Yesterday we reported how the only people who were risking the privatisation of key ferry services to the Western Isles were the Scottish Labour politicians and media crowing about how the decision to keep them in the hands of publicly-owned operator Caledonian MacBrayne had been made for political reasons.
(Which, were it true, would render the award of the contract illegal under EU law.)
Here’s (a few seconds into the clip) George, Baron Foulkes Of Cumnock.
Born in 1942 in Oswestry in Shropshire and privately educated at The Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School in Hertfordshire, George was first elected by the public in 1979, serving for 26 years. During his time as an MP he was convicted of a drunken violent assault on a policeman and fined £1,050. In 2005 he was ennobled into the House Of Lords and will make laws for UK citizens until he dies, no matter what voters say.
You’d think he’d have learned better manners by now.
As we write there’s a protest going on outside the Scottish Parliament regarding the privatisation of ferry services to the Western Isles. It was formally announced almost three hours ago that there definitely wasn’t going to be any privatisation and that the service would remain in public hands, but the protest still went ahead.
The people conducting the protest, who’ve got the exact thing they wanted, are now doing their level best to lose it again. Welcome to Scottish politics.
Over the past few days, readers, we haven’t been able to avoid noticing a recurring theme among Unionist types on social media – namely that the Holyrood election results are proof that support for independence is declining.
But it’s not until you ask them to explain that it gets completely mental.
For much of its life, this site has been warning readers that, as their default position, they should always assume newspaper headlines are a lie until proven otherwise.
Today, Britain’s biggest-selling newspaper admitted it in public.
You win a historic third election with a second massive landslide, getting more than twice as many seats as your nearest challenger – the first time such a thing has ever happened in a Holyrood election – on the back of what’s (self-evidently) by and large a very popular policy programme and record, and before you’ve even taken your seats in the chamber all the parties you just thrashed out of sight line up to explain how you’ve been doing everything wrong.
And as alliances go, they don’t get much less holy.
We’re supposed to be taking a few days off, but it’s been tipping it down outside for 36 solid hours, so when an alert reader emailed us a question relating to this article from Monday, we couldn’t help but go and research it just to pass some time.
They’d asked how many of the Tory MSPs elected last Thursday had been rejected by the voters of a constituency seat on the same day, and we were startled by the answer – of the 24 Conservative members of the Scottish Parliament elected on the list last week, every single one was also a failed constituency candidate.
In amongst a torrent of pretty mad analysis of the election result at the weekend, we noticed the most insane reason yet suggested for the loss of the SNP’s majority:
The co-founder of a much-lauded but little-read pro-independence website asserted that the SNP were cruising to victory until the Nats got the backing of the Scottish Sun and Nicola Sturgeon was pictured posing with the front cover endorsing her party.
The whole litany of gaping flaws in that argument is something the Yes movement has needed to talk about for some considerable time now. So let’s bite the bullet and do it.
Peter McAvoy on Push The Button: “In the original statement of the article,there are two more options press both at the same time to cancel each…” Apr 29, 02:15
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
