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.
Stuart MacKay on A matter of class: “Andy. you’re looking at it from a values and morals perspective. You don’t seemed to have learned anything from the…” Dec 24, 14:01
willie on A matter of class: “Scotland the colony. Scotland the corrupt. Its all in play as the establishment and the system reveal time after time.…” Dec 24, 13:57
sam on A matter of class: “Maybe you might look at the survey work by McCrone and Keating#. I posted a link above. It looks at…” Dec 24, 13:57
James Cheyne on A matter of class: “One wonders at the intellectual Standard required for tribunals or Judges in Scotland if they have to turn to artificial…” Dec 24, 13:49
Charles Findlay on A matter of class: “My granny used to say a lot of things, and I remember them all. “If wishes were horses, beggars would…” Dec 24, 13:36
Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: “My dear auld mammie used to say the lowest form of humour is limbo stand-up.” Dec 24, 13:34
Andy Ellis on A matter of class: “@cynicus 11.02AM It is you who are the newbie, sunshine. I have been around here a LOT longer than you…” Dec 24, 13:15
Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: “Guardian Online reporting the funeral of Stanislav Orlov. That such a tragic fate should strike down early such a nice…” Dec 24, 13:04
Dan on A matter of class: “Hmm, what are the views and concerns of Scots… https://wingsoverscotland.com/the-ginger-stepchild/ Immigration being in the top three, and the rise of…” Dec 24, 13:01
Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: “Hey Young Lochinvar. I do hate it when none of the usual suspects can be arsed to respond to a…” Dec 24, 12:49
Andy Ellis on A matter of class: “Independence for Scotland does not necessarily mean your version. But rather the Scots people as a whole,.. Perhaps not, but…” Dec 24, 12:47
James Cheyne on A matter of class: “The Snp , the dodgey trials, the governance, the gender issue, british media bias reporting or none reporting, resources and…” Dec 24, 12:25
James Cheyne on A matter of class: “Is it worrying that Scotland does not appear to be in the united kingdom of England and Ireland since 1800,…” Dec 24, 12:01
James Cheyne on A matter of class: “Name calling and sarcasm are the lowest form of wit my granny used to say,” Dec 24, 11:48
Young Lochinvar on A matter of class: “Aidan @ 8.49 Oh dear; a few too many dry sherrys for you last night and the intemperate sore head…” Dec 24, 11:43
James Cheyne on A matter of class: “It never falls far from the thread of supporting Scottish independence, whereas your own falls into name calling and personal…” Dec 24, 11:42
Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: ““I have been around here a LOT longer than you have” Sure, Cynicus. All the more perplexing then that judging…” Dec 24, 11:29
Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: ““we also live in that of the eternal, conceited, bully boy superpower” Sorry, TURABDIN, but I can think of at…” Dec 24, 11:21
Cynicus on A matter of class: “Andy Ellis says: 24 December, 2025 at 9:14 am “You must be relatively new here if you think off-topic posting…” Dec 24, 11:02
Cynicus on A matter of class: “Hatey McHateface says: 24 December, 2025 at 8:05 am “Defo worth a read” ====== Agreed. Why don’t you give it…” Dec 24, 10:55
TURABDIN on A matter of class: “INTERPRETATION is all. We live in the shadow of the semantic Tower of Babel & we also live in that…” Dec 24, 10:43
Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: ““it was never a good idea to accept mass migration which wasn’t predicated on those who chose to live here…” Dec 24, 10:32
diabloandco on A matter of class: “Ha! Ha! Ha! Oh you are a one – best joke so far!” Dec 24, 10:11
Marie Clark on Off-topic: “Hi folks, to anyone still looking in now and again, Merry Christmas to you and yours. I hope Santa will…” Dec 24, 10:07
sam on A matter of class: ““Corrections” may not be allowed. Amendments for “clerical errors” are permitted. What is being done is unlikely to be viewed…” Dec 24, 09:57
Andy Ellis on A matter of class: “It is earnestly to be hoped that a future Scottish government takes a more Danish approach to immigration. I suspect…” Dec 24, 09:29
Andy Ellis on A matter of class: “You must be relatively new here if you think off-topic posting is somehow novel. In its pomp when Rev Stu…” Dec 24, 09:14
Aidan on A matter of class: “@YL – there is nothing wrong with an evening out, in fact I am constantly encouraging the regulars here to…” Dec 24, 08:49
TURABDIN on A matter of class: “A SCOTSMAN on the make in London. Be leery as the English say. Archive.is/ph etc is flaky & the captcha…” Dec 24, 08:32
Achnababan on A matter of class: “These new corrections are all fairly trivial j think and I suspect this has been done deliberately to create the…” Dec 24, 08:18
