Earlier today we were moved to tweet our scepticism regarding a claim made by the Scottish Labour branch manager Kezia Dugdale, as reported in the Guardian.
Even on the most casual glance, the numbers just didn’t seem to add up. If 62% of Scots voted to stay in the EU and 55% voted to stay in the UK, with no correlation between the two things, then the Venn-diagram intersection between those two groups seems pretty unlikely to add up to more than 50%, let alone a “vast” majority.
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.
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Push The Button: “GROUP SINGS AT LONDON MARATHON IN WAKE OF SCOPE TRANS-DEBACLE Disability charity Scope has come under fire for dropping a…” Apr 28, 23:21
Iain More on Push The Button: “I se that mark Carney the Canadian PM is to introduce a Canadian Sovereign Wealth Fund. I guess he saw…” Apr 28, 22:55
Mark Beggan on Push The Button: “To argue with a fool only creates two fools.” Apr 28, 22:34
Geri on Push The Button: ““it is not mandatory for you to read my posts or comment on them.” I wasn’t the one crying. You…” Apr 28, 21:11
Chas on Push The Button: “Geri It seems that you think of yourself as the site moderator! It is not mandatory for you to read…” Apr 28, 20:49
Aidan on Push The Button: “@Cheyne – your repetitive posts do not have value because they don’t make sense to anyone, either pro-independence or unionist.…” Apr 28, 19:31
Geri on Push The Button: “Why don’t you? No one has forced you to come here, ya eejit. & No one is forcing you to…” Apr 28, 18:27
Geri on Push The Button: “They are held back by fear. That’s why they’re an embarrassment to democracy. They’d rather just not have one at…” Apr 28, 18:22
Chas on Push The Button: “How many people do you turn off this site and the thought of Independence with your repeated deranged ramblings. Go…” Apr 28, 18:03
Aidan on Push The Button: “Any facts or information are “news” to you Geri because you’ve allowed your mind to be poisoned by dubious YouTube…” Apr 28, 17:44
Aidan on Push The Button: “What’s in it for a unionist to hold a referendum? The best case scenario for the unionist out of that…” Apr 28, 17:35
Jamie on Push The Button: “If they were not terrified, they would have a referendum. Wendy Alexander was not terrified, in fact, she said bring…” Apr 28, 17:11
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Push The Button: “LEGAL CHALLENGE TO HATE CRIME RECORDING RULES GIVEN GO-AHEAD A free speech campaigner has been granted permission to challenge Home…” Apr 28, 16:46
Geri on Push The Button: “Look at the point just fly on over yer head LOL Is Reform leading in Scotland, Wales & NI? That’s…” Apr 28, 16:46
diabloandco on Push The Button: “Thanks Cynicus – like all three renditions but Paul Robson was the one I remember from my youth and my…” Apr 28, 15:42
Aidan on Push The Button: “It’s funny because I don’t remember supporting Reform at any point. However, if I did support Reform I might be…” Apr 28, 14:40
Geri on Push The Button: “Cave dweller “Also, using China as an example for the success of Socialism, as opposed to free market economics….. priceless.”…” Apr 28, 14:05
James Che on Push The Button: “Scotland does not need to appeal, beg or fight for what has already taken place hundreds of years past. Recorded…” Apr 28, 13:44
Geri on Push The Button: “You are shitting yourself, AI Dan. What else brings you here? No one here is interested in Reform. In fact,…” Apr 28, 13:27
Captain Caveman on Push The Button: “I find myself in agreement with you Northcode! If I were an AI, the “logical” action would be to press…” Apr 28, 13:20
Athanasius on Push The Button: “Here’s the problem, though. When I initially read the question, my immediate reaction was to go blue. It was only…” Apr 28, 13:12
James Che on Push The Button: “Here is the evidence for independent thinkers that my repetitive posts hold merit for Scotland and its people, The unionist…” Apr 28, 12:52
Northcode on Push The Button: “Yeah, that’s right… I posted my last comment twice on purpose coz it was sooo good! If you don’t like…” Apr 28, 12:44
Northcode on Push The Button: “Only a very few folk know that the song, “Ol Man River” – music composed by Jerome Kern and lyrics…” Apr 28, 12:28
Northcode on Push The Button: “Only a very few folk know that the song, “Ol Man River” – music composed by Jerome Kern and lyrics…” Apr 28, 12:28
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Push The Button: “Thanks for that link, Cynicus. Brilliantly resonant poetry brilliantly sung. Ol’ Man River had been notionally on my mind for…” Apr 28, 12:11
Northcode on Push The Button: “In the blue button red button dilemma the correct choice depends on whether one loves humankind, as God does, or…” Apr 28, 11:57
Aidan on Push The Button: “I admire your optimism but nobody, anywhere thinks that a referendum is happening at any point soon. I don’t see…” Apr 28, 11:42
Cynicus on Push The Button: “Seconded! Fearghas’ clip also contains a rendition by Welsh bass baritone, Bryn Terfel, renowned in the opera world for the…” Apr 28, 11:13
Jamie on Push The Button: “This just goes to show you. Despite the snp being a bin fire. The unionists have that rubbish an argument…” Apr 28, 10:49
