It’s a rare occasion when we feel compelled to salute Scotland’s mainstream media, but their restraint on discovering that a whole slew of PFI schools commissioned by Labour might be in danger of falling down at any moment was highly commendable.
The Unionist parties are taking such a kicking in the polls for next month’s Holyrood election that you could forgive them for not always knowing where they were.
The above tweet does indeed have the potential to be “astonishing”, given that (a) Ruth Davidson isn’t standing in Carnoustie, and (b) the 2011 result suggests that there are only around 700 Labour voters to find in the entire town behind the “1000s” of doors that 20 Tories have impressively managed to knock by teatime.
(Indeed, the area is so Labour-unfriendly that the Tories actually managed to come 2nd five years ago, getting over 50% more votes than the Labour candidate.)
But it’s not the only piece of geographical confusion afflicting the UK parties.
Alert readers may recall that a few months ago the Scottish press got itself in a right old lather about a temporary closure of the Forth Road Bridge. The SNP were attacked relentlessly in the media for what a subsequent inquiry in fact found to have been an “unforeseeable” fault on the bridge which posed no risk to life. But fair enough.
This week, 17 schools in the Edinburgh area were closed down over fears that they might be unsafe after the wall of one of them fell off in high winds, two years after another wall in an Edinburgh school collapsed and killed a 12-year-old girl.
All 17 had been built under a controversial PFI scheme signed in 2001, when the UK government, Scottish Parliament and Edinburgh City Council were all controlled by Labour, and which isn’t due to be finally paid off for another 20 years.
The Scottish press and opposition’s incandescent and somewhat vague fury at the Scottish Government working to bring billions of pounds in investment to Scotland has continued undiminished in this weekend’s newspapers. Scottish Labour in particular are getting themselves very worked up about today’s Sunday Times.
“Incredible”? Sounds exciting. Let’s find out more.
Those of you who read our post of earlier today probably didn’t feel there was anything ambiguous going on in it. When Ruth Davidson intervened in an election debate to protest that the chair, the BBC’s Louise White, was being unfair to Nicola Sturgeon, it was pretty obvious who she meant, and White’s response removed any doubt.
Which makes this eye-witness account of the event, spotted by an alert reader this afternoon, odd in several ways.
We were rather gobsmacked, readers, when we tuned into this morning’s BBC Radio Scotland phone-in at 9am. Ostensibly discussing the promotion of “Rangers” to the Premiership, presenter Louise White adopted the most astonishingly, openly partisan and aggressive approach we’ve ever heard from a host on the state broadcaster (which is no small feat), on the subject of whether the club was a new one or not.
Callers were harangued, interrupted and hustled on for daring to suggest the truth. It was a jaw-dropping display of disregard for not only impartiality but basic journalistic regard for the plain, uncontestable facts of the matter.
But don’t panic, football-haters. This post is about something else.
This is an intriguing and engrossing extended chat between Christopher Silver and Iain Macwhirter for what will hopefully become a regular series by the excellent Phantom Power Films, creators of Altered States and lots more:
It’s well worth whiling away a little bit of your afternoon on.
Mark Beggan on The Land Of No Laws: “As my father used to say: “If they weren’t doing that they’d be mugging old women.”” May 17, 04:22
twathater on Steadying The Ship: “Sarah and anyone else interested in donating to Craig Murray’s blog I would advise them to check out his latest…” May 17, 03:13
Cynicus on Steadying The Ship: “Mark Beggan says: 16 May, 2026 at 4:19 pm “Sven meaning: Norse, boy, lad, young warrior.” ======== Its actual Old…” May 17, 01:02
Red on Steadying The Ship: “Why does nobody in the Scottish Parliament care about the industrial scale rape of Scottish children by Muslim colonists? Is…” May 17, 00:50
George Ferguson on Steadying The Ship: “@Sarah You are positively the most positive person on this site. But for over a decade money has gone into…” May 17, 00:21
ABruce on Steadying The Ship: “I’ve already contributed for Mark, Sarah. I hope many more will do so.We can’t let the bastards win.” May 16, 22:53
Alf Baird on Steadying The Ship: “” that we do, in fact, hold two contradictory, but, nevertheless, valid senses of ourselves.” You might, Lorncal, tho A…” May 16, 21:47
william G Walker on Steadying The Ship: “OTT Sorry mis-type above. It shouls have said: JAMBO says that “there are only three inavoidable rules in life –…” May 16, 21:39
Lorncal on Steadying The Ship: “Scottish antisyzygy is probably nearer the truth, Alf. Almost every Scottish writer, poet, artist, playwright, philosopher and political commentator displays…” May 16, 21:23
sarah on Steadying The Ship: “O/T Turning away from the topic of being stuck with the most embarrassingly incompetent bunch of MSPs ever, there are…” May 16, 21:10
william G Walker on Steadying The Ship: “OTT Jambo says that “There are only three inavoidable rules in life – death, taxes the Scottish Football Establishment based…” May 16, 20:54
Alf Baird on Steadying The Ship: “” We syriacs/assyrians know the schizoid condition well.” And ditto for us schizoid Scots. As David Purves wrote: “Since the…” May 16, 19:26
George Ferguson on Steadying The Ship: “The punishment has begun. After watching fitba all day. We are listening to Take the Floor. Apparently the second half…” May 16, 19:20
Mark Beggan on Steadying The Ship: “The English electorate are far from stupid. The arrogance of the Labour party passing seats to their mates so they…” May 16, 19:14
Alf Baird on Steadying The Ship: “Even today Hume’s self-hatred of Scottish culture looms large among assimilated native intellectuals and elites who ‘mimic the colonizer’ (Memmi)…” May 16, 18:58
Xaracen on The Broken Rainbow: “’I have always believed the truth will set us free and always will.“ Well, that can’t be true, Hatey; I…” May 16, 18:14
TURABDIN on Steadying The Ship: “@CYNICUS. no they are not, they are my «construct. Hume was very «antisyzygic». We syriacs/assyrians know the schizoid condition well.…” May 16, 18:03
Northcode on Steadying The Ship: ““you are the biggest contributor of irrelevant, pointless drivel BTL.” Wow! I’ve just realised you’re right… I’m a bore, you’re…” May 16, 17:57
George Ferguson on Steadying The Ship: “Anybody that has met John Swinney knows he has the Charisma of an ex Insurance Salesman of course prior to…” May 16, 16:44
Cynicus on Steadying The Ship: “TURABDIN says: 16 May, 2026 at 1:11 pm” “THIS IS THE PREAMBLE TO AN ACADEMIC WORK. HUME IN AND OUT…” May 16, 16:35
Mark Beggan on Steadying The Ship: “Sven meaning: Norse, boy, lad, young warrior.” May 16, 16:19
Cynicus on Steadying The Ship: “Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh says: 16 May, 2026 at 10:33 am “Cynicus: « the name of the author is Robert Curry. Not…” May 16, 16:19
twathater on Steadying The Ship: “It’s nice to see the gross stupidity of the engerlish electorate publicised daily on broadcast and media , I thought…” May 16, 16:18
Mark Beggan on Steadying The Ship: “If your name is your destiny Turabin then you are a reference manual with incorrect spelling!” May 16, 15:40
Mark Beggan on Steadying The Ship: “Samuel that’s a good Jewish name. Means prophet, heard by God.” May 16, 15:36
Mark Beggan on Steadying The Ship: “You have been eating too much sugar again.” May 16, 15:29
Mark Beggan on Steadying The Ship: “So what about your name Sam?” May 16, 15:16
Captain Caveman on The Broken Rainbow: ““Now that you admit they’ll not be providing you with a running commentary, they’ll not be sending you any decision…” May 16, 15:12
Mark Beggan on Steadying The Ship: “Correct but it was Beggins. Changed when my grandfather came to Scotland. Mark Beggan translated means Brave of the small.” May 16, 14:58
