The short version is “Everything Tony Blair said was a lie”. The full report can be read in 58 sections at the inquiry’s website here, but in the quite likely event that it gets swamped today we’ve uploaded the entire thing as a single convenient RAR file here.
[EDIT: individual sections now compiled into the print version’s 12 volumes.]
We’re not naturally disposed to sympathy for Tories, but it must be hellish being poor Ruth Davidson at the moment. The poor woman doesn’t know which way she’s facing from one minute to the next. Here she is less than a year ago:
Angela Eagle isn’t happy in the Labour Party and the Tories need a new leader. STV News Edinburgh may have jumped the gun slightly this evening, but this alternative career path makes a lot of sense.
Despite having an even number of participants, the panel is split 3:1 in favour of Remain and 3:1 against independence (surely the biggest specifically Scottish issue likely to arise from the Brexit vote, and which several polls in the last couple of weeks now show is backed by a majority of voters).
Half of the debaters are also Labour politicians, which means that the third-placed party which got 22% of the vote in this May’s election has as much representation as two parties who got 69% between them.
We’ve been racking our brains for a couple of hours trying to work out a way in which such a multiply-skewed line-up could be justified (other than flat-out trolling), and we’ve got nothing. Does anyone have any ideas?
The UK is currently a non-functioning democracy. The Prime Minister has handed in his notice and has no nominated successor. The leader of the Opposition has just been served with a vote of no confidence by 80% of his own MPs. Parliamentarians are openly discussing overturning the result of a democratic referendum. People are pretending that Angela Eagle is a credible future Prime Minister.
We’re currently trying to write an article summarising the state of UK politics, but our brains keep exploding two sentences in. So in the meantime we thought we’d share this just-released image from YouGov with you, for the benefit of anyone dim enough to ever put any stock by bookmakers’ odds as predictors of the future.
Rogueslr on The Curious Fringes: “To fill the time betwixt Xmas and New Year lets play the ‘John Swinney is’ game. Examples… John Swinney is…” Dec 29, 15:15
Aidan on A matter of class: “That isn’t the figure for GDP per capita in Norway for 2021 either though Alf (c.$93k is the actual figure),…” Dec 29, 14:57
Cameron Lochiel on The Curious Fringes: “Ah, BBS, who infamously called you “Fash Over Somerset”. He seems a bit of a prick” Dec 29, 14:54
Rev. Stuart Campbell on A matter of class: “This comment might appear more than once… if it appears at all. I tried to post it (and versions of…” Dec 29, 14:22
Alf Baird on A matter of class: “GDP-per-capita data I quoted was for 2021-22. That the gap between UK and Norway etc may have since fallen to…” Dec 29, 14:15
Colin Alexander on A matter of class: “So Scotland meets the military conquest marker for a colony? ChatGPT said: It meets one common marker used in colonial…” Dec 29, 13:56
Captain Caveman on A matter of class: “@Aidan Wow. Such elementary, innumerate schoolboy errors must be very embarrassing for our learned friend, one imagines.” Dec 29, 13:35
James Cheyne on A matter of class: “Marie. They want the blood of our children, An interesting observation, if the first Great Britain 1707-1800 is not the…” Dec 29, 12:50
Mark Beggan on A matter of class: “Come to the light James. Free yourself from the colonial shackles. Join us in the Feasting halls. Your Fascist brothers…” Dec 29, 12:41
Alf Baird on A matter of class: ““Call it institutional bias, ideological capture, or just the law doing its job” My contention is that the public persecution…” Dec 29, 12:41
James Cheyne on A matter of class: “The voluntary union is another one of those social Contracts that has been sold as a white elephant. Binding on…” Dec 29, 12:30
Mark Beggan on A matter of class: “If it has been debated in Westminster then why are you going on about it? Do you think that repeating…” Dec 29, 12:26
Aidan on A matter of class: “In a turn of events everyone expected those figures are wrong; – GDP per capita in Scotland is about $53,000…” Dec 29, 12:24
Northcode on A matter of class: ““…invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany.” A temporary invasion lasting a haunfu o years is not colonization. The Scots were…” Dec 29, 12:02
Aidan on A matter of class: “I’m glad to hear that you must go, please don’t feel like you need to come back later.” Dec 29, 11:55
Alf Baird on A matter of class: ““public spending to GDP % ratio in the U.K. is not dissimilar to Norway” Aye, which also explains why public…” Dec 29, 11:48
James Cheyne on A matter of class: “Mark beggan, You obviously did not read it, just made a silly derogative comment, I do not get payed for…” Dec 29, 11:45
Northcode on A matter of class: ““…someone who claims to be a slave…” I’m a house slave and have managed to figure out my English master’s…” Dec 29, 11:43
Mark Beggan on A matter of class: “It pays to feed the wee birds. Just seen a Great spotted woodpecker in the garden. That’s my day made.” Dec 29, 11:42
James Cheyne on A matter of class: “Here in the land of reality called Scotland , we are already dealing with the first White elephant we were…” Dec 29, 11:37
James Cheyne on A matter of class: “As a salesman for the new world of civic Society and Social Contracts you will have prove it works for…” Dec 29, 11:33
Tinto Chiel on Off-topic: “Hi, Ian and Marie. Yes, to absent friends, of whom there are now too many. Life is but a melon…” Dec 29, 11:28
Northcode on A matter of class: ““…it’s essential to compare oranges with oranges.” Agreed… although in AI Dan’s latest incomprehensible collection of internet generated word dribblings…” Dec 29, 11:26
Aidan on A matter of class: “For someone who claims to be a slave you seem to spend a disproportionate amount of time posting drivel on…” Dec 29, 11:24
Marie on A matter of class: “They want the blood of our children for their upcoming wars. Give them nothing.” Dec 29, 11:23
Aidan on A matter of class: “The other thing is that the public spending to GDP % ratio in the U.K. is not dissimilar to Norway/Sweden/Denmark…” Dec 29, 11:21
Mark Beggan on A matter of class: “@James Cheyne Do you get paid directly from Qatar or is there a middle man account. Please don’t tell me…” Dec 29, 11:14
Northcode on A matter of class: ““It was God who gave Pictavia to the Picts who in turn, in an act of great generosity pleasing to…” Dec 29, 11:13
Northcode on A matter of class: ““those nations joyfully celebrating their liberation are significantly worse off than Scotland by almost every metric…” Yes… the Scots might…” Dec 29, 11:04