The world's most-read Scottish politics website

Wings Over Scotland


If you want to know the facts 197

Posted on May 02, 2024 by

…just read Wings Over Scotland, folks.

Read the rest of this entry →

Volkssturm John 414

Posted on April 29, 2024 by

In the dying days of World War 2, as Berlin crumbled to rubble under Russian bombs and rockets, the Nazis played a desperate last card in the shape of the Volkssturm, an ad hoc fighting force primarily comprised of old men, invalided veterans and those not deemed fit for normal military service. (As most of those were already dead.)

They were rounded up and sent off to the front (usually only a few hundred yards away) in their civilian clothes, armed with whatever odds and sods of weaponry could be scrabbled together – most commonly the one-shot Panzerfaust anti-tank grenade, as seen in the pic above – and invariably slaughtered in the streets by the disbelieving battalions of the Red Army, because it didn’t matter to Hitler whether they lived or died.

And here we are again.

Read the rest of this entry →

The Feral Ferret 117

Posted on April 29, 2024 by

So there it is. In a massive, humiliating and abrupt reverse, the Scottish Greens have announced that they’ll support the Scottish Government – still led for the foreseeable future by Humza Yousaf – in this week’s confidence motion.

Shockingly enough, the debate about the Greens’ principles, intellectual consistency and integrity was an extremely brief one. Faced with the loss of their relevance and influence, they crumbled like month-old carrot cake and rushed their cards onto the table before the SNP had time to do any thinking.

Any hope Kate Forbes might have had of leading the SNP just evaporated, and so did any hope of grown-up government between now and 2026. The SNP will now spend the next two years as pathetic, grovelling puppets, doing whatever the Greens want as long as the paycheques and pension contributions keep rolling in.

It’s a tragic demise for a party that just a couple of years ago still crushed all before it in Scottish politics. But that’s showbiz, folks.

The Twist 67

Posted on April 29, 2024 by

So Humza Yousaf has resigned, as we told you on Thursday night he would.

But there was one interesting line in his farewell speech.

Read the rest of this entry →

Marking Time 115

Posted on April 28, 2024 by

We don’t really have very much to add to our analysis of yesterday. Sunday’s papers and politics shows have just confirmed our view of where things stand.

But for those whose heads are spinning, let’s see if we can make it simpler.

Read the rest of this entry →

The Makings Of Men 147

Posted on April 27, 2024 by

We apologise for making you look at Ross Greer’s face on a weekend.

But what he said to the Holyrood Sources podcast yesterday is important.

Read the rest of this entry →

An Embarrassment Of Riches 49

Posted on April 27, 2024 by

The Labyrinth Of Stupidity 142

Posted on April 26, 2024 by

It’s probably as good an illustration of the madness currently engulfing Scottish politics as anything that the most unusual suspect, Anas Sarwar, may have just – temporarily at least – saved Humza Yousaf’s job.

And although our head hurts already, we’ll try to explain why.

Read the rest of this entry →

Here You Go Again 92

Posted on April 26, 2024 by

We’ll make this short, because we’ve had a long day. Wings is told by a very reliable source that there’s ANOTHER emergency Cabinet meeting scheduled for tomorrow morning, which at least means we get to use this image now.

So here’s the “exclusive” you’ll be getting from Paul Hutcheon seven hours from now.

Read the rest of this entry →

Fanny Dancing 101

Posted on April 25, 2024 by

Oh, wait, scratch everything.

Because this guy’s just wasting everybody’s time.

Read the rest of this entry →

The Asking Of The Question 93

Posted on April 25, 2024 by

At FMQs today, Douglas Ross announced that he was putting down a motion of no confidence in the Scottish Government in the wake of the collapse of the Bute House agreement. That creates an enormously interesting situation, because the arithmetic of Parliament is extremely finely balanced, and particularly in the light of Patrick Harvie’s subsequent contribution.

In short, what it means is that the future of the government hangs on Ash Regan.

Read the rest of this entry →

The People We Don’t Want 94

Posted on April 25, 2024 by

We tweeted this last night as a teaser for our big exclusive. (Which is now hilariously being claimed by Paul Hutcheon of the Daily Record seven hours later.)

And it does now seem to be the case that the news is that the SNP are ending the Bute House Agreement and kicking out the Greens before the Greens do it first.

And what that tells us, for a starter, is that the SNP’s once-legendary skill in news management really is now well and truly on fire, as in “bin”.

Read the rest of this entry →

  • About

    Wings Over Scotland is a thing that exists.

    Stats: 6,958 Posts, 1,247,604 Comments

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Tags

  • Recent Comments

    • Alf Baird on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Aye Northcode, instead of “a loud, symbolic objection from the independence movement” all we got was Swinney singing the colonizer’s…Jul 24, 10:44
    • James on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “What a Prick.Jul 24, 10:22
    • willie on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “And whilst we are reflecting on the new Lord it might be interesting to reflect on the family history. Anas…Jul 24, 10:21
    • willie on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Sarwar follows a well trodden path of nominal Scots who get picked to be unelected lords and masters. Who in…Jul 24, 09:43
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Thanks for watching it on our behalf, Northy. I trust you’ll continue to put in the shifts and report back…Jul 24, 09:27
    • Andrea on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “I understand what you are saying, but wouldn’t you jump at the opportunity to get away from holyrood? It must…Jul 24, 09:25
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “@Xaracen Have you checked the status of the England-Scotland border and for how long that has been no more than…Jul 24, 09:22
    • Northcode on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Yesterday offered a striking sight: the remnants of the British Empire gathering to celebrate their shared colonial inheritance. And what…Jul 24, 09:14
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Odd that you continue to lump Eastern Europeans in with the Africans. I’ve never noticed much of the Sharia, stabby…Jul 24, 09:14
    • Xaracen on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “factchecker said: “The Act specifies the creation of a unitary country, not a partnership of two.” Nonsense! Since neither kingdom…Jul 24, 08:57
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Aye, sam, we’re in the 21st century now. It’s ludicrously unrealistic to expect that hospitals should be able to count…Jul 24, 08:39
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: ““Post colonial theory is of no help here” Death to the heretic!!! It’s the only language he’ll understand. Talking of…Jul 24, 08:32
    • sam on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Factchecker “Regarding piss poor management of resources etc, I agree – but it’s equally incompetent relative to England.” Regarding the…Jul 24, 08:22
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “@Aidan The CM blog is where the antisemites hang out. Although Robin McAlpine is not averse to donning the tea…Jul 24, 08:22
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Prepare for a shock, Alf. BOO!!! I’ll go organise the clean up for you.Jul 24, 08:15
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “I listened to Swinney’s sad interview on BBC R4 this morning. The interviewer was struggling to hide his frustration and…Jul 24, 08:10
    • Aidan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Now that he’s on pre-mod (I expect) he’ll go off and haunt some other forum.Jul 23, 23:15
    • robertkknight on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “His King’s Colours didn’t go down too well either, with the Scots deciding upon their own design, which was contrary…Jul 23, 23:12
    • Alf Baird on Ain’t it funny how things change?: ““I’m every bit as much a Sovereign Scot as you.” In a colonial society there are plenty of assimilated natives…Jul 23, 22:41
    • Angus on Ain’t it funny how things change?: ““Ain’t it funny how things change?” Ain’t it also funny how things never change? Labour has been promising to abolish…Jul 23, 22:35
    • Captain Caveman on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Heh, oh really… Well, I’d “knock it on the head” and quit whilst you’re (self evidently) behind, Confused. 🙂Jul 23, 22:23
    • Confused on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “EFTA came up, in the context of GDP/capita – the small, rich countries club – but you realise evil never…Jul 23, 22:23
    • Xaracen on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “A, B, C, and E don’t mean anything to you, Aidan, and they don’t have to. They did mean something…Jul 23, 22:10
    • Confused on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “you’re a bit of a pedant, and prone to miss the point (like some others round here, the reading age…Jul 23, 22:05
    • Confused on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “sure www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5FbYBiJiuA caveman, you’re the kind of turnip a bash on the head might knock some sense intoJul 23, 22:01
    • Confused on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Main – the mobile gas van is on route number 6 000 000 as any fule knoJul 23, 21:59
    • sam on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Auld enemy. Different language,they didnae ken. Deid Mum. Divine Right was right up their parliamentary noses. On the plus side…Jul 23, 21:28
    • diabloandco on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “I see Queen Camilla is thoroughly enjoying the opening ceremony!!Jul 23, 21:21
    • Aidan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “A, B and C don’t mean anything but E is interesting, what proportion of Scots had the vote in 1707…Jul 23, 21:18
    • Cynicus on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Alf Baird says: 22 July, 2026 at 4:31 pm There is a long history of elite Scots selling out their…Jul 23, 21:00
  • A tall tale



↑ Top