For ages now it’s been nagging at us that there wasn’t a quick and easy reference point for all the opinion polls we’ve commissioned, listing all the subjects covered by each poll and linking to both our own analyses of the figures and the raw data tables for people who wanted to go delving in amongst the stats themselves.
So now there is – it’s here. (And in future you can easily locate it under “Polls” in the menu bar running across the top of the front page.) We’re off for a bit of a lie down.
We thought we might leave this here so that Scottish journalists could print it out and stick it on their monitors as a memory aid. It’s something they keep unaccountably forgetting for some reason.
You never know, it might just cheer them up a bit.
Joan McAlpine, SNP MSP for the South of Scotland, extensively documented at the weekend the obstructiveness of Labour councillors in Dumfries and Galloway, who in an attempt to score some SNP BAD points were refusing to inform their constituents about the Scottish Government’s £1500-per-household flood relief grants to help people cope after recent storms.
The councillors eventually backed down and informed hard-pressed householders and businesses of the help available, but today the issue was debated on the floor of the Holyrood chamber, and when Labour once again tried to make the issue party political, the Deputy First Minister ran out of patience.
We had a lot of requests for the footage, so there it is.
Despite what you may have read in the newspapers at the weekend (and then in the Daily Record a day later), Scotland was today rocked by the news that the SNP’s manifesto for this May’s general election in fact DOES contain a commitment to a second independence referendum within the term of the coming Scottish Parliament.
Who says so? Why, it’s Oliver Mundell, son of the only Conservative MP in Scotland and the Scottish Tory candidate for the Holyrood seat of Dumfriesshire, in a leaflet hitting the doorsteps of constituents in the Borders today.
As we noted on Tuesday, Scottish Labour’s opening election salvo for 2016 has been to blame the Scottish Government for unaffordable house prices.
Of the 450 most obvious flaws in that argument, not least the extraordinary efforts a 13-year Labour government went to to keep the housing bubble inflated, the one that caught our eye was that in the past three years we were regularly told of one thing that definitely WOULD bring prices down dramatically, but which Labour pathologically fought every step of the way.
If you’re primarily or solely contesting regional seats, and you’re chiefly (as seems to be the case) targeting people who are going to use their first vote for the SNP, “Vote for us so that we can provide strong opposition to the SNP” is a pretty weird pitch.
You’re basically asking people to use their second vote to cancel out their first. And that’s quite a tough angle to be trying to sell them. Just saying, like.
We suppose we shouldn’t technically be surprised that today’s newspapers carry no analysis whatsoever of Kezia Dugdale’s big speech yesterday detailing Scottish Labour’s first big election pledge – a £6000 handout to first-time home buyers.
After all, current polling suggests Scottish Labour have about as much chance of exerting any influence in the next Scottish Parliament as Lemmy has of posthumously winning the Eurovision Song Contest, so it doesn’t really matter if Kezia Dugdale promises every voter a free unicorn made of diamonds and glitter.
Still, if only for the mental exercise, it’s worth taking a look in detail.
Dan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “^^^ That’s a very lame post, but I guess Mark jist tried to squeeze in as many derogatory digs as…” Jul 24, 16:53
factchecker on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Fair enough, sam; but you are quoting the opinion of Jim Cuthbert, a single civil servant, albeit a well-informed one,…” Jul 24, 16:40
Lorncal on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “I’m not into male-female rivalry, Mark/H McH. There has never, to my knowledge been a matriarchy in human history because,…” Jul 24, 16:39
Lorncal on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Proselytise means to aggressively push your religion/ideology/whatever on to others, not to give them a wee lecture and a couple…” Jul 24, 16:21
sam on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Factchecker says: “Please note: Analysts from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre concluded that the fiscal changes set out in the…” Jul 24, 16:16
factchecker on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “100%Yes says: 24 July, 2026 at 1:36 pm Scotland had a referendum in 2014, I know the Unionist mention it…” Jul 24, 15:24
Mark Beggan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Colonial. This word is getting thrown about here as if it has some sort of special powers. Just add “colonized”…” Jul 24, 14:15
100%Yes on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Scotland had a referendum in 2014, I know the Unionist mention it all the time. The day before the referendum…” Jul 24, 13:36
Northcode on The Wheels Of Industry: “There’s a lot of interesting history in your comment, but I think you might be mixing together several different concepts…” Jul 24, 12:51
Dan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Let’s see if this makes it through moderation filter. It states it is just over an hour’s read. https://www.decolonise.scot/scotland-stolen-scotland-restored-non-alignment-and-decolonisation-the-foreign-policy-of-a-nation-liberated-from-the-english-colonial-state-beyond-jim-sillars-discussion-paper-from-colo/” Jul 24, 12:32
MaryB on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Rather than watching the colonial games, it’s much better to spend your time reading Christoph Doigne Thompson’s paper: Scotland Stolen,…” Jul 24, 12:18
Cynicus on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Confused says:? 23 July, 2026 at 10:23 pm ?“EFTA came up, in the context of GDP/capita – .. …Some of…” Jul 24, 12:08
Oneliner on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “It was enough to make Faslane’s nuclear warheads sweat in their casings.” Jul 24, 12:05
Southernbystander on The Wheels Of Industry: “A place can never ‘recover’ from colonialism, and situations also vary a lot, as is how it is viewed; there…” Jul 24, 11:49
Northcode on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “It was a terrible show, Alf. Boak-inducing, fifth-rate, shoddy imperial cheerleading, right enough. I’m surprised there wasn’t a cenotaph for…” Jul 24, 11:42
Alf Baird on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Aye Northcode, instead of “a loud, symbolic objection from the independence movement” all we got was Swinney singing the colonizer’s…” Jul 24, 10:44
willie on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “And whilst we are reflecting on the new Lord it might be interesting to reflect on the family history. Anas…” Jul 24, 10:21
willie on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Sarwar follows a well trodden path of nominal Scots who get picked to be unelected lords and masters. Who in…” Jul 24, 09:43
Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Thanks for watching it on our behalf, Northy. I trust you’ll continue to put in the shifts and report back…” Jul 24, 09:27
Andrea on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “I understand what you are saying, but wouldn’t you jump at the opportunity to get away from holyrood? It must…” Jul 24, 09:25
Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “@Xaracen Have you checked the status of the England-Scotland border and for how long that has been no more than…” Jul 24, 09:22
Northcode on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Yesterday offered a striking sight: the remnants of the British Empire gathering to celebrate their shared colonial inheritance. And what…” Jul 24, 09:14
Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Odd that you continue to lump Eastern Europeans in with the Africans. I’ve never noticed much of the Sharia, stabby…” Jul 24, 09:14
Xaracen on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “factchecker said: “The Act specifies the creation of a unitary country, not a partnership of two.” Nonsense! Since neither kingdom…” Jul 24, 08:57
Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Aye, sam, we’re in the 21st century now. It’s ludicrously unrealistic to expect that hospitals should be able to count…” Jul 24, 08:39
Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: ““Post colonial theory is of no help here” Death to the heretic!!! It’s the only language he’ll understand. Talking of…” Jul 24, 08:32
sam on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Factchecker “Regarding piss poor management of resources etc, I agree – but it’s equally incompetent relative to England.” Regarding the…” Jul 24, 08:22
