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Wings Over Scotland


Keeping the fire burning 66

Posted on December 12, 2024 by

Since it was founded back in November 2011, Wings Over Scotland has been solely financed by its readers. The site has never carried any advertising, we have no secret corporate backers, everything we do is funded by transparent voluntary donations and subscriptions, mostly of a few pounds a month.

We have the freedom to write what we believe, thanks to you, our readers. And since those earliest days, opponents have tried to end that freedom by blocking our funding.

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The Wage Thief 385

Posted on December 09, 2024 by

6 November 2024 was a normal sitting day in the Scottish Parliament, so we shouldn’t be surprised that Nicola Sturgeon spent the previous evening in London, watching a special screening of a dreadful BBC Three sitcom about – of course – drag queens.

But remarkably, though she must have been puffy-eyed and weary, the 6th was one of the few days when she did actually manage to turn up at Holyrood to do her job.

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Take your partners 163

Posted on December 07, 2024 by

The New Britain 562

Posted on December 03, 2024 by

So things are getting pretty strange.

Polling in Scotland, the UK and Wales in the last few days has shown Great Britain taking a fairly heavy swerve to the right after just five months of Sir Keir Starmer’s government. Labour now lead Reform (who have five seats to Labour’s 411) by just three points in the UK and are even more remarkably now in THIRD place in Wales, a country where the party has won every single election for over 100 years.

Scotland, meanwhile, is heading for a hung Parliament in 2026 in which – as this site has been telling its readers for the last year and a half – the only possibility of a stable administration will be an SNP-Labour coalition.

We live, as they say, in interesting times.

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What Went On 468

Posted on November 28, 2024 by

The proceedings at the Supreme Court this week were a tough follow even if you could get the court’s abominably bad livestream to work. They’re all archived here now, but non-lawyers will probably glaze over quickly during the nine hours of intense legalese.

We’re not allowed to clip up any illustrative sections, on pain of possible contempt of court, so perhaps the best way to explain the key parts of what happened in a vaguely comprehensible way is by showing you some commentary from social media.

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A Personal Best For Kezia 255

Posted on November 25, 2024 by

Credit where it’s due:

17 months is the quickest she’s ever caught up with us.

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The Unbargain Bin 215

Posted on November 23, 2024 by

Telling the truth by mistake 73

Posted on November 22, 2024 by

The Scottish Government has finally, and reluctantly, published its submission for next week’s crucial Supreme Court hearing on the definition of the word “woman”.

Many expert observers have already noted that the document flatly contradicts the Scottish Government’s previous repeated and strenuous assertions that a Gender Recognition Certificate confers “no new rights” on trans people, and have published extremely detailed assessments which are frankly all but impenetrable to non-lawyers but basically conclude that the Scottish Government’s position is a mess.

Our favourite line, however, is this one.

So if you’re obliged to have a 50/50 sex balance in your boardroom, you can do it by hiring a man with a GRC saying he’s legally female, or by hiring a woman.

We believe that the young folk nowadays call that a “self-own”.

The Long Unravelling 399

Posted on November 18, 2024 by

You’ve got to admit, that’s a zinger.

Craig Whyte is a man who knows all about financial doom looming on the horizon of a once-powerful institution. But it doesn’t take an expert with lived experience to spot what’s coming down the line for the SNP.

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The Way Forward 212

Posted on November 17, 2024 by

As a lifelong political geek and former SNP and Alba Party member, I’ve spent years supporting Scotland’s independence movement. However, over the last few years, I’ve watched the campaign (as opposed to support for independence) wither away. Being a Scottish nationalist has become increasingly disheartening, like watching someone you love succumb to a slow, debilitating illness. In frustration, I switched off from my homeland and turned my focus to the drama of US politics.

Over the last three years I immersed myself in it, watching both left and right-wing outlets. I became so hooked and invested that I jumped on a plane to Washington DC for the 2024 election. I canvassed with DC Democrats in rural Pennsylvania (that’s me third from the left in the pic below), attended Kamala Harris’s concession rally, and went to Trump’s only watch party in DC.

My journey led me to believe that Scotland’s independence campaign could learn a great deal from Trump’s victory and the Democrats’ failure.

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The People You Most Suspected 364

Posted on November 12, 2024 by

We’ll give you three guesses as to the highly controversial and extravagantly taxpayer-funded organisation that has its rainbow fingerprints all over this story, readers.

But you’re going to have two to spare.

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The Show Goes On 256

Posted on November 09, 2024 by

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    • agent X on The Joker: “Front page of The National online COMMENT Photo of Trump. Mhari Black: The powerful are taking money from the poor…Feb 8, 11:48
    • Captain Caveman on The smirking scorpion: “Being told “no one likes you” by you is beyond ironic, love. Imbecile.Feb 8, 11:45
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    • Captain Caveman on The Joker: “Scotland seemed to do quite well for itself for very significant periods post-1707. I will concede, though, lately not so…Feb 8, 11:39
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    • gregor on Seeding the briar patch: “BBC demon is always ‘at it’ fleecing the public, regardless. The beep is not worthy, nor is it capable of…Feb 8, 11:22
    • Captain Caveman on The Joker: “Because both the SNP and Labour are a bunch of woke- obsessed, useless morons who’ve made an absolute mess of…Feb 8, 11:20
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    • stonefree on The Joker: “You’re probabbly not wrongFeb 8, 11:04
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    • stonefree on The Joker: “There are a few former SNP members signed up How many? Couldn’t guess. Small number due to a lack of…Feb 8, 11:00
    • Ted on The Joker: “And Wales and England. It’s on its way to 200000 members maybe even by Sunday night. Phenomenal movement.Feb 8, 10:58
    • Ronnie on The Joker: “That is pure genius, but so true.Feb 8, 10:58
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