The Scottish Daily Mail has been working itself into a froth this week over the idea that the Scottish Government doesn’t intend to match George Osborne’s increase in the upper-rate income tax threshold from £42,000 to £45,000.
Central to the complaint is that rejecting the increase will hurt what the Mail calls “the squeezed middle” and “middle earners”, including “nurses, teachers and police”.
There are, of course, several ways of defining “middle”.
We can hardly contain our joy, gentle readers, that Scottish Labour have brought this magnificent graphic from January back again, tweeting it several times yesterday with all the mindbogglingly fat-headed flaws from two months ago still present.
But we couldn’t help being struck by this new comment about it, by the branch office’s notoriously truth-averse finance spokesclown:
Let’s walk through that one really quickly. People can’t afford to save for a deposit, because rents are so high. So rather than do anything about rents, Labour will double the zero they HAVE managed to save, boosting it all the way up to, er, zero.
There are two very different kinds of welfare in the UK. One is the kind that primarily benefits poor people, which is under remorseless attack from the government.
But there’s another kind too, for which there’s still a bottomless pit of cash.
[EDIT 24 August 2016: This article has now been updated here.]
It’s Sunday, so there is of course one last convulsive orgy of “BLACK HOLE!” articles in all the papers, as every Unionist hack and pundit in the land falls over themselves to portray their own country as a useless scrounging subsidy junkie without actually using the exact words “too wee, too poor, too stupid”.
Everywhere you look there’s a “Proud Scot” screaming about how Scottish revenue this year being 1% lower than it was last year has comprehensively demolished a case for independence that those same people have spent most of the last four years stridently insisting never existed in the first place.
So before everyone moves on to a new “SCOTLAND BAD” next week, we thought it was worth a short recap of what we’ve learned about a devolved Scotland’s financial books this week.
100%Yes on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “It says the crappiest newspaper in Scotland “Outgoing MSPs who made tough decisions on our behalf deserve thanks” I say…” Mar 26, 19:11
Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Would you look at that. Just in time for LA28 Olympic games. The yanks certainly wouldn’t want every Tik Toker…” Mar 26, 19:06
100%Yes on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Sounds like Swinney has already excepted defeat. How long can the SNP cry wolf before the public say no more.” Mar 26, 18:44
Sven on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Young Lochinvar @ 18.04. “Rum, Buggery & the Lash”, sounds like a good election slogan for a Trans Political Party.…” Mar 26, 18:38
Frank Gillougley on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “I am thinking, dangerous I know, but something better change… so here’s my tuppenth worth on the current surreal absurdity…” Mar 26, 18:35
Young Lochinvar on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “The daily rainbow comic the National actually printed Offord’s joke yesterday but only so that they could give a screaming…” Mar 26, 18:18
George Ferguson on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Classic STV coverage. Don’t mention Jordan Lindon was SNP. But foam at the mouth at a 2018 comment made at…” Mar 26, 18:16
100%Yes on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “The neverendum, I remember Mr Pete Wishart saying in 2019 through the Rag newspaper that claims to support Independence, we…” Mar 26, 18:11
Young Lochinvar on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “A hoy there me hearties! Jolly Rogers aloft as HMS Raleigh and HMS Drake reprise the English Elizabethan role of…” Mar 26, 18:04
Sven on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “I wonder what type of Egregore a collective of would be Picts would bring into being. I sometimes feel that…” Mar 26, 18:02
Young Lochinvar on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Cards on the table, I don’t really fully understand the science behind the proposed tests but the main thing is…” Mar 26, 17:54
Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “I suggest you go Google public opinion polling figures on the illegal invasion of Iran. Then the polling on jenny.…” Mar 26, 17:35
Red on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Sven I do support officially renaming Glasgow to “Funky Town” Unfortunately, Susan Aitken ate Funky Town” Mar 26, 15:52
Northcode on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Totally agree, the Scots suck… the Picts, however, were a class act, and their descendants (myself included) are carrying on…” Mar 26, 15:31
Northcode on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: ““Maybe Alba ?” Absolutely no way – Alba is a Scotti Gaelic word meaning ‘bright’ or some shit… from the…” Mar 26, 15:20
agentx on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Apparently the SNP have found enough enough money to run its “biggest and best campaign” over the next six weeks.” Mar 26, 15:14
Ian Smith on Irony you can’t buy: “Surely the book advance would not be immediate income, but would have been handled in am much more tax sensitive…” Mar 26, 15:07
Onlooker on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Welcome to every single Scottish video on the net. It’s depressing how quickly and easily (mostly younger) Scottish people have…” Mar 26, 15:00
Sven on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “I’m not sure I’d fancy renaming Scotland with the Latinised “Pictavia” which the Romans called it. Maybe Alba ? I…” Mar 26, 14:55
Alf Baird on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Decolonization implies removal of an oppressor, which explains the panic among colonialists.” Mar 26, 14:40
Sven on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Off Topic/ Just had the delight of hearing Mr J Swiney telling us that Scotland will be independent by 2031,…” Mar 26, 14:34
Aidan on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “You have no public support at all on your side apart from a tiny number of internet trolls or deluded…” Mar 26, 14:12
diabloandco on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Isfahan is a beautiful place in Iran – youtube has couple of informative videos , well worth seeing!” Mar 26, 13:44
Geri on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: ““Geri – It’s a fascinating interpretation of international law there, I wonder who taught you, Ghengis Khan?” International court of…” Mar 26, 13:36
Northcode on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “My identifying as a Pict is no mere affectation, no passing fashion statement or lifestyle choice… my Pictish identity connects…” Mar 26, 13:34
Northcode on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: ““Oh dear, this is embarrassing.” Yes, indeed it is, James. The unionists (colonialists if preferred… same thing) wha ponce roond…” Mar 26, 13:18
Confused on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “I would heartily support this (just as long as they stayed in their ain middens after) https://archive.ph/MlTPt – but you…” Mar 26, 12:59
Red on Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off: “Cynicus – You have surely heard before now that ‘if you do not know where you came from, you will…” Mar 26, 12:58
