Last night we ran a piece about a story in last week’s Daily Record in which a Scottish Labour official was given free rein to make an extended political attack on the SNP in the guise of a “business student” from the University of the West of Scotland, without his Labour identity being revealed, on the flimsy basis of a petition about college cuts with a few hundred signatures.
As it happens, another UWS student also has a petition doing the rounds at the moment. But it got treated rather differently by the Scottish press.
Alert contributor Calum Ferguson tells us the first bookie to come out with odds for the 2016 Holyrood election is Ladbrokes. Fortune-making opportunities seem limited.
An alert reader brought our attention today to a Daily Record article that we’d missed on Friday, reporting how a Glasgow student had launched a petition bitterly attacking the Scottish Government over cuts to college places.
Despite having attracted only 500 signatures (and only 400 more in the following five days despite the Record helpfully linking to it), the petition was deemed newsworthy enough for a hefty polemic in which petition author Eunis Jassemi pulled no punches, repeatedly lashing the SNP in highly political terms. No counterquote was offered.
Mr Jassemi was described by the Record in the piece as a “business student” and a “former Hutcheson’s Grammar School pupil”, but we can only assume that they must have run out of room before they got to a rather more pertinent item on his CV.
Last night we highlighted the reaction from various right-wing columnists to the SNP’s torpedoing yesterday of Tory attempts to relax the laws on foxhunting in England and Wales. Today the same commentariat has turned its rage to thoughts of revenge, in the form of “English votes for English laws”.
And we’re confused, because we don’t know what this “England” they speak of is.
It seems safe to say that the SNP’s de facto defeat of the fox-torturing lobby today has riled the right-wing commentariat beyond their endurance. Unable to get their way and inflict a prolonged, agonising death on small animals for “sport”, Tory columnists have instead descended howling and bloodthirsty at pack strength on their readers.
As part of their tireless campaign against abuse and threats on the internet, the Mail’s ever-alert reporters will doubtless be wanting to run a major piece on the deputy leader of UKIP calling today on a widely-read website for Nicola Sturgeon to be killed.
No need to thank us for the tip-off, guys. All part of the service.
So this site is thrilled by the announcement from the SNP that they will, after much speculation in the media, vote against (and therefore likely condemn to defeat) the UK government’s plans to relax England’s fox-hunting ban to a point at which it would be de facto repealed entirely.
And not just because foxes are a lot cuter than Tories.
The Scottish Daily Mail today leads with a screaming banner headline announcing in its trademark style that, according to a poll it commissioned with Survation, Scots are massively opposed to any income tax rises when Holyrood eventually gets power over the rates under the new Scotland Bill.
And the reason that’s weird is that we commissioned a poll on the very same thing just days before, and got a dramatically different answer.
Yesterday we listed some of the nastier items from George Osborne’s horrifying 2015 budget that Labour had said they wouldn’t be opposing, including the public-sector payrise freeze, the reduction in the benefit cap and the slashing of child tax credit for families with more than two children.
Cynicus on Looking up at the stars: “Mark Beggan says: 17 March, 2026 at 4:39 pm “Maybe it was ST Brendan then.” ======== LOL Nice try, Mark…” Mar 18, 00:44
Geri on Looking up at the stars: “& who is he exactly? His party has FIVE MSPs. How many seats are list? FOUR. So they effectively have…” Mar 17, 23:33
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “Perhaps some of the money saved will be spent on trans. Be honest here, sarah. Who do you think is…” Mar 17, 23:04
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “Eh? Yousaf and his co-religionists allow pet dogs to suffer. Many of them would be happy to see all dogs…” Mar 17, 22:59
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “@Geri Liam McArthur says the system “has been failing dying Scots for too long” and that many will feel let…” Mar 17, 22:54
sarah on Looking up at the stars: “Interesting to see the SNP names, 37 for and 22 against. Swinney and Sturgeon against, Robertson for. But anyway, a…” Mar 17, 22:50
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “Election in May, x. Too close to the poll for the voters to develop the usual amnesia. They’ll bring back…” Mar 17, 22:47
Glenn Boyd on Looking up at the stars: “Notoriously Fuckwitted MSP Humza Yousaf just voted against the Assisted Dying Bill, joining forces with conservatives and religious maniacs. We…” Mar 17, 22:45
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: ““It doesn’t mean we want to spark up a euthanasia program for others” Naw? Are there two of you then,…” Mar 17, 22:43
George Ferguson on Looking up at the stars: “At last common sense returns to the Scottish Parliament. I recluse myself of Scottish Politics. Volunteering does more than anybody…” Mar 17, 22:30
agentx on Looking up at the stars: “MSPs have voted against the assisted dying legislation by 57 votes to 69 with one abstention.” Mar 17, 22:20
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “Nobody else seems to be interested, so I’ll ask. Who are the actual lobster fishermen in Scotland’s case? What’s taking…” Mar 17, 21:23
Geri on Looking up at the stars: “Agent Then that should be investigated because the NHS is available to everyone. Not rushing through death by algorithm. In…” Mar 17, 21:17
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “The voters of Scotland will punish them at the ballot box in May. Oh my aching sides 🙂” Mar 17, 21:16
agentx on Looking up at the stars: “One in three people died without adequate palliative care.” Mar 17, 20:54
agentx on Looking up at the stars: “MSP’s are elected to represent their constituencies. There have been a lot of very personal moving speeches but not one…” Mar 17, 20:38
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “Typical, eh? Sir Rowland Hill claimed to have invented the penny post in 1840. The Douglas beat him to it…” Mar 17, 20:29
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: ““They hanged Nazis for this shit” They certainly hanged the gas chambers operatives. In this digital age, they might just…” Mar 17, 20:23
sarah on Looking up at the stars: “Has anyone heard an MSP suggest that they ask the voters to decide this matter? It really is not appropriate…” Mar 17, 20:10
Young Lochinvar on Looking up at the stars: “A lot on tomorrow so might not be able to post, so I’ll post this a little early. Happy anniversary…” Mar 17, 19:59
Geri on Looking up at the stars: “Willie, The Eppy class & the tech Mafia have direct links to the Nazis. The apples didn’t fall far from…” Mar 17, 19:52
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “What about people who disagree with you, willie? Don’t you want them eliminated too? Man up and do it for…” Mar 17, 19:40
Geri on Looking up at the stars: “Agents Palliative care. A patient can choose to withdraw from treatment themselves. Palliative care makes the patient as comfortable as…” Mar 17, 19:33
Hatey McHateface on Looking up at the stars: “It’s not just Confused that has class, Geri. You’re hoaching with it too. Congrats on a truthful post, BTW. First…” Mar 17, 19:33
agentx on Looking up at the stars: “Scotland assisted dying bill live:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cx2grl77j47t#player” Mar 17, 19:31
willie on Looking up at the stars: “Yes Marie, some parents are quite unthoughtful, downright uncaring actually to hang on burning through their children’s inheritance by spending…” Mar 17, 19:26
Geri on Looking up at the stars: “Aye, Confused has class. My offer is still open.. I’d make a wee exception for you. I’d be doing ye…” Mar 17, 19:21
Marie on Looking up at the stars: “Correct Geri. The chronic sick and dying are a financial burden to (Western) governments. It’s in the financial interests of…” Mar 17, 19:08
agentx on Looking up at the stars: “Geri says:We already have a system in place. A patient can withdraw care themselves. —————————– Would you care to explain…” Mar 17, 19:02
