We’ve had to illustrate this piece with a tweet from our old chum Duncan Hothersall, because at the time of writing the Scottish Labour account on Twitter has no mention of Labour’s “five point plan”, and nor does the branch office’s website.
And the reason for the absence of any more information is probably that the “plan” is another example of a Labour policy that looks like a tasty boiled egg until you crack its shell and discover that there’s nothing inside.
Respect to John MacKay of STV, who on last night’s Scotland Tonight asked Labour MSP James Kelly the question this site has called for about whether Labour would stand aside and let the Tories rule if the latter were the largest party after May’s election, but Labour had enough seats to win a confidence vote and form the government with backing from the SNP and/or other parties.
Kelly, unsurprisingly, flapped and blustered and totally evaded it. But then we doubt he has the authority to make the tea in Scottish Labour, let alone speak for the party on key policy issues. If the question isn’t put repeatedly by all of the media to more senior Labour figures until an answer is produced, we’ll be wanting to know why.
Here’s Ed Miliband, giving a speech this morning to literally at least 20 Labour MPs, Labour MSPs, journalists and possibly a stray member of the public who accidentally walked through the wrong door in Clydebank, a place where Labour leaders used to address gatherings of thousands.
Unusually, Miliband took a few questions from the hacks, all of whom promptly wasted the opportunity by lobbing completely pointless softballs about coalitions and deals, all of which (a) have been asked a hundred times already, (b) were rendered moot by Alex Salmond on the Marr show yesterday, and (c) were only ever going to be batted away non-committally.
So here’s an actually worthwhile one they can ask instead next time.
We have to give Jim Murphy credit – on this week’s Sunday Politics he started off with the subtle, misleading but technically-accurate version of Labour’s line about the “biggest party forming the government”, which involves making the true but irrelevant observation that in the past it’s usually been the case. (Mainly because UK elections almost always give the biggest party a comfortable majority.)
But it only took a couple of minutes of questioning for the Scottish branch manager to lose his cool and resort to the comprehensively debunked flat-out lie again.
We thought you’d enjoy this clip from this morning’s Andrew Marr Show, readers. It came after a very sensible interview, in which Salmond had calmly and reasonably laid out the SNP’s view on events should there be a hung parliament this May with the former First Minister’s party holding the balance of power.
Tory minister Anna Soubry seems to be experiencing a degree of regret about having begged Scots to stay in the UK. The body language says as much as the words.
The Daily Record, still smarting from the humiliation of being forced to very quietly admit it told its readers a £20 billion lie about the Smith Commission late last year, has been in a demented overdrive trying to provoke Yes/SNP supporters this week.
It started on Tuesday with an echo of the paper’s infamous “Vow” cover, clearly aimed at winding up its detractors but which passed without much comment as social media users merely raised a brief weary eyebrow and got on with their day. But then the Record started turning up the volume.
Aidan on The quality of mercy: “And yet here you are Alf, indulging in the oppressive language of the coloniser and therefore condemning your fellow Scot…” Apr 6, 05:00
Cynicus on The quality of mercy: “Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh says: 5 April, 2026 at 1:14 pm HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO G.F. Handel arr. J. Caponegro: Hail The…” Apr 6, 01:23
Young Lochinvar on The quality of mercy: ““Tartan Tories” Wasn’t that the invention created by “Scotch” Labour to hide the fact it was THE Labour Party that…” Apr 6, 00:35
Young Lochinvar on The quality of mercy: “Beggars Calm down “old boy”!! No need to rant 🙂 You appear to be dragging a disproportionate amount of Oswald…” Apr 6, 00:08
Mark Beggan on The quality of mercy: “1981. The Tartan Tories was what they were called then.” Apr 6, 00:04
Young Lochinvar on The quality of mercy: “Jay Good luck getting a coherent non-nazi reply..” Apr 5, 23:38
George Ferguson on The quality of mercy: “I was trying to remember when I last walked up Carlton Hill in support of Scottish Independence. I have landed…” Apr 5, 23:37
Mark Beggan on The quality of mercy: “That’s very interesting Jay you lunatic.” Apr 5, 21:28
Jay on The quality of mercy: “Evening Mr.Beggan. For decades there has been a ridiculous useage of the terms ‘Left’, ‘Right’ and ‘Centre’ which are rarely…” Apr 5, 20:49
Alf Baird on The quality of mercy: ““The residue of colonialism has deep roots” Yes, so long as the colonized native elite crave the colonizers culture and…” Apr 5, 20:03
Dan on The quality of mercy: “Such is the fragile vanity of the US Administration, one could easily envisage them kicking off a war with Denmark…” Apr 5, 18:47
TURABDIN on The quality of mercy: “AMERICA & allies have a rather big problem….and it’s not located in west Asia. What a collection toadies those allies…” Apr 5, 18:29
Mark Beggan on The quality of mercy: “I was playing the Smiths debut album the other night. Classic. Then today one of my neighbours said he heard…” Apr 5, 16:54
Mark Beggan on The quality of mercy: “And what are you going to do about it? Let me tell you. Nothing.” Apr 5, 16:45
Mark Beggan on The quality of mercy: “You can’t even stand a candidate for the Scottish elections. You are in no position to demand anything. Repeating this…” Apr 5, 16:42
Mark Beggan on The quality of mercy: “You are going to have problems getting all that on just on banner.” Apr 5, 15:54
Aidan on The quality of mercy: “Things have got so bad that we’ve had to deploy our secret weapon “James Cheyne” to bore and distract everyone…” Apr 5, 14:46
TURABDIN on The quality of mercy: “INDIA still wrestles as to the appropriateness of English dress and language in law courts. The Chief Justice of Kolkata…” Apr 5, 14:20
Dan on The quality of mercy: “How “GERS” worked in India. https://yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com/2021/08/18/how-gers-worked-in-india/” Apr 5, 13:59
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The quality of mercy: “Dr Shashi Tharoor – Looking Back at the British Raj in India (Edinburgh University 2017) www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB5ykS-_-CI” Apr 5, 13:22
Northcode on The quality of mercy: ““…The resolution concerned the slave trade, in which Scots were complicit…”| In which SOME Scots were complicit as opposed to…” Apr 5, 13:19
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The quality of mercy: “HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO G.F. Handel arr. J. Caponegro: Hail The Conquering Hero, from Judas Maccabaeus, HWV 63 First performance…” Apr 5, 13:14
TURABDIN on The quality of mercy: “Cooperation with British Colonialism in India, an Overview During the British colonial period in India, many Indians, especially from the…” Apr 5, 12:26
James on The quality of mercy: “Northy; didn’t you know; according to Yoon Trolls like “factchecker” -who have never “checked” a “fact” in their entire existence-…” Apr 5, 12:25
Northcode on The quality of mercy: ““Jesus of Nazareth” or “Jesus, son of Joseph” or “Christ Jesus” or “Jesus The Christ” or just that familiar plain…” Apr 5, 12:25
Northcode on The quality of mercy: ““As of March 2026, the UN General Assembly has not formally declared colonialism IN TOTO a crime against humanity,…” I…” Apr 5, 11:55
factchecker on The quality of mercy: “A simple internet search shows that “As of March 2026, the UN General Assembly has not formally declared colonialism in…” Apr 5, 11:13
TURABDIN on The quality of mercy: “When talk & reason fail. Frantz FANON’s Perspective on Violence The Role of Violence in Decolonization Frantz Fanon, a prominent…” Apr 5, 10:53
Alf Baird on The quality of mercy: ““Colonisation of Scotland since 1707” According to the UN colonialism is a scourge and a crime against humanity, which must…” Apr 5, 10:27
