendum, despite a 30-point margin for Remain, but opposition to a second indyref despite the margin for the Union being just 12 points.)
Nevertheless, given that nothing’s happened since the end of June that ought to have damaged the case for Yes (the oil price is currently at a 12-month high, for example, almost twice what it was in January), the 10% drop in support is a troubling one for the independence movement.
But it shouldn’t be. Because what the poll shows is that there is currently a majority of people in Scotland prepared to vote for independence.
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.
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “Many APOLOGIES to FOR WOMEN SCOTLAND that I reposted this article without noticing their organisation’s title was misspelled by the…” Apr 15, 12:55
Alf Baird on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: ““no permanent Scottish film studio” Scots can or should readily see that, being a colonized people we are ‘out of…” Apr 15, 12:54
Dan on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “I think one of the main issues when talking about energy is that electricity cannot be seen and therefore there…” Apr 15, 12:46
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “SCOTS SCHOOLS PUSHED TO IMPOSE ‘UNLAWFUL’ TRANS POLICY ON FEMALE-ONLY SPACES East Lothian Council has come under fire for advising…” Apr 15, 12:19
Cynicus on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “Marie says: 15 April, 2026 at 11:40 am “And Vance’s boss – Dr Jesus Trump M.D – is a global…” Apr 15, 11:53
James Che on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “Mini wind turbines set on our roofs or beside our houses would be a steadier energy source than daylight or…” Apr 15, 11:35
Northcode on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “Frantz Fanon reminds us that, “Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it, or betray it.”…” Apr 15, 11:32
James Che on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “Dan, Not only are Scottish homes not adequitly insulated but the solar energy is not stored, meaning shorter daylight hours…” Apr 15, 11:22
Dan on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “Economies of scale mean energy generation infrastructure is a matter best dealt with at a national level. Of course, that…” Apr 15, 10:05
James Che on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “The colonial governance employs perverts and we pay them to do so, extra Scottish tax, This nonsense of pretending that…” Apr 15, 09:52
James Che on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “Being controlled directly or indirectly in our energy and communications by BBC in Scotland 2026. Becoming the energy supplier to…” Apr 15, 09:45
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “From LANARK by Alasdair Gray, Chap 22: One morning Thaw and McAlpin went into the Cowcaddens, a poor district behind…” Apr 15, 09:35
James Che on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “Wandering away from the topic as others do, Resources and Scotland powering the rest of Britain through solar energy, The…” Apr 15, 09:23
TURABDIN on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “AND THIS JUST GOES ON AND ON…. https://www.glasgowworld.com/news/insurance-hearing-set-to-decide-the-fate-of-glasgow-school-of-art-mackintosh-building-5502043 All worthy of some backwater banana republic where nothing matters any more….except…” Apr 15, 08:57
Cynicus on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “It seems I may have underestimated the age of Persian civilisation ‘s ancient roots at 7000 years. Elsewhere, I read:…” Apr 15, 08:53
Hatey McHateface on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: ““given it’s long list of explosive scandals. It certainly shouldn’t be receiving government funding” I’m up for ScotGov funding a…” Apr 15, 08:47
Hatey McHateface on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: ““sunny weather provides a “surge” in energy production and also windy weather too; between the two, your energy needs are…” Apr 15, 08:41
TURABDIN on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “It would appear that having a «mental disorder» does not disqualify for office, It may even be a bonus in…” Apr 15, 08:36
Hatey McHateface on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: ““he is a Walter Mitty character” Anybody ken if Walt is still with us? If he is, I hope he…” Apr 15, 08:18
Hatey McHateface on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: ““7000 year old civilisation” Laughter came easy, but words fail. ScotGov should commission a study into the adverse mental health…” Apr 15, 08:13
Hatey McHateface on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “Am I the only reader who feels bitterly let down by the intellectual stuntedness and aspirational poverty of the Scottish…” Apr 15, 08:03
Peter McAvoy on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “I agree with another comment about Scottish books and other stories being filmed in Scotland with a majority Scottish cast…” Apr 15, 02:02
Young Lochinvar on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “He’s here! He’s there! He’s absolutely No effin where! Hatey Auld Hateys Back In remand.. 🙂 🙂 🙂” Apr 15, 00:20
Young Lochinvar on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “C @ 11.11 Lanark? Well! If it’s anything like Londons Uber trendy West End rendition of “Hamilton” then I’m afraid…” Apr 15, 00:06
Cynicus on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “I note that erstwhile stalwart supporters are annoyed with that son of Scotland, Dòmhnall Iain Trump for outing himself as…” Apr 14, 23:57
Confused on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “note the cunning way this is framed – free energy, or worse still – being PAID to use it, is…” Apr 14, 23:12
Confused on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “oooh … I remember that now … it was so over the top … and yet a great “analogy” for…” Apr 14, 23:11
George Ferguson on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “@Dan Great stuff Dan. I went on a cruise for a special anniversary and saw how the other half live.…” Apr 14, 20:55
