The entire Scottish media and professional-politician community is currently in a self-righteous froth about a campaign ad being run by Reform for the Hamilton by-election targeting Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar.
Obviously none of the acres of press coverage trusts voters to see the ad and decide for themselves, because that simply isn’t how journalism works nowadays. You’re told that a bad thing happened – whether it be a campaign ad, a comedian’s joke or the supposed terrible abuse sent to a celebrity – and how outraged various pundits or other celebrities are about it, with the clear implication that you should feel the same, but you almost never get shown or told what was actually said.
So to start with, as a basic journalistic principle, here’s the ad itself in its entirety.
Now let’s look at what you’re being ordered to think about it.
Don Paterson is a celebrated Scottish poet, writer and musician. The essay below comes from a new anthology of Scottish writers called Irish Pages: Scotland, and is reproduced with his permission.
Remember The Vow? Most of us have tried to forget it. This was Westminster’s Hail Mary as polling day approached in the 2014 referendum; a vote that Yessers – people tend to forget this part too – initially had no real expectation of winning, until an inspirationally positive campaign saw the polls draw neck-and-neck.
Then lo! There it was, splashed across the Daily Record: a fancy-font promise from Westminster party leaders that if Scotland voted to stay within the UK, we would enjoy new devolved powers. There was some other waffle about defence and opportunities and having an equal share in the UK’s prosperity. But the message was clear enough. We would be listened to.
The Scottish Tory MSP reacted furiously to a story in The National which said Scotland had been absorbed into England by the 1707 Act Of Union, rather than becoming a “partner” in anything, and had ceased to exist as a state in international law.
Which was a weird response, because that’s been the official stated position of both the UK government and the Conservative Party for at least the last 12 years.
Despite everything, we almost allowed ourselves just the very tiniest little micro-flicker of optimism when we read Tommy Sheppard’s latest in The National.
Because that much is certainly true, and it’s uncommonly candid to have anyone in the SNP admit it. So what’s the answer?
(Kelly’s article is here. Link to Grok’s answer here. The ChatGPT analysis that triggered the article can be read in this tweet thread. A verifiable analysis by Grok of the debate, based on a neutral question, can be read here.)
The legal imprint at the bottom means that that’s official SNP election communication. One assumes it’s intended for leaflets to be put through actual voters’ letterboxes.
Hi! I noticed, with very considerable amusement, your complaint last night that I hadn’t made a “substantive reply” to the [EDIT] EIGHT posts (totalling nearly 11,000 words) of semi-coherent ranting about me that you’ve made on your site in the last eight days.
(I’ll be absolutely honest, I’ve only skimmed the last few.)
We both know the reason that’s so tear-streamingly comical, of course.
In so far as it’s worth talking about Scottish constitutional politics at all these days, it’s worth taking a moment to analyse the bloodless, anodyne nothingness spouted by the First Minister on The Sunday Show at the weekend.
That clip is less than three minutes long, but it’s so soul-crushingly boring and full of content-free drone and waffle that it’s almost impossible to sit all the way through it, so we’re going to translate and summarise it for you.
Warning: despite the quite zingy title this is actually going to be a very dry stats post, readers. It is, on the other hand, based on a man having something disturbingly close to a complete psychotic mental breakdown, so there’s always that for a bit of colour.
Because the paragraph above, and in particular the highlighted part, is without a doubt the most dishonest, diametrically false and wildly extreme lie about Scottish politics that we’ve ever seen anyone tell in the 13.5 years of Wings Over Scotland’s existence.
PC Foster on Learning Insanity: “Order of the Bollox Expounders (OBE)” Jan 15, 20:27
Hatey McHateface on Learning Insanity: “Nah, TURABDIN. Wearing a burqa should obviously fall to the minister with responsibility for postal deliveries. BTW, why your capitalisation…” Jan 15, 20:07
Hatey McHateface on Learning Insanity: “Seeing as how Rev Stu has inspired us all by his article to look closely at the real meaning of…” Jan 15, 20:02
Hatey McHateface on Learning Insanity: “Don’t all women experience a tiny frisson of excitement when they think of those mighty pistons thrusting in and out?…” Jan 15, 19:45
dearieme on Learning Insanity: “@Cynicus: I use “female impersonator” and “castrato”. The latter is a bit approximate but, as the Yanks say, good enough…” Jan 15, 17:31
Alf Baird on Learning Insanity: ““SNP Scottish Government has been corrupted and controlled” Yes indeed, as Fanon wrote: the dominant national party is ‘co-opted by…” Jan 15, 16:03
TURABDIN on Learning Insanity: “The great thing about the Burqa is that no one can tell what you are or what you’re hiding or…” Jan 15, 15:51
lothianlad on Learning Insanity: “Excellent piece again Stu. Without you, we would be rudderless. An SNP Scottish Government has been corrupted and controlled.” Jan 15, 14:29
Lorna Campbell on Learning Insanity: “The Jewish American author, Ira Levin, wrote “The Stepford Wives” in 1975. On one level, it can be viewed as…” Jan 15, 14:23
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Learning Insanity: “STONEWALL REPORTS ‘SPECTACULAR FUNDING IMPLOSION’ Stonewall’s annual report reveals its income has fallen by 40 per cent in four years.…” Jan 15, 14:06
Lorna Campbell on Learning Insanity: “Recent studies have found a large correlation between brain and body, James, so it would seem that they are interlinked…” Jan 15, 14:01
James Cheyne on Learning Insanity: “OT, I see Italy is to change their rules based to indigenous populations preference, as France and many other Countries…” Jan 15, 13:09
James Cheyne on Learning Insanity: “Regardless of my own dyslexia and appalling education I still would not want to be sticking my neck out claiming…” Jan 15, 12:54
TURABDIN on Learning Insanity: “ONE DAY AI might provide the means to be anything or anyone you choose in a cyberpunkish universe. No need…” Jan 15, 12:25
James Cheyne on Learning Insanity: “Not so far fetched a scenario as the Scientist and government already consider experimenting on children, babies in the womb,…” Jan 15, 11:52
TURABDIN on Learning Insanity: “IN DEFINING SEX AND GENDER, it seems hormones and a thing called brian dimorphism are involved…maybe also a touch of…” Jan 15, 11:43
James Cheyne on Learning Insanity: “In the future scientific world I could envisage the removal of the brain from its wrong body to replace the…” Jan 15, 11:40
James Cheyne on Learning Insanity: “And I do have a questions, 1: Are the bodies who push this able to define if they were born…” Jan 15, 11:28
James Cheyne on Learning Insanity: “Paid activist, from tax payers money, that no one voted for, Political Phonexology comes to mind. = political evil. This…” Jan 15, 11:05
Cynicus on Learning Insanity: ““I think bollocks is the only acceptable spelling.” ======== Derived from “bullock”, meaning a castrated male calf. “Bullock” and “…” Jan 15, 10:25
Vivian O’Blivion on Learning Insanity: “The John Smith Centre, at the University of Glasgow, announce an upcoming, relaxed conversation, debate format between Deputy First Minister,…” Jan 15, 10:12
Phil on Learning Insanity: “Great analysis of utter bollocks. Sort of off-topic but I’ve just watched a clip of proceedings in the Scottish parliament…” Jan 15, 09:28
turnbulldrier on Learning Insanity: “Thanks for the KLF link. That was a fine start to the morning. As for everything else, “Woo Woo” seems…” Jan 15, 07:31
Willie on Learning Insanity: “This article reinforces, if reinforcement be needed, just how how huge anounts of scarce resources like money and time are…” Jan 15, 07:15
Iain More on Governing For Beginners: “P.S I forgot to add – Get that fuckin Yank NAZI Boat out of the Moray Firth” Jan 15, 01:12
Charles Findlay on Learning Insanity: “I think bollocks is the only acceptable spelling. Anything else would be bollocks.” Jan 14, 22:44
Charles Findlay on Learning Insanity: “I think bollocks is the only acceptable spelling. To spell it bollox would definitely be bollocks.” Jan 14, 22:43
Watching from afar on Learning Insanity: “Should there not be commas between the adjectives? or hyphens somewhere? 😉 (Sven has already pointed out “upon which they…” Jan 14, 21:20
Kate L on Learning Insanity: ““who like all women share an abiding love of steam engines” almost made me spit out my drink. I’ll thankfully…” Jan 14, 20:59
