This is a wretchedly boring time to be writing about politics for a living, readers. Parliamentarians in Edinburgh and London haven’t technically checked out for the summer yet – Holyrood still has a month to go before taking two months off, while Westminster is currently having a couple of weeks off for “Whitsun”, whatever the hell that is, before coming back for a month and a half then sodding off until September.
But really they’re already at the “bringing board games in” stage of term, and both the elected chambers and the media already have their eyes on the beach, which probably explains why we’re being punted drivel like this.
Even if we must afford the graphics team some grudging kudos for the unicoo.
Wait, has Nicola Sturgeon died? We didn’t see anything on the news.
Because there are only a limited number of possible reasonable explanations for why police wanting to find out what Nicola Sturgeon knew about something would ask people who aren’t Nicola Sturgeon.
When I was a boy at Balbardie Primary School in Bathgate in the mid-70s, football was banned in the playground. Of course we were all fitba-daft laddies, so we sought ways around the prohibition. Occasionally someone would bring in a tennis ball, but those were difficult to control in school shoes and also apt to fly over the wall of the outdoor toilet block if somebody caught one sweetly on the volley.
So most playtimes somebody would produce a tin of Pepsi or Irn-Bru or Cresta, chug the contents, stand the empty container on its end and stomp sharply on it, producing something more akin to an ice-hockey puck that would serve for our kickabout.
But even after being skelped and scudded around a concrete playground into stone walls for 20 minutes, that can was still in better shape at the end of our game than the one the SNP have been kicking down the road since 2016.
The SNP now seem to be involved in some sort of competition where they dare each other to come up with the most blatant insult to their own members and/or the wider independence movement and see just how much they can get people to put up with.
First up was this drivel:
Humza Yousaf is leader of the SNP, a political party whose defining purpose – arguably its SOLE real purpose – is the pursuit of Scottish independence, but his “vision for Scotland” didn’t include a single mention of it.
Instead, Yousaf intends to spend the next three years on “equality”, “opportunity” and “community”, three meaningless buzzwords which every political party on Earth would claim to be in favour of. He might as well have identified his key values as kittens, lollipops and hugs.
Once again, we’re dismayed to report that we called it right. Because last night SNP MSP Mairi McAllan, officially representing the party on Question Time, told a weary audience in Fort William that that was precisely the case.
And readers, if ever a policy has been tested in battle and found wanting, it’s that one.
Just over a year ago, Shona Robison – then the Cabinet Secretary For Social Justice, now the Deputy First Minister – told the Scottish Parliament this:
There now follow some quotes from the media regarding the case of Andrew Miller, aka Amy George, who yesterday admitted the kidnap and repeated sexual abuse of an 11-year-old girl at his home in Galashiels earlier this year.
Jay on How it happened: “Where is the reference to your source for quotes in your previous comment? Please do not waste readers’ time. Too…” Nov 8, 19:22
Dan on How it happened: “Nae bother, the same names have caught a few folk out over the years.” Nov 8, 19:16
Dan on How it happened: “A few weeks on from “the site upgrade”… Serious question, how is everyone finding trying to follow comments? It’s a…” Nov 8, 19:13
John Cleary on How it happened: “Ah. Thank you Dan” Nov 8, 19:01
Tinto Chiel on How it happened: “I agree, Mia, and we have no freedom and democracy because we have no free press. The MSM are merely…” Nov 8, 18:56
Dan on How it happened: “It’s a different Liz Lloyd.” Nov 8, 18:54
Jay on How it happened: “hey Steve, what about some answers to my response to your previous comment? Also, considering that Skip NC has taken…” Nov 8, 18:49
panda paws on How it happened: “Thanks Skip – It though the “or” in my sentence made it clear that was an alternative route to amending…” Nov 8, 18:44
Dan on How it happened: “Welcome to Unionism kidz, embrace and support the fuckers that ran down and sold off so many of our industries…” Nov 8, 18:41
Skip_NC on How it happened: “The 2017 GE in Scotland confirms the 2015 election was rigged, which confirms that the 2010 election was rigged. Obviously…” Nov 8, 18:30
John Cleary on How it happened: “Sorry to go off topic, Rev, but the story today is that Liz Lloyd is going back to Number Ten…” Nov 8, 18:29
Jay on How it happened: “Correction: Dunning Motion not Resolution” Nov 8, 18:11
gregor on How it happened: “Elon Musk: “You are the media now”: https://archive.ph/vLbEC” Nov 8, 18:09
Dan on How it happened: “C’mon Aidan, ffs it’s Friday evening, mix it up a little from all this dry legal shizzle. We’re currently in…” Nov 8, 18:08
Aidan on How it happened: “Sure – happy to, I think I can say two things; Firstly, in law more recent legislation takes precedence over…” Nov 8, 17:43
Dan on How it happened: “Holyroodstoun – Quality “Government” policy implementation. Turn the heating up to 11 0.11 The re-wilding of the taxpayer funded solar…” Nov 8, 17:41
Jay on How it happened: “On my reading, Aidan referred to “misspelled English words” in the negative.” Nov 8, 17:40
Jay on How it happened: “It would be helpful if Alf could find time and patience to deliver expositions in both Scots and English language.…” Nov 8, 17:37
Graeme on How it happened: “Well this gives me food for thought when it comes to voting to avoid a Lab/SNP coalition after the next…” Nov 8, 17:28
robertkknight on How it happened: ““Nicola Sturgeon to headline comedy festival show” She’s already done that has she not? She was SNP Leader after all.…” Nov 8, 17:21
Jay on How it happened: “If the Parliament in Westminster has unlimited power to legislate in Scotland then there could be little else as better…” Nov 8, 17:20
robertkknight on How it happened: “To paraphrase George Foulkes… “Yes, but they’re doing it deliberately”.” Nov 8, 17:14
gregor on How it happened: “Fakestream media doesn’t hold any true power – You/we do (yawn)… The Umpteenth Time: The New Kind Of People: Look…” Nov 8, 17:14
Jay on How it happened: “Aidan maybe is a Unionist (at present, I have no idea)but to ignore him, and/or what he writes, could be…” Nov 8, 17:08
Jay on How it happened: “Last night, using the Legislation website, I read the Claim of Right Act 1689. I lack legal education/training and its…” Nov 8, 17:01
Jay on How it happened: “Who cares for theDemocrats? What about everyone and everything liable to suffer?” Nov 8, 15:06
Alf Baird on How it happened: “That’s maybe why it is helpful to consider postcolonial theory, because it is based on ‘practice’ and hence actual evidence…” Nov 8, 14:56
Jay on How it happened: “Genuinely fascinating. Thank you.” Nov 8, 14:53
Chas on How it happened: “It is far simpler than what you suggest. The SNP are simply incompetent in everything they touch.” Nov 8, 14:45
Jay on How it happened: “Yes, already found that, Acronyms are not my specialist subject. I do not know Polari, either.” Nov 8, 14:42