The world's most-read Scottish politics website

Wings Over Scotland


Tory Cabinet visits Scotland 63

Posted on February 25, 2014 by

EXCLUSIVE FOOTAGE:

Bad news rapidly improves 112

Posted on February 24, 2014 by

A story from Reuters tonight:

“A majority of FTSE 100 chairmen oppose Scottish independence as they fear splitting up would be bad for British business and dilute the UK’s economic influence”

Ooft. How big is this majority of the chairmen of the 100 leading companies, then?

“The poll by executive search firm Korn Ferry found 65 percent of chairmen of 32 FTSE 100 companies said it would be bad for business if – “

Woah there! 65% of 32? Isn’t that, um, 21? That’s not really a “majority” of 100, is it? And while we’re here, how many of the chairmen of FTSE 100 companies have a vote in the Scottish independence referendum anyway? We have a strong suspicion that the effective sample in this survey might actually have been zero.

Read the rest of this entry →

Scottish Labour in one tweet 122

Posted on February 24, 2014 by

By an old pal of ours.

duncstarve

Let’s just walk through that one for a moment.

Read the rest of this entry →

We still don’t get it 170

Posted on February 24, 2014 by

If you were wondering why we hadn’t written about today’s oil-industry shenanigans yet, it’s because we’ve been scratching our heads for hours trying to work out what the heck David Cameron thought it was he was proving on the Cabinet’s trip to Aberdeen.

dishface

Sadly, we’re still none the wiser.

Read the rest of this entry →

We’ll never have that recipe again 89

Posted on February 24, 2014 by

A remarkable insight into how Scottish Labour MPs see the people of Scotland, and the future that awaits us after a No vote, from an article posted on Labour Uncut today:

“Uncut recently put the point to a Scottish member of the [Parliamentary Labour Party] that while it is hard to imagine Scotland voting for an uncertain future outside the EU, keeping the UK together by playing on these fears risks perpetuating Scottish grievance against the English. They were unrepentant.

‘They need to be told. It’s like a child saying they want to play in the rain. They can do if they want but they need to know that they’ll get wet.'”

Hear that, people of Scotland? For even considering taking control of your own affairs like adults, Scottish Labour (ironically) thinks you’re behaving like stupid kids too dumb to come in out of the rain. Mm, feel the respect from your representatives.

Read the rest of this entry →

The remedial class 45

Posted on February 24, 2014 by

We’ve written often about the contempt with which both the No campaign and the media regards voters, particularly in respect of their willingness to tell them even the most insultingly transparent lies in the assumption they’ll be swallowed anyway.

alanmassie

Allan Massie in today’s Telegraph may have set a new all-time record, though.

Read the rest of this entry →

A developing theme 223

Posted on February 24, 2014 by

From today’s Telegraph.

sctelegraph

And there’s plenty more where that came from.

Read the rest of this entry →

Wrong number 123

Posted on February 23, 2014 by

To cut a long story short, Wings readers, it turns out that by a freakish coincidence I have a fax number only one digit different to that of Alistair Darling’s constituency office. Attached below is a document I unexpectedly found in my in-tray this evening.

Read the rest of this entry →

The next time 43

Posted on February 23, 2014 by

… someone from the No campaign or a right-wing newspaper tries to tell you that Scotland’s attitudes to the EU aren’t actually very different to those in the rest of the UK, just show them this striking graphic and tell them to shush.

euregions

(And don’t take any “Well then we’d have to join the Euro!” cobblers either.)

If we choose to remain in the UK and the UK has a referendum on EU membership (which it’s highly likely to), there isn’t a whole lot of doubt about the outcome. There’s only one way to make sure Scotland stays in Europe. Businesspeople planning a No vote because they fear “uncertainty” might want to have a wee think about that.

Quoted for partial truth 95

Posted on February 23, 2014 by

A Radio 4 “Point Of View” programme by the writer and philosopher Roger Scruton on Friday evening attracted quite a lot of social-media ire from nationalists. We can only assume they were so angered by a few crass factual errors (“The Scottish economy is subsidised by the English”) and Dr Scruton’s rather patrician manner that they didn’t bother to listen all the way to the end.

“Suppose then we English were finally allowed a say in the matter, which way would I vote? I have no doubt about it. I would vote for English independence, as a step towards strengthening the friendship between our countries.

It was thanks to independence that the Americans were able at last to confess to their attachment to the old country, and to come to our aid in two world wars. Independence is what real friendship requires. And the same is true for those, like the Scots and the English, who live side by side.”

We can’t say we find anything there to disagree with. After some of the cross-border ugliness and bad feeling that’s been whipped up by the actions of Unionists lately, the only outcome of the referendum that will allow the people of Scotland and England to regard each other with dignity and mutual respect in the future is a Yes vote. Crawling pathetically back to London with our tail between our legs won’t do it.

Convergence keeps converging 150

Posted on February 23, 2014 by

(An update on this post.)

polls23feb

If the next Ipsos MORI poll shows a significant drop in the No lead, we can probably call that definitive. The days of the No camp being 30+ points ahead seem to be well and truly over. Five out of the seven British Polling Council members polling on the independence referendum now put the required swing for Yes at just 5-6%. Looks like Wings pollsters Panelbase were at the cutting edge again after all.

Here we go again 114

Posted on February 23, 2014 by

To save time, just take everything we said last week and repeat.

Perhaps the most telling thing, though, about this week’s edition of what now appears to be the BBC’s official late-night No-campaign propaganda slot is that Iain Martin used to be the editor of the Scotsman. Readers can draw their own conclusions.

  • About

    Wings Over Scotland is a thing that exists.

    Stats: 6,987 Posts, 1,252,424 Comments

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Tags

  • Recent Comments

    • robertkknight on Still Time To Save Her: “Perhaps due consideration should be directed towards… Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Act 2021 “The Covert Human Intelligence Sources…” Oct 9, 19:27
    • Dan on Still Time To Save Her: “Aye, and folk should also remember that a remarkably similar modus of dubious activities and procedures by certain organs of…” Oct 9, 19:23
    • BigJay on Still Time To Save Her: “Something that has always piqued my interest was the resignation of then Chief Constable of Police Scotland, Sir Iain Livingstone.…” Oct 9, 19:08
    • sarah on Still Time To Save Her: “Rev, is there any idea from your legal team as to the likely timescale for the Protected Costs procedure? It…” Oct 9, 18:43
    • Anna on Still Time To Save Her: “This will probably do more damage to the police , Sturgeon is being protected. The police are being undermined ,…” Oct 9, 18:27
    • James Barr Gardner on Still Time To Save Her: “Scotland has not just got a political deficit, it also has a Justice deficit ! It’s Shite living in a…” Oct 9, 18:01
    • Skip_NC on Still Time To Save Her: “I’ve wondered that about Murrell too. I gather he was brought up in Edinburgh. Sturgeon is from Ayrshire. It has…” Oct 9, 17:01
    • Andy Wiltshire on Still Time To Save Her: “Anonymous again. You’ve got them on the run.” Oct 9, 16:49
    • Hatey McHateface on Still Time To Save Her: ““unless everyone gets very active and starts demanding things” If enough Scots cared they’d be out on the streets every…” Oct 9, 16:22
    • Macdonut69 on Still Time To Save Her: “I don’t know how many times Police Scotland have to tell you the same thing before you believe them. It’s…” Oct 9, 16:21
    • Morgatron on Still Time To Save Her: “You gotta wonder what deal has been struck here with patsy Murrell tucked up enjoying his majesty’s pleasure and she’s…” Oct 9, 16:02
    • Andrew F on Still Time To Save Her: “The problem with your complaint is: …no new significant information not previously available and considered… So, your information: a. isn’t…” Oct 9, 15:30
    • 100%Yes on Still Time To Save Her: “Sturgeon won power by convincing us all she was a nationalist. I applaud her for being a formidable involtrator. John…” Oct 9, 15:29
    • Alastair on Still Time To Save Her: “As Frank Carson would say. That’s a Cracker” Oct 9, 15:29
    • 100%Yes on Still Time To Save Her: “So basically what ever you bring to the police attention wither its past or present, its been investigated. Even if…” Oct 9, 15:24
    • Sean Duffy on Still Time To Save Her: “Your acute analytical mind will already have noticed that the letter is unsigned and doesn’t even bear any reference number…” Oct 9, 15:11
    • Ronnie on Still Time To Save Her: “What means this does?” Oct 9, 15:02
    • Hatey McHateface on Still Time To Save Her: “It’s OFFICIAL too. Says it at the top. In red caps. So now we all know.” Oct 9, 15:02
    • blackhack on Still Time To Save Her: “Just hold on there Stu, I’ll get you some paracetamol for that headache you have after banging your head on…” Oct 9, 14:46
    • Hatey McHateface on There May Be Justice: ““through the contribution our people make to the nations they migrate to; through the bonds they forge with the peoples…” Oct 9, 14:13
    • sam on There May Be Justice: “sarah, The former Irish President, Michael Higgins said, “Our diaspora is one of Ireland’s greatest resources: through the contribution our…” Oct 9, 11:43
    • Hatey McHateface on There May Be Justice: “Now that Davey Paulden’s been put back in his box, the odds of an early WM GE have shortened. Plenty…” Oct 9, 09:49
    • Aidan on There May Be Justice: ““Professor Baird has knowledge of Scottish political issues, academic qualifications and long experience of maritime business. His involvement in the…” Oct 9, 09:38
    • Hatey McHateface on There May Be Justice: “@ Alan Austin says: 9 October, 2026 at 8:30 am “Your response is actually factually incorrect” Hmmm. I believe the…” Oct 9, 09:05
    • Captain Caveman on There May Be Justice: “😀 Imagine thinking Alf Baird is the answer to Scotland’s manifold woes – and is a shoe-in for leading the…” Oct 9, 09:04
    • Hatey McHateface on There May Be Justice: ““GlobalScot has more than 1,000 members across 62 countries (in 2021) supporting Scottish businesses in international markets and attracting inward…” Oct 9, 08:48
    • Alan Austin on There May Be Justice: “Your response is actually factually incorrect. Large oil Companies invest based on RONCE which is return on net capital employed.…” Oct 9, 08:30
    • Hatey McHateface on There May Be Justice: “@ Minceheid says: 9 October, 2026 at 7:54 am Thanks for the idea. But I think you’re overlooking something. When…” Oct 9, 08:24
    • Hatey McHateface on There May Be Justice: “Aye, sarah, it’s amazing hoo mony of us ken real colonisers. Ah hae a couple of rellies in Nova Scotia.…” Oct 9, 08:15
    • Minceheid on There May Be Justice: “Hatey McHateface says: 8 October, 2026 at 7:07 pm I’m having beans on toast for ma denner and I hate…” Oct 9, 07:54
  • A tall tale



↑ Top