One of the stranger criticisms regularly levelled at this site is that we don’t attack the SNP/Scottish Government enough.
That’s weird firstly because it’s not like there’s currently a shortage of hostile media scrutiny of Nicola Sturgeon and her colleagues, and secondly because we’ve never in our four-year life claimed for a moment to be neutral.
What Unionists insisted was the biggest and most important parliamentary transfer of powers to a devolved government anywhere in the world was squeezed into five and a half hours of debate time in the House Of Commons tonight, approximately two hours of which were taken up by Westminster’s farcical voting system.
Of the remaining three and a bit hours, a third of the time was taken up by the three MPs you can see video of at the bottom of this post. We know it’s a lot to ask to watch an hour of politicians deliberately trolling Scotland, but if you didn’t see the debate live it’s about the minimum you need to get an accurate sense of the tone.
At the end of it all, a small number of things had been decided.
The tiny number of people who watch the BBC Parliament channel is undoubtedly a blessing to the parties of the Union. We’ll be bringing you some eye-opening excerpts from today’s Scotland Bill debate later, but as a taster here’s one brief exchange.
Alberto Costa, the Scottish-born Conservative MP for South Leicestershire (of whom we’ll be seeing much more in a bit), is heard loudly expressing his satisfaction that not a single Scottish MP of any party (nor indeed any from Wales or Northern Ireland) has been permitted to sit on the Joint Committee discussing the government’s plan to scrap the Human Rights Act, although six unelected peers do get places.
When challenged, Costa explains that he’s happy about it because it’s a matter reserved to the “United Kingdom Parliament”. The fact that he apparently doesn’t consider any Scottish members elected to that parliament to have any business with its affairs is perhaps rather more revealing than Mr Costa intended it to be.
Last Friday’s article on the limitations of GERS caused quite a stir among the stout defenders of the Union, as social-media users may have noticed over the weekend.
Amidst the wildly-flailing fury-storm of shouty, abusive responses which pathologically evaded addressing the article’s point, the one vaguely factual argument raised was the notion that an independent Scotland wouldn’t be able to make significant savings on its current (notional) £3bn defence budget because NATO supposedly requires all member states to spend 2% of their GDP on defence.
When it comes to Scottish Labour’s great brainwave about “restoring” Tory tax-credit cuts, the madness just won’t stop. Here’s Magnus Gardham, formerly political editor of Scotland’s staunchest Labour paper the Daily Record, in the Herald today:
So, it’s our birthday. It was exactly four years ago today, on the 7th of November 2011, that Wings Over Scotland published the first post of what was supposed to be a pretty insignificant spare-time blog picking out interesting politics stories in the day’s Scottish media and challenging any inaccuracies in them.
It’s been such an exciting, action-packed week for Scottish Labour since a dynamic and thrusting PPB launched the 2015 branch-office conference that we worried there might be a danger people had forgotten it already. So we’ve brought it back for a curtain call, in a version a bit more appropriate for what remains of their core vote.
This is amazing, readers. It’s an extract from this afternoon’s The Big Debate on Radio Scotland, in which a journalist – the BBC’s Gordon Brewer – finally gets round to asking someone from Scottish Labour how they can make the extra £500m they need to fund their tax-credits “policy” while keeping all taxes the same.
You might have to listen through a few times to get your head round it, because that really is what a grown woman actually tried to get away with in front of a live audience.
Spartan 117 on The Fast Track: “You have correctly identified the Professional Career Politician, the scourge of the current age.” Jul 1, 11:54
Spartan 117 on The Fast Track: “I’m sorry for your loss, NC. Condolences. I don’t think I could disagree with anything you’ve said there.” Jul 1, 11:52
Captain Caveman on The Fast Track: “I note you haven’t deigned to respond to my earlier critique as regards your misappropriation of Orwell despite his published…” Jul 1, 11:51
Iain Ross on The Fast Track: “The other significant issue is that, according to Mr Swinney, the two sums involved (c£460,000 embezzled by Murrell and c£660,000…” Jul 1, 11:50
Alf Baird on The Fast Track: ““Some of the reasons” We need only comprehend the root cause of all such events in a colonial society is…” Jul 1, 11:27
Northcode on The Fast Track: “Stop all the clocks… the stars are not wanted now; put out every one, pack up the moon and dismantle…” Jul 1, 11:18
Billie on The Fast Track: “Bumped in to an SNP councillor who I hadn’t seen for quote a while as I left the SNP about…” Jul 1, 10:55
Alf Baird on The Fast Track: “Yes James, Scots need to understand that “the devolved parliament to Scotland” is merely part of the machinery of colonial…” Jul 1, 10:52
James Che on The Fast Track: “Spartan 117. You are correct, Devolution had nothing to do with democracy in Scotland, it was about control that had…” Jul 1, 10:37
James Che on The Fast Track: “None of what I have posted is off topic of Stu’s post, or past posts, for the SNp corruption rests…” Jul 1, 10:04
Captain Caveman on The Fast Track: “@Hatey “Firm favourites of not a few Wingers!” Heh, indeed Hatey, the irony isn’t lost on me. 🙂” Jul 1, 10:01
Mark Beggan on The Fast Track: “You do know that you have to be actively seeking work. This doesn’t count.” Jul 1, 10:00
Captain Caveman on The Fast Track: ““Well hold on there Bald Eagle, have you been cut and pasting from AI again?” Well, duh, YL – that’ll…” Jul 1, 09:51
Captain Caveman on The Fast Track: ““… but do tell me how a people can begin to hold serious global power to account through political means…” Jul 1, 09:42
Spartan 117 on The Fast Track: “Correct. Devolution, as it was conceived, was nothing to do with improving democracy, it was about New Labour capitalising on…” Jul 1, 09:39
James Che on The Fast Track: “Three time this week the main stream news, after The outed keir Starmer the word and conversation on devolution has…” Jul 1, 09:22
sam on The Fast Track: “Nasty little fucker. You have contributed nothing to this site but abuse of others.” Jul 1, 09:19
Hatey McHateface on The Fast Track: “Don’t knock intersectional decolonised scissoring until you’ve read the time & motion studies that prove how it revilatises productivity in…” Jul 1, 09:01
James Che on Ping-Pong-Fiddle-Aye-No: “Stu, Those two entities of law certainly tried prosecution on Alex Salmond with less evidence and heresay including the evidence…” Jul 1, 08:57
Mark Beggan on The Fast Track: “A rock called Plymouth.” Jul 1, 08:56
Mark Beggan on The Fast Track: “This word salad was brought to you by Karen Wokenstein professor of intersectional decolonized scissoring at the University of Dundee.” Jul 1, 08:34
Mark Beggan on The Fast Track: “Lying in a Greenock hospital coughing your lungs out could may have felt a little like being on a raft…” Jul 1, 08:30
James Che on The Fast Track: “The one thing that Tony Blair and labour did for Scotland was devolution, The Scotland act. For what was once…” Jul 1, 08:24
Young Lochinvar on The Fast Track: “AI Dun No shit Einstein! Rather flies in the face though of why Dewar & co. fabricated Devolution as it…” Jul 1, 07:52
Aidan on The Fast Track: ““Scotland has for all my lifetime expressed a different political outlook to that of England, yet Scots have jist had…” Jul 1, 06:52
Young Lochinvar on The Fast Track: “HMcH Isn’t that a bit past your bedtime to be posting? Has matron been late on her rounds switching things…” Jul 1, 02:20
Cynicus on The Fast Track: “Tapadh leat, Fheargais.” Jul 1, 00:07
Hatey McHateface on The Fast Track: “So Orwell nearly drowned in an Orwellian whirlpool? An image worthy of Dali himself.” Jul 1, 00:01
Young Lochinvar on The Fast Track: “CC @ 6.22 Well hold on there Bald Eagle, have you been cut and pasting from AI again? That’s AI…” Jun 30, 23:14
