Earlier this year, a Secretary of State in Her Majesty’s Government leaked an untrue memo to the press, with the intention of undermining the democratically-elected First Minister of Scotland and damaging her party in an imminent general election. He then went on national TV and lied about doing so, in order to protect his own reputation.
The newspaper he leaked the smear to printed it without making the slightest attempt to ascertain its veracity, for which it was nominated for an award (even after having been strongly censured by the press complaints watchdog). The “journalist” involved has never retracted or apologised for the story. Others have defended it.
The National today has a story we’ve been sitting on for several days while we tried to get some verifiable evidence in the form of links or screenshots to back it up.
But Labour aren’t the only people having trouble scaring up a candidate roster.
This morning’s Daily Record, and also some newspapers, report that booze-ruined internet troll and convicted violent criminal George Foulkes – who’s spent several decades of his political career campaigning to abolish the House Of Lords, and all of the last one sitting in it as Baron Foulkes of Cumnock – has dreamt up a wizard new wheeze to enhance the Scottish Parliament by giving it its own chamber of peers.
The thirsty noble aims to avoid the undemocratic nature of the UK Lords by making the new “senate” an elected chamber. But in an uncharacteristic development that will shock innocent readers to their cores, he doesn’t seem to have thought it through.
It’s probably time we had a series of these. So here’s #1.
scandal(noun) – a situation where no known crime has been committed and nobody has been interviewed by the police, yet which apparently contrasts in some way with other situations about which the exact same applies.
(Can often by identified by presence of Scottish Labour MPs/MSPs describing claims of entirely legal activity as “very serious allegations”.)
As the Scottish media winds itself up to full speed with “SNP BAD” columns about the Forth Road Bridge closure, an alert reader spotted an interesting old quote in Hansard featuring a gentleman you may recognise.
We invite anyone who may perhaps just be arriving at work after an unusually long commute this morning to imagine a Scotland where Mr Darling had been listened to, and the prospect of a replacement crossing was still several years away.
There’s absolutely no news today – Scottish politics already seems to have packed up for Christmas – so why not watch a nice documentary instead?
Altered States has been available in episode form for a wee while now, but McMaster Media have kindly put together a full-length cut exclusively for Wings Over Scotland.
It’s a fascinating analysis with lots of insightful chat from – among others – the likes of Derek Bateman, Paul “Wee Ginger Dug” Kavanagh, James “Scot Goes Pop” Kelly and Christopher Silver, to whose pre-indyref “Scotland Yet” it’s basically a post-indyref counterpart, and it’s a perfect way to pass a slow, rainy Sunday.
Tonight we watched as the conclusion of a “debate” in the UK Parliament saw the “opposition”, almost unprecedentedly, sum up the same case as the government, to roof-raising cheers and applause (which is now apparently permitted again) from the Conservative benches for a Labour shadow minister.
Gary on The Grand Tour: “Would it be possible to finish the job, and add up the seats?” Jun 10, 20:13
Dan on Two Of A Kind: “Oh aye, here’s another splitter unable to get behind the original ISP formation. Fucked off to the US because he…” Jun 10, 18:02
sarah on Two Of A Kind: “To clarify the UN procedure for being recognised as a Non-Self-Governing State, an existing member state of the UN can…” Jun 10, 17:29
factfinder on Two Of A Kind: “James says: 10 June, 2025 at 4:13 pm “Factfinder” [lol] – read it and weep, sunshine No need for tears,…” Jun 10, 17:00
AndrewR on Two Of A Kind: “factfinder The Schools Bill is really interesting. This is a general question to the forum: when did the north and…” Jun 10, 16:51
Aidan on Two Of A Kind: “Taken from JPTI’s website today: “The C-24 has very strict rules. Only regions already on the UN’s official list of…” Jun 10, 16:23
Willie on Two Of A Kind: “Just read this as I sit on a train on the West coast line travelling to Glasgow Partick. Only going…” Jun 10, 16:17
James on Two Of A Kind: ““Factfinder” [lol] – read it and weep, sunshine. “…Most importantly, Scotland lacks international legal personality, is not permitted to conduct…” Jun 10, 16:13
factfinder on Two Of A Kind: “The deliberate campaign to eradicate Gaelic language and culture was, of course, started long before 1707. The Establishment of Schools…” Jun 10, 15:23
Northcode on Two Of A Kind: “Thanks for the link, Alf. Very helpful. This from the Justice pour Tous Internationale (JPTi) website : Building on two…” Jun 10, 13:54
Alf Baird on Two Of A Kind: “Instead of playing British politics, here is what the SNP leadership should have been doing long ago, taking Scotland’s case…” Jun 10, 13:14
Oneliner on Two Of A Kind: “The Kosher and Halal punters will only screw it up” Jun 10, 13:02
diabloandco on Two Of A Kind: “Like it!” Jun 10, 11:54
Nae Need! on Two Of A Kind: “Yes, a totally revised menu is required. A menu that accurately reflects the dishes that are cooked would be a…” Jun 10, 10:23
Hatey McHateface on Two Of A Kind: “According to the MSM, they chucked their mobys and a laptop into the sea. Even I have higher regard for…” Jun 10, 09:36
Northcode on What We Don’t Know Now: “Parataxis is the natural way of speaking and writing the English language; it’s the way English wants to be written…” Jun 10, 09:33
TURABDIN on Two Of A Kind: “THE MEGA LIE of all time is that by voting snp you would «see off» the united kingdom..other variants of…” Jun 10, 09:32
agent x on Two Of A Kind: “Thank God she is safely on a plane home. Phew that was a close scrape!!!” Jun 10, 08:52
Hatey McHateface on What We Don’t Know Now: “If a Google search, even one powered by AI, can answer your question, based on what I infer is Rev…” Jun 10, 08:45
Hatey McHateface on What We Don’t Know Now: “Thanks for your reply, Bilbo. I’m not following your logic though. If Scotland doesn’t like populism, the rise in support…” Jun 10, 07:43
Hatey McHateface on The Jokers: “Aw, James. Still unable to summon up an original thought. Have this one on me: Indy For Knuckle Draggers. Awa…” Jun 10, 07:12
Rogueslr on Two Of A Kind: “So they’re no longer at war with Eurasia but they are with Eastasia? And Oceania isn’t the threat? I just…” Jun 10, 06:45
Dee Dubya on What We Don’t Know Now: “whose niece is she? I tried looking it up using google and another search engine and got a wee message…” Jun 10, 05:05
Big Jock on Two Of A Kind: “Swinney was a shambles the first time he was leader of the SNP. Salmond rescued them. To reellect this man.…” Jun 10, 00:04
Chris Downie on Two Of A Kind: “Not for the first time, the lunatic nonce cabal of the Green Party have taken enough votes to prevent an…” Jun 9, 23:19
James on The Jokers: ““…You’re like one of those ignoramus loud mouthed Yanks who believes WW2 didn’t begin until the Japs bombed Pearl Harbor…”…” Jun 9, 23:15
