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.
The tweets below are all genuine, and taken from the Scottish Labour Twitter account earlier today during its live-tweeting of Kezia Dugdale’s speech. We’ve rarely heard a more compelling and concise argument for a Yes vote. We take our hats off to her.
twathater on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “However, Forth Ports said its focus had shifted to “delivering alternative activity at the port” after considering “a number of…” Sep 18, 03:11
twathater on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “When you go on to the ICO’s website about the investigation into Police Scotland they state that ” Where we…” Sep 18, 02:59
Mark Beggan on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “Vasily Grossman was reporting on the invasion of the Motherland in 1942 and found himself on the run from the…” Sep 17, 22:41
Hatey McHateface on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “It’s the 87th anniversary of the 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland today. Polish PM Donald Tusk has made a lengthy…” Sep 17, 21:08
Hatey McHateface on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “There’s a famine in Yemen right now, sam, if you woke up this morning and discovered you’d been struck by…” Sep 17, 20:50
Hatey McHateface on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “@ Dan says:17 September, 2026 at 6:34 pm “No sane, rational, or productive human being with any self-awarenbess” So true,…” Sep 17, 20:42
Hatey McHateface on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: ““stop humping my leg, it was funny for a while” It’s still excruciatingly funny. As in like those Victorians who…” Sep 17, 20:28
Aidan on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “@Dan – I appreciate you want to rant and rave here, but let’s deal with some home truths: – the…” Sep 17, 20:08
sam on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “Scotland, too during the famine caused by potato blight and gubmint policy. Charles Trevelyan, senior Treasury civil servant described Scottish…” Sep 17, 19:54
Al-Stuart on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “. The Most Reverend Stuart Campbell, Bishop of St Bartholomew., Patron Saint of Truthfulness, Church of The Clean Bath, County…” Sep 17, 18:55
Captain Caveman on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “Yea chaps, ol’ Hatey’s a “leg humper” – as according to some barely coherent nutcase spewing 1.1.1 Trichloroethylene-inspired drivel and…” Sep 17, 18:50
Dan on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “TBF Hatey probably can’t hear much due to blasting out da Ed Sheeran tuneage… No sane, rational, or productive human…” Sep 17, 18:34
Confused on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “another thing – you can’t let the anglos control your food supply they have a bit of previous ireland and…” Sep 17, 18:19
Confused on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “leg hump you’ve never refuted a damn thing, never won an argument, you are like the black knight in monty…” Sep 17, 18:02
Confused on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “it is for the houthis. They think strategically. Trump started a real stupid war because the “epstein people” were probably…” Sep 17, 17:58
Hatey McHateface on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: ““Strange that Scotland as a net exporter doesn’t have decent port infrastructure” Scotland is only a net exporter because of…” Sep 17, 17:17
Hatey McHateface on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “Sure, Confused, £2 for a liter of diesel is one of the greatest things ever. I guess the death toll…” Sep 17, 17:06
Spartan 117 on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “Dan – bang on. The Edinburgh Trams (read: Shams) was a tremendous waste of public money that caused untold suffering…” Sep 17, 17:05
Hatey McHateface on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “Even easier to refute than usual, and that’s saying something. Belgium 4, USA 1. 6th July 2026. Oh dear, Confused,…” Sep 17, 16:52
Dan on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “Not much consistency with you is there. So you were happy for shitloads of taxpayers money to be spaffed on…” Sep 17, 16:47
Aidan on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “If a private operator wants to run the Rosyth to Europe ferry and they can do so on a commercial…” Sep 17, 15:30
Dan on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “No shit Sherlock, that’s why I said a ferry service could be included in future port plans, not be the…” Sep 17, 15:08
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “THE PROCLAIMERS: ‘TRANS ACTIVISTS ARE TRUTH-PHOBIC’ The belief that a man can be a woman is pure myth, Scottish music…” Sep 17, 14:02
James Che on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “The private finances from the private subjects within Scotland that gave to a private matter of Scottish independence within the…” Sep 17, 13:18
Aidan on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “What a odd thing to say, other than a ferry service a port can be used for: – exporting and…” Sep 17, 12:29
sarah on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “Yet another failure by the SNP executive. They and Westminster were each putting up £3million to get this ferry service…” Sep 17, 12:28
Confused on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “come on now, Dan – everything Scotland runs on must come through Carlisle on a lorry. That way if the…” Sep 17, 12:24
Confused on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “yeah I am sure this lawfare will work this time negotiating the legal system in Scotland is easy – apply…” Sep 17, 12:21
Dan on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: ““The Port of Rosyth is an important asset for Scotland and we are committed to exploring a number of business…” Sep 17, 12:03
BLMac on A Thousand Islands In The Sea: “When you see so much prevarification, you know there was not just one bad apple. The whole basketful is rotten.…” Sep 17, 11:27
