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Wings Over Scotland


An open goal 108

Posted on January 10, 2015 by

It’s like they’re actually setting these up for us.

murphylaw1

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A few not-very-good men 83

Posted on January 10, 2015 by

We’ve had some fun with the appointment of John McTernan as Scottish Labour’s new chief of staff this week. But he’s far from the only talent in branch manager Jim Murphy’s backroom team. Particularly alert readers may recall an obscure figure from the independence campaign by the name of Blair McDougall, who was little-seen in the last year of the debate but we think was the director of “Better Together”.

blairmcdougall22

It seems his modus operandi hasn’t changed much since the referendum.

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Business as usual 105

Posted on January 10, 2015 by

An unsurprising result.

legaldecent

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Ontae plums 65

Posted on January 10, 2015 by

slabslot

When history didn’t happen 244

Posted on January 09, 2015 by

Below is a clip from today’s “Morning Call” on BBC Radio Scotland. Speaking (from 16m 24s on the full show) are SNP MSP Mark McDonald, presenter Kaye Adams and Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald. There are a couple of noteworthy moments.

A caller named “George” had rung in concerned that the SNP might be giving up on their goal of independence, and Adams invited Mark McDonald to set his mind at rest. Here’s what happened in the next three minutes.

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The right kind of people 87

Posted on January 09, 2015 by

Scottish Labour’s new chief of staff this afternoon:

jmct

Hmm, wonder who “the right people” are?

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Scottish Labour For Dummies 2015 133

Posted on January 09, 2015 by

In the light of the announcement of Scottish Labour’s new chief of staff, we thought it might be worthwhile to summarise some of his views in one handy reference guide, for the benefit of left-wing Labour voters who may have voted Yes in the referendum but are now considering whether to return to the party this May.

mcternan1

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Reaching out to Yes 126

Posted on January 09, 2015 by

Alert readers may recall that since the election of Jim Murphy as Scottish Labour branch office manager he’s barely gone a moment without promising to “reach out” to Yes voters. Last month he even pledged that he’d employ some in his team if he won the Labour job.

murphyreach

We imagine they’ll be fair hammering on his door after the latest addition to his crew, because today’s Herald reveals that Murphy’s new chief of staff, and joining “Better Together” director Blair McDougall among Jim’s backroom boys, is to be our old pal John “there will be no referendum” McTernan.

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They just can’t help it 115

Posted on January 08, 2015 by

“Wait, this story’s entirely true. Do something, Torcuil.”

fivedogs

“Sorted, boss.”

The goldfish principle 245

Posted on January 08, 2015 by

It is, we’ve remarked before, often difficult to satirise Scottish Labour, because it’s hard to think of anything more fatuous, transparently hypocritical or just plain idiotic than the things they actually say for real. The party’s recent demand that the Scottish Government should set up a “resilience fund” to cushion the blow of falls in oil prices – or as everyone else on Earth usually calls it, an “oil fund” – is only the latest example.

bailliefund1

There are just five months between the two tweets above. Yet Labour seemingly believes that the Scottish public will already have completely forgotten that the party spent most of the last two years telling Scots an oil fund was a mad, impossible idea.

But it’s even more ludicrous than it sounds.

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Nous sommes avec vous, nos amis 167

Posted on January 07, 2015 by

hamishcharlie

Drawing a blank 71

Posted on January 07, 2015 by

We’ve got nothing today, readers. We don’t want to turn into Wings Over Jim Murphy, but otherwise the Scottish political scene is a bit tumbleweedy. Tell us something interesting that we should be covering. Or just a fun fact, or a joke, or anything.

In the light of the absolute horror at Charlie Hebdo today, it’s either that or we’re going to start running cartoons of Mohammed on principle.

shawtoon

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    • Wullie B on The shifting sands of memory: “You do realise that no note over £5 whether printed in Scotland or England is legal tender dont youMay 22, 22:29
    • Aidan on The shifting sands of memory: “Great news – I’ll be in Estonia, but can you link me to where I can watch the hearing online,…May 22, 22:14
    • Alf Baird on The shifting sands of memory: “Thanks James, I recollect this aspect may be included in the ‘markers of colonialism’ but I will check to see…May 22, 22:02
    • robertkknight on The shifting sands of memory: “So tell me, Agent X, how many battered (second) wives do you recon have been warned against leaving their abusive…May 22, 21:46
    • sarah on The shifting sands of memory: “Well done, Salvo/Liberation.scot, and the SSRG team. Having a “big” legal eagle change his mind after 59 years will wake…May 22, 21:42
    • Hatey McHateface on The shifting sands of memory: ““after they clearly lost Indyref” Of course, Barbie, the Yes campaign won the Indy Referendum. The behaviour of the SNP…May 22, 21:05
    • Hatey McHateface on The shifting sands of memory: “The Romans were all gone from Britain, not just Scotland, by 410. The Scots started coming over from Ireland to…May 22, 20:39
    • Geri on The shifting sands of memory: “The massive fly in yer ointment is that the Union between Scotland & England wasn’t territorial. What Scotland entered the…May 22, 20:38
    • agent x on The shifting sands of memory: “Ah so Scotland is responsible for the evil British Empire. “The British Empire, at its peak, encompassed a vast network…May 22, 20:24
    • Anthem on The shifting sands of memory: “Fair point.May 22, 20:18
    • Scot Finlayson on The shifting sands of memory: “The English needed our soldiers to win themselves an Empire, the Scottish Highlander was known to be the greatest fighting…May 22, 20:06
    • Hatey McHateface on The shifting sands of memory: “Haud oan noo, Bob. The regulars on here don’t like “former states of the Soviet Union” “determining their own path”.…May 22, 19:34
    • Hatey McHateface on The shifting sands of memory: “According to that article, HMS Glasgow will be followed by another 7 Clyde-built ships of the same design. Looks like…May 22, 19:27
    • Marie on The shifting sands of memory: “Yep – merely crumbs off the table – kept to placate elite Scots in the day and used to hoodwink…May 22, 19:22
    • agent x on The shifting sands of memory: ““Did any of the above prevent the people of the Republic of Ireland determining their own path? I didn’t think…May 22, 19:18
    • James Jones on Just a couple more shots: “‘In law, people are either male or female.’ Also in real life, in nature. You can choose to play-act like…May 22, 19:04
    • Hatey McHateface on The shifting sands of memory: ““You have problems matey” Not as many or as serious as you have Barbie, if your post is anything to…May 22, 19:03
    • robertkknight on The shifting sands of memory: “Did any of the above prevent the people of the Republic of Ireland determining their own path? I didn’t think…May 22, 18:50
    • Aidan on The shifting sands of memory: “@Mia – there are many reasons why Scotland cannot qualify for NSGT status, but the most definitive one is the…May 22, 18:44
    • agent x on The shifting sands of memory: ““The Duchess of Rothesay officially named a new Royal Navy warship in Glasgow with a traditional statement – as she…May 22, 18:20
    • Mia on The shifting sands of memory: ““but this whole Salvo thing is a total dead end” If you are so convinced it is a dead end,…May 22, 18:08
    • James Cheyne on The shifting sands of memory: “Alf, Do you know if Salvo have copied the Statement by present Westminster parliament that a debate was held by…May 22, 18:01
    • Mia on The shifting sands of memory: ““In which case the people behind it will go silent on this particular initiative” Nonsense. There is absolute no reason…May 22, 17:53
    • agent x on The shifting sands of memory: “Can I just check something please? When Scotland decides to walk away from the Union on Monday morning will they…May 22, 17:34
    • Northcode on The shifting sands of memory: ““It does matter how it came about” I do believe you are correct, James. But how the last three centuries…May 22, 17:32
    • Aidan on The shifting sands of memory: “The hour is 17:04 and Geri has been on the Buckie (probably since 8am). Which despotic regime or famine-inflicted region…May 22, 17:29
    • Geri on The shifting sands of memory: ““A response has been received which says “thank you for your submission, this is not a matter within our remit…May 22, 17:04
    • James Cheyne on The shifting sands of memory: “Northcode. It does matter how it came about, due to the present monarch being the monarch of England and the…May 22, 16:59
    • James Cheyne on The shifting sands of memory: “Except the Scots did not merge, or become part of Westminsters Great Britain because Westminster state there was no treaty…May 22, 16:37
    • Aidan on The shifting sands of memory: “Yes, so here’s the thing, I think that either; a) no response has been received because this has gone into…May 22, 16:27
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