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A gap in our memory 397

Posted on May 01, 2016 by

We must confess, we don’t recall when this happened.

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If anyone can help us out, please do.

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Generation and stimulation 224

Posted on April 30, 2016 by

Yesterday we noted that we still hadn’t received a reply to a complaint we made to the BBC about a false assertion by David Dimbleby on Question Time over six weeks ago, despite the fact that it’s only supposed to take 10 working days.

qtdimbleby

By coincidence we got the reply today, 36 days late, and it wasn’t worth the wait.

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Four minutes of fun 336

Posted on April 29, 2016 by

This evening’s Question Time saw one of the most incident-packed passages on the show in recent memory. From left to right onscreen the panellists were Paul Marshall (hedge fund manager, head of a chain of academy schools and co-author of the Lib Dems’ infamous “Orange Book”), Alex Salmond, Tory minister Greg Clark, Labour’s shadow home secretary Andy Burnham and right-wing think-tanker Jill Kirby.

We’ll let you watch for yourself.

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Scene missing again 514

Posted on April 27, 2016 by

We’d hoped to be bringing you in-depth analysis of the Scottish Labour manifesto by now, readers, but a couple of hours after their launch event there’s still no sign of it anywhere (we’ve checked their website, Facebook page and Twitter feed, all blank).

So we’re going to nip out to the shops for a bit. In the meantime, here’s some footage we recorded of the fantastic live stream of the launch the party put out.

It’s Scottish Labour Manifesto Day! 120

Posted on April 27, 2016 by

We have high hopes.

slabman16

Well, high-ish.

Clarity and certainty 414

Posted on April 25, 2016 by

We’re looking forward to the publication of the Scottish Labour manifesto for next month’s election, which is due to be published on Wednesday, just eight days before the vote. We confidently anticipate that it will definitively clear up a few issues we’re still not absolutely sure of the branch office’s position on.

dugdalestandsmall

For a day or two, at least.

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Polling projected properly 337

Posted on April 24, 2016 by

Considering we’re only eleven days from a general election, there’s remarkably little politics coverage in the Sunday papers today. Most of what there is is in the Sunday Herald, which has a substantial (and quite entertaining) interview with Kezia Dugdale and another two pages devoted to what’s essentially spluttering attempted justification of its shambolic front-page lead from last week.

peacockproj

We’re not going to go into it in depth, as James Kelly on Scot Goes Pop! has already had a close look and made a pretty fair assessment. But for want of anything more interesting to talk about, and in the wake of some depressing Twitter conversations with people who apparently STILL don’t understand either the Holyrood electoral system or basic arithmetic, we’re going to have one more wade in the list-vote debate.

You might want to see if there’s football on or something.

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A careful choice of words 385

Posted on April 23, 2016 by

With fears growing that hundreds of jobs may be lost in the Clyde shipyards as the UK government slowly backs away from the commitments made during the independence referendum campaign, Kezia Dugdale was full of righteous outrage last night.

kdships

But note how delicately that tweet is phrased. The clear implication – while not directly stated – is that only the Tories were responsible for the promises.

Is that the case, though?

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On thee our hopes we fix 36

Posted on April 23, 2016 by

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They Are The People 328

Posted on April 22, 2016 by

We might just not post anything again until the second referendum.

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The constant revision of memory 418

Posted on April 21, 2016 by

We’ve noted on numerous occasions previously that one of this site’s prime functions is merely to remember things – to serve as a repository of fact which can be referred to when politicians or the media try to mislead people about what happened in the past. It was a thought we were struck by again on reading The Times this morning.

kfmanif

Because as we beheld Kenny Farquharson’s account of the SNP’s manifesto launch, and how its emphasis on the word “RE-ELECT” was unfamiliar and “very different” to their last Holyrood manifesto launch, we were sure that wasn’t how we recalled it.

So we checked.

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Five cold, hard facts about the election 317

Posted on April 20, 2016 by

This site has never told readers how to vote in Scottish elections and never will, partly because its editor has no vote there and doesn’t have to live with the consequences whoever wins. (Something that ISN’T true about independence, in which case Wings would relocate to Scotland, which is why we freely express a firm view on that.)

palette

It’s in that context that we make the following observations about next month’s vote.

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    • factchecker on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Serious question – why should a UK Government work in the best interests of any single geographical sub-section of the…Jul 23, 12:03
    • sam on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Scottish Social Attitudes Study 2025 “18% of respondents said that they trusted the UK Government to work in Scotland’s best…Jul 23, 10:20
    • Alf Baird on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Aye Hatey, up tae yer wee mischievous tricks agin: ‘divide and rule’, the colonizer’s tool.Jul 23, 10:14
    • sam on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Sarwar’s degree in dentristy and his role as Scottish Labour Leader where he led the party to its latest debacle…Jul 23, 10:13
    • sam on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Trial first?Jul 23, 09:58
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Sure, Xaracen. But you’ll be long deid. 🙂 Me too. And, whilst no doubt Scotland will leave the UK as…Jul 23, 09:31
    • Aidan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “What made Scotland “much better” before 1707 Xaracen? I doubt there is a single objective metric that could be used…Jul 23, 09:31
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “With the departure of Sarwar, once again, we see that Scotland’s loss is England’s gain. And, as the pool of…Jul 23, 09:18
    • Xaracen on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Hatey said; “Scotland was a much better place when it was a monarchy.” Scotland was a much better place when…Jul 23, 08:55
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: ““buses; but I haven’t been on one for 30 years, and you’d have to get the gun out to get…Jul 23, 07:55
    • Hatey McHateface on Progressing To Oblivion: “His phone too, so there will go his language translation app. Come to think on it, taking his phone away…Jul 23, 07:44
    • Aidan on Progressing To Oblivion: “I think James’ clothes will need to be buried in concrete on Gruinard Island.Jul 23, 07:11
    • Aidan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Culpable homicide isn’t an offence in England (it’s manslaughter) and Donald Findlay isn’t a member of the bar in England…Jul 23, 07:08
    • Captain Caveman on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Well, it certainly looks like someone hit you on the head a fair few times, reading that. 🙂Jul 23, 05:51
    • Cynicus on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Sarwar senior went to become Governor of Punjab. However Punjabophiles can relax since the office is not hereditary.Jul 23, 00:49
    • Confused on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Question of the day must be : how many times is it permissible to hit a tory on the head…Jul 22, 23:47
    • Alf Baird on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “The dishonesty is first and foremost in the mankit annexation and ‘Union’ hoax which gives rise to its need for…Jul 22, 23:26
    • Young Lochinvar on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “AX Tut tut.. I don’t think anyone has seriously given that moniker to Glasgow for quite some considerable time and…Jul 22, 23:06
    • James on Progressing To Oblivion: “Vete a la mierda…Jul 22, 22:33
    • Young Lochinvar on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “HMcH That bad? Really? Made you reply though didn’t it? Validation an’ that eh? Enjoy lock down through the night…Jul 22, 22:29
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Sorry, Auld Lochnagar, but as a wind up that’s a piss poor effort. Try again around 2 AM. Your output…Jul 22, 22:22
    • Dick Wall on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Well now. Let’s have a wee bit of nuance. Most places have a way of appointing ministers who are not…Jul 22, 21:16
    • Young Lochinvar on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Chas Why do you lay that responsibility at Alfs door? Is it so you can blame him if things don’t…Jul 22, 21:10
    • Potace on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Maybe he’s going to help Ruth change the HoL from the inside?Jul 22, 20:50
    • Young Lochinvar on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “HMcH Aaaaah! In other words ie Yoda-speak; “Rampant Cringe leads to unhappiness, unhappiness leads to non conformance, non conformance leads…Jul 22, 20:48
    • Young Lochinvar on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “SF In fairness; “sins of the father” and that.. Not that I’m a fan!Jul 22, 20:39
    • Scot Finlayson on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “His dad, Chaudhry Sarwar, was knocked back for a Lordship, `His nomination by outgoing Prime Minister, Gordon Brown for a…Jul 22, 20:28
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: ““This I must say for Scotland, and I may truly vaunt it; here I sit, and govern it with my…Jul 22, 20:08
    • Hatey McHateface on The Wheels Of Industry: “If it’s gonna take 300 years to “decolonise”, we’re beyond fortunate to have a thousand year old Pict on our…Jul 22, 19:58
    • Lorncal on The Wheels Of Industry: “Alf: I have ever been the contrarian, but I have never considered our situation to be ‘colonial’ in the accepted…Jul 22, 19:57
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