The world's most-read Scottish politics website

Wings Over Scotland


Frustration in Parliament 68

Posted on January 06, 2014 by

Chapter 4 of “The Claim Of Scotland”.

claim4

Read the rest of this entry →

What did we miss? 98

Posted on January 06, 2014 by

It’s our own fault for reading a Brian Monteith column in the Scotsman, but:

“Am I the only person that finds it rather rich that Alex Salmond is so keen on debating the views of David Cameron, an Englishman with an English constituency, when he consciously arranged for the views of tens of thousands of people on the Scottish electoral register to be excluded from taking part in the referendum? Why did he not wish to hear their views?”

Hang on – Alex Salmond did what now? As far as we know, if you’re on the Scottish electoral register you get a vote in the referendum. What happened? Which “tens of thousands of people” are we talking about here? Shouldn’t this have been in the news or something? We hate trying to catch up after the holidays.

Muddying the waters 60

Posted on January 06, 2014 by

We were as perplexed as anyone by the bizarre YouGov poll commissioned by “Better Together” and released today, which reveals that the status quo they’re so strenuously campaigning for is the least popular constitutional option among Scots. As there’s no “more powers” option on the referendum ballot paper, and the official No campaign can neither define any such option nor pledge to implement one, it’s hard to understand what they get from asking a three-choice question about a two-choice vote.

muddywaters

Indeed, the survey’s result – 32% “more devolution”, 30% independence, 29% status quo – actually gives a higher Yes figure than some recent two-option polls. So what on Earth can the No camp be thinking?

Read the rest of this entry →

Borrowing Britain 51

Posted on January 06, 2014 by

It’s one of the weirder aspects of the independence debate that the No campaign constantly shrieks about how an independent Scotland might run a deficit, as if that was some sort of unusual and terrifying state unique to Scotland. So we thought it might be handy to keep this clip from today’s BBC Breakfast here for future reference.

Read the rest of this entry →

In all loyalty to the Crown 121

Posted on January 05, 2014 by

Continuing our daily serialisation of HJ Paton’s fascinating 1968 book “The Claim Of Scotland”, courtesy of splendidly alert and dedicated reader Wilma Watts.

claim3

Read the rest of this entry →

The No campaign for dummies 71

Posted on January 05, 2014 by

“Better Together” website, May 2013:

“In 500 days Scots will answer the most important question we have ever been asked. On all the big questions – on currency, on the EU, on pensions – the nationalists have shown they don’t have the answers to the questions that we and people all over Scotland are asking. 

Today we ask over 500 more questions. This list is by no means exhaustive – instead, it aims to demonstrate the range of different questions that still need answered. Many more questions already exist and as more of the big issues are debated more and more questions will arise. That’s why we will continue to ask the difficult questions.

It’s time we got some answers.”

Read the rest of this entry →

History and legend 114

Posted on January 04, 2014 by

The Claim Of Scotland chapter 2.

claim2

Read the rest of this entry →

Quotes Of The Year 2013: Box Set 48

Posted on January 04, 2014 by

We nearly killed ourselves this week compiling twelve “quotes of the year” articles for December 30 and 31, which required ploughing through over a THOUSAND posts (1,170 to be precise) looking for interesting or amusing word-nuggets. Unfortunately, everyone was on holiday or out having a good time, so hardly anybody read them.

bottlethis

So we’ve put them all together in a single ridiculously huge mega-post to give everyone who only reads the most recent article a chance to catch up. We’re nice that way.

And then on Monday, when we’ve all finally got back to having some sort of vague idea what day of the week it is again, 2014 starts in earnest.

Read the rest of this entry →

To our English brother 166

Posted on January 03, 2014 by

We’re enormously grateful to the alert reader who uncovered this little gem. “The Claim Of Scotland” is a book published in 1968 and written by one Herbert James Paton, a philosopher and a senior civil servant at the Admiralty and Foreign Office, who sadly died the following year.

claimofscotland

If you click the image above, you’ll find a scanned PDF of the foreword, contents and first chapter, which at just 14 pages is a modest task of reading. Prepare yourself to marvel at how little times have changed since this pre-North Sea oil age, and to smile ruefully at a few of the sentences you’ll encounter.

Read the rest of this entry →

Leading by example 237

Posted on January 03, 2014 by

Awesome start on healing those divisions, Johann.

johannheal

(From today’s Scottish Sun.)

Read the rest of this entry →

Brand re-imagining 321

Posted on January 02, 2014 by

Okay, readers, it’s time to speak your brains. We’ve been evolving the synergy of the Wings customer-facing recognition interface in line with the leading edge of the zeitgeist over the years, from our early crude banners through to the current clean and eye-catching style, and it’s time to pick the logo that’ll take us through 2014.

Give us your thoughts, whydoncha?

Read the rest of this entry →

The persistence of falsehood 137

Posted on January 02, 2014 by

“Gary Gibbon on Politics”, Channel 4 website, today:

“Peter Kellner of YouGov [..] says Scottish independence would wipe out the chances of majority Labour government for at least a generation and conceivably longer.”

Does he? Is he an idiot or something?

Read the rest of this entry →

  • About

    Wings Over Scotland is a thing that exists.

    Stats: 6,946 Posts, 1,246,505 Comments

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Tags

  • Recent Comments

    • PB on The Interests Of The Many: “I was very confused when, in 2022, the Scottish Government announced that there WOULD be a referendum, and even announced…Jul 8, 23:42
    • George Ferguson on Search And Replace: “@Hatey McHateface Duty I have been doing my duty all of my life. Of course it’s people like me that…Jul 8, 23:09
    • James on Search And Replace: “Snowflake Adrian threatening handbags at dawn. LOLZ Better get some of the hard stuff doon ee first, petal. Try a…Jul 8, 23:04
    • Dick Wall on The Interests Of The Many: “alf, Here’s what I found was decolonisation online. Beyond political independence, decolonisation also involves undoing the cultural, social, and psychological…Jul 8, 21:52
    • robertkknight on The Interests Of The Many: “I’d like to think so, but as will all forms of the press they are guided by sales. It’d be…Jul 8, 21:49
    • sarah on The Interests Of The Many: “@ robertknight: yes, amazing that The National should publish such an honest appraisal of the SNP’s failings on independence. Is…Jul 8, 21:28
    • agentx on The Interests Of The Many: “The Clacton by-election is a farce – yes maybe the SNP should be involved!Jul 8, 21:21
    • Hatey McHateface on Search And Replace: “Ah, c’moan noo, Aidan. Weapons grade halitosis for certain.Jul 8, 21:10
    • 100%Yes on The Interests Of The Many: “John Swinney has been totally played by Nicola Sturgeon she left the scene with no Interest to return to Scotland.…Jul 8, 21:02
    • Aidan on Search And Replace: “At the end of the day James, you’re just some sad little keyboard warrior getting a pathetic thrill by mouthing…Jul 8, 21:01
    • Hatey McHateface on Search And Replace: “Aw, Wally, I can see you’re suffering. Hope it’s something that will involve root canal work. Hope you have to…Jul 8, 20:56
    • 100%Yes on The Interests Of The Many: “Some of us have been saying on here since 2015 about the SNP and Sturgeon its a pity most not…Jul 8, 20:28
    • John McGregor on Search And Replace: “I hope wee Pete in his cushy jail cell write’s a book n sets out everything he’s got on (ex…Jul 8, 19:55
    • James on Search And Replace: “What would YOU know aboot normal Scots, Prick? Warmongering unionist Tory. GTF.Jul 8, 19:43
    • Hatey McHateface on Search And Replace: ““This is a Scots Indy site” No shit, Wally, here’s a haddie just for you. Why don’t you post something…Jul 8, 19:31
    • Hatey McHateface on The Interests Of The Many: “They could dust off and re-use the policy statements, economic arguments, and timeline they presented to great popular acclaim in…Jul 8, 19:27
    • Southernbystander on The Interests Of The Many: “This is actually a good idea. The media will be glad of anything that isn’t Farage or Binface.Jul 8, 19:24
    • Hatey McHateface on Search And Replace: “Give over, Dan. Even schoolkids will know that it’s the 40 ton HGV’s doing 95% of the road damage. I…Jul 8, 19:21
    • Dan on Search And Replace: “All good here Confused, thanks. Trust life is good for yourself tae. Aye, the trio of bawbags hard at it,…Jul 8, 18:22
    • robertkknight on The Interests Of The Many: “Has The National finally realised that their meagre subscriptions/sales among the Wee Ginger Fud loyalists aren’t cutting it? Or has…Jul 8, 18:21
    • James on Search And Replace: “Away and take a flying fuck to youself; this is a Scots Indy site and it’s you who is the…Jul 8, 17:46
    • Aidan on Search And Replace: “If you don’t like it here James, you can always fuck off. It’s not like you add anything to any…Jul 8, 17:14
    • James on Search And Replace: “Larry, Curly & Moe; all day, every day. *yawn*Jul 8, 16:16
    • James Barr Gardner on The Interests Of The Many: “All this SNP information was on “SAGE” for the Police investigating a doddle to interrogate those who donated and those…Jul 8, 16:15
    • sarah on The Interests Of The Many: “O/T: Clacton by-election. Surely this is a good opportunity for a Scottish independence candidate/party to stand? Their platform could be…Jul 8, 15:29
    • lothianlad on The Interests Of The Many: “This is the scrutiny that is so needed. Well done Stu and your team. There is no doubt in my…Jul 8, 14:44
    • MaryB on The Interests Of The Many: “Count Binface is really Jon Harvey, a Corpus Christie, Cambridge graduate.Jul 8, 13:59
    • Hatey McHateface on The Interests Of The Many: “Football’s all very well, TURABDIN, and some people are enjoying Wimbledon, but the greatest televisual spectacle of the moment is…Jul 8, 13:37
    • Hatey McHateface on Search And Replace: “At least nobody’s popped up to say there was a boy developed a car that ran entirely on water, but…Jul 8, 13:33
    • TURABDIN on The Interests Of The Many: “OVERHEARD in a shop today. Old Man…….Trump just wants to set the world to right. Young Man…Yeah, but he should…Jul 8, 13:05
  • A tall tale



↑ Top