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Wings Over Scotland


Riding the U

Posted on January 30, 2021 by

There’s still a day and a half of January 2021 to go, but it’s already been the busiest month for traffic on Wings Over Scotland in several years, despite endless claims from detractors (both Unionists and Pete Wishart types) that we’re in tragic decline.

And since Saturday afternoons are the one quiet moment we get these days – and it’s not like we can go out for a nice walk in the sunshine or have a potter round the shops – we thought we’d take a deeper look into the stats.

They were quite surprising.

We moved to our current stats platform with our webhosts in December 2014, so we’ve got six complete years of comparable figures. (Well, nearly complete, but we’ll get onto that in a moment.) The raw pageview numbers look like this:

After peaking in the heady days of the 2015 SNP tsunami – when 40 out of 41 useless Scottish Labour MPs were swept from Westminster and the SNP’s membership had quintupled almost overnight as a resurgent Yes movement resolved to bounce back after defeat in the 2014 referendum – our traffic took something of a dive in the next few years, because much less interesting stuff was happening.

(The 2016 Holyrood election looked like being a foregone conclusion but actually saw Nicola Sturgeon somehow contrive to lose the SNP majority bequeathed to her by Alex Salmond from 2011, and Wings didn’t devote a massive amount of coverage to Brexit because unlike the SNP we were still focused on independence.)

Things bottomed out in the pretty politically dead year of 2018 (the first one that didn’t have a Scottish, UK, European or council election in it), but have risen again sharply as we’ve been highlighting the growing urgency of the SNP’s failure to produce any sort of credible independence plan.

It was in April 2018 that we published “The Elephant In The Courtroom”, a post pointing out the party’s dangerous levels of inaction.

“Because make no mistake, time is running out in all sorts of ways. The clock is ticking on the mandate. The clock is ticking on Brexit. Independence won’t be easy to win in 2019 or 2020, but it’ll be a hundred times harder in 2022 or 2025.”

(We should of course note that the unforeseen event of the coronavirus pandemic threw something of a spanner into the analysis in terms of timing.)

Since then, despite increasing criticism of the main independence party over both its indyref strategy and disastrous, unpopular policy initiatives like gender reform and the hate crime bill, as well as some deeply disturbing internal issues – something you’d expect to severely alienate the site’s readership – Wings traffic has climbed steadily, reflecting the growing levels of unease among Yes supporters.

(Some have tried to wave it away as being due to an influx of rubbernecking Unionist readers, but the record-breaking fundraisers in the middles of 2018 and 2019 would seem to undermine that theory. Unionists might enjoy a little bit of schadenfreudish SNP-bashing sometimes, but they’re not going to send us money.)

And it’s actually even more dramatic than it looks – and not just because the 2020 stats were achieved despite the silencing of our Twitter account, which was a major driver of traffic to the site, in December 2019.

Because a year ago, completely scunnered with the gigantically damp squib that was Nicola Sturgeon’s non-response to Scotland finally being formally hoofed out of the EU against its wishes, we took three months off. February, March and April of last year had just 19 posts between them – most of those being Chris Cairns’ weekly cartoons. So the numbers for 2020 are really based on just nine months of the year.

That made us wonder what a pro-rata, apples-and-apples graph would look like.

To make it as accurate and fair as possible we also factored in some stats outages in previous years due to hardware failures at our webhost (backups keep the site running but don’t record stats). Half of July 2016, the whole of August 2018 and 26 days of November 2019 were lost for this reason, so we boosted the figures for those years proportionally, as well as cranking up 2020 by a third for the three-month holiday.

Adjusted for outages and holidays, the pageview stats look like this:

(To be really scrupulous, we also lost a third of November 2020 to a hardware outage, but we DIDN’T multiply the figures up to compensate for that, to balance out the fact that we did still get SOME traffic during our three-month break.)

So in reality, Wings Over Scotland is currently being read as much as it was at the dizziest heights of the SNP’s rise to power. And as far as we’re concerned, the reasons are exactly the same now as they were then – people want independence, and they also want the truth.

It’s just that now they’re not so sure that the SNP want those things, and in their alarm they’re reaching out for a website that’ll be honest with them, amid a cosy calm pond of blind Pollyanna cheerleaders and fanboys telling them to rejoice in the polls and get ready for the “inevitable” second indyref and ignore the void behind the curtain.

Because the polls were fantastic back in 2015 too.

In mid-2015 SNP support hit 62% on the Holyrood constituency vote, an all-time high. It broke 60% three times in the year (something it hasn’t done in 2020 or 21), and then again in February 2016, just 10 weeks before the election.

A month later, just six weeks from the vote, it was still on 56%.

But polls didn’t bring us independence then, just like they won’t bring us independence now. SNP support dropped 14 points from February 2016 until the election that May, and that was without any sort of major scandal or a civil war in the party.

It’s February on Monday. The three polls conducted so far this year put the SNP on an average of 52% – five points lower than they were at this point in 2016 – and the First Minister and the party CEO are currently up to their throats in allegations of criminal conspiracy and perjury that could very plausibly see one or both of them being ousted (or even worse) before the ballot.

And if they don’t, there is no plan.

So if you think that everything in the indy garden is rosy, that’s probably because of the colour of the glasses you’re wearing. We have to actually DO something to achieve independence, and Wings Over Scotland will keep pointing that out, just as we always have, whether the SNP and the cheerleaders like it or not.

We’re glad, and grateful, that so many of you are still here reading it.

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271 to “Riding the U”

  1. Garrion
    Ignored
    says:

    Thanks for all of the above. Quality and integrity outlast dogmatism, solipsism and delusion.

    Mike Small.

  2. Kenny
    Ignored
    says:

    Whoever took that first photo is a genius. Just a perfect piece of positioning and timing. Very good.

  3. Calum
    Ignored
    says:

    I’ve pretty much resigned myself to no indy for the foreseeable and I hold a huge grudge against Sturgeon about it – Brexit should have sealed it. Instead we find ourselves stuck in Covid, Brexit UK.

    My daughter is 10. If we are still not independent once we’ve got her through uni I think it will be time to leave and find a country with some balls to live in til we die.

  4. Captain Yossarian
    Ignored
    says:

    It all goes to show that momentum is everything in politics and everything in websites.

    Wings are firmly on the right side of this argument. They have put ‘public interest’ information in the public domain which would have been covered-up by all at Holyrood.

    In the old days, folk like Joe Beltrami would be doing that. The present generation of Glasgow lawyers would rather put you in jail for doing it.

    However, top marks this week go to Craig Murray who outflanked and out-thought everyone.

  5. Giesabrek (the original)
    Ignored
    says:

    Stu, I’d just like to say that you’re the only proper investigative journalist covering Scottish independence, with your refusal to accept SNP corruption as the necessary evil (although it’s arguably not even that given the current SNP leadership have no intention of delivering independence). And pretty much every prediction you’ve made has been spot on, almost to the point of being spookily accurate.

    It’s been what, almost 2 years since your last fundraiser? If you need to run another one this year I’ll be more than happy to make a decent contribution because you’re worth more than all the MSM hacks put together.

  6. TNS2019
    Ignored
    says:

    Until I came across Wings I thought that nationalists were blind to the corruption and cronyism that has been blighting our country.
    It is refreshing to read the views of those who want there to be an informed debate and for the new nation to be built on justice and integrity.
    I too have come to the conclusion that these will not be delivered by the current leadership of the SNP and that we are faced with a binary decision: a radical reform of the SNP or a new pro-independence party.
    Wings has a critical role to play and has now eclipsed the mainstream media.
    Power to you.

  7. Turnbulldrier
    Ignored
    says:

    Glad your still here. After the trials and tribulations of the last,almost,10 years this site is still my daily go to.

    More power to your elbow Rev. Oh, and ‘Holiday boy’ is no bad as well. 😛

  8. Kevin Cargill
    Ignored
    says:

    All the more reason with support like yours and with your desire for truth and honesty behind your determination for Independence you should seriously be considering starting a new party here in Scotland. You have the clout to bring the big hitters from other Indy parties on board and a huge swathe of members would follow I’m sure. C’mon Stuart. We need you mate.

  9. Stuart MacKay
    Ignored
    says:

    Kenny,

    It’s from a story in the Telegraph, https://archive.is/F6gG
    The photo appears to have come from a company that is now Shutterstock

  10. Rev. Stuart Campbell
    Ignored
    says:

    “It’s been what, almost 2 years since your last fundraiser?”

    “Last Call” launched in the middle of May 2019. so not far off.

    We’ll see what happens. If Sturgeon gets to the election intact I think independence, and therefore Wings, is all over. I have no intention of spending the next five years banging my head against a brick wall.

    If on the other hand she’s gone and someone who might actually fight for indy replaces her, the game will be back on, so we’ll probably see if we can replenish the Fighting Fund a bit (we STILL haven’t had a final agreed bill from Kezia Dugdale’s lawyers so we don’t know quite how much of a hit it’s going to take, but it should definitely be sorted by then).

    By then you’ll have had a full year of Wings for free, which is pretty good value in anyone’s book 😀

  11. Dickiet
    Ignored
    says:

    Salmond, MacAskill, Cherry, MacNeil etc all are biding their their time.

    Sturgeon should be gone in a month along with Murrell and the woke cabal.

    The illegal NEC meeting today / tomorrow will determine whether a vast number of members resign over the rise of the twitler trans fascists

  12. Wee Chid
    Ignored
    says:

    Dickiet says:
    30 January, 2021 at 1:36 pm

    “The illegal NEC meeting today / tomorrow will determine whether a vast number of members resign over the rise of the twitler trans fascists”

    Or whether we will all be kicked out.

  13. Dave Beveridge
    Ignored
    says:

    Rev. Stuart Campbell @ 1:29 pm
    We’ll see what happens. If Sturgeon gets to the election intact I think independence, and therefore Wings, is all over. I have no intention of spending the next five years banging my head against a brick wall.

    Well surely if she parks independence again even the most deluded cultist will have their eyes well and truly opened and the demands for her to be out on her arse would reach a crescendo? You can only drink the Nicool-aid so long before you choke on it.

  14. richard richardson
    Ignored
    says:

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/alex-salmond-torments-nicola-sturgeon-over-what-she-knew-of-assault-claims-7schqgbnk

    “In a new submission to a separate Holyrood inquiry into the Scottish government’s mishandling of the complaints against Mr Salmond, he (Salmond) cites a witness statement held by his legal team “which recounts that in late November 2018 a special adviser told the witness that the government knew they would lose the [judicial review] but they would ‘get him’ [Mr Salmond] in the criminal case”.

  15. Lenny Hartley
    Ignored
    says:

    I have had a response from one of my NEC Who rep responded to an email I sent asking why they were taking part in a “Wildcat” meeting.
    Quote
    The NEC meeting held on the 16th of January decided to hold an extra meeting sometime before its next scheduled meeting on the 20th of February in order to agree the arrangements for the list. The member’s ballot opens on the 15th of February so the arrangements have to be in place before then.

    At the meeting on the 16th January we did not have a promised legal opinion on this subject, and so felt unwilling and unable to decide the matter. So tomorrow’s meeting is not “wildcat”.
    Unquote

  16. JSC
    Ignored
    says:

    Dickiet says:
    30 January, 2021 at 1:36 pm

    “The illegal NEC meeting today / tomorrow will determine whether a vast number of members resign over the rise of the twitler trans fascists”

    But what volume or % of the remaining members…
    A) Know about this (not all are on Twitter and/or Wings). Many are very much at arms length and in a bit of a bubble
    B) Care about it enough to resign

  17. Muscleguy
    Ignored
    says:

    @Rev Stu

    Even if Sturgeon survives there’s still a good chance there will be a decent cadres of ISP MSPs in the parliament the SNP will find hard to ignore. We would be up for a few FM resign statements as well I expect.

    There will be no hiding place for inaction over Indy at Holyrood. The antiscientific nonsense will not pass without the most powerful and excoriating objections with constant reporting of the malign results to get them into the record.

  18. kapelmeister
    Ignored
    says:

    That’s telling them Stu. Though Mr. Wishart will only ever see what he wants to see.

  19. Andrew F
    Ignored
    says:

    “Unionists might enjoy a little bit of schadenfreudish SNP-bashing sometimes, but they’re not going to send us money.”

    That’s probably exactly what they want you to think. Maybe they really are donating lots of money to make you think that.

    /idiot-think

  20. Al-Stuart
    Ignored
    says:

    .
    Hi Stu.,

    I love your numbers. That’s got to prickle pension Pete and his pointless pickle of poison and prattle.

    Seldom have I read your words and disagreed. But.

    If Sturgeon rigs the game and survives I am with your view that 5 years of reporting on endless internecine warfare is NEITHER your nor anyone’s cup of tea.

    But I bet you a years supply of cat food for the Wings moggy that you will feel the need to scratch that blogging itch.

    Why?

    If Sturgeon gets back in, she and her thick-but-nice Humza Yosef will enact the Orwellian LGBTQABCD+ “Hate” (Scotland) Act and at that point the Scottish electorate will eventually wake up to the McWokeists and the irony that the country where that polemic novel, 1984, was written is the first, first-world country to put the rules of 1984 into practice.

    You my friend, will be back to fight the good fight. Rebel with a cause 😉

    Also, you are bloody good at what you do. We enjoy your exquisitely researched articles and deep down, I suspect you enjoy writing them.

    Stay safe and well my friend. Maybe take a month off to recharge the batteries. But Scotland is in our DNA and few of us are able to stand by and see such wrong and calumny of covens seek to jail innocent people by corrupting the nations law officers in the prosecution department.

    Just one snippet of an example: would you leave your quill and ink lay still when a feature article beckons on the merits of calling in the Auditor General for Scotland to investigate the expenditure of £13,000,000 by Lord Wolfe on compensation for alleged wrongful prosecution of the Official Receivers in Bankruptcy of Rangers Football Club?

    Seriously man, can you see yourself with a pipe and slippers just stroking your pussy and tweeting feckless drivel from the sidelines in the manner of Pension Pete?

    Naw Stuart Campbell, you strike me as a literary Ernst Stavros Bloefeldt of the world of journalism. But a goodie not a baddie 🙂

  21. Saffron Robe
    Ignored
    says:

    Far from being in decline Stuart, you are becoming more and more relevant with each passing day. Wings is not just necessary, is it indispensable.

    My Mum’s always asking me, “So what’s happening on Wings today?”, because she knows it is one of the few places with its finger truly on the pulse of the zeitgeist.

  22. kapelmeister
    Ignored
    says:

    The end of the world is not near.

    But the Scottish people are going to be paying attention to Revelations.

  23. Breeks
    Ignored
    says:

    Declare a state of Constitutional Emergency, and formally dispute the breaching of the 1707 Union Treaty, and Scotland’s unlawful and anti-democratic subjugation. Break the Union using the law.

    And / or

    Plebiscite Election in May with a recognised threshold of Indy pre-approved by UN. Break the Union by using democracy.

    And / or

    Establishment of 100 seat Scottish Senate (or some equivalent), to allow Scotland to undertake Constitutional manoeuvring and international negotiations independent of a reluctant or dysfunctional Holyrood, and defend Scotland’s sovereignty and Constitution from Colonial encroachment by either Westminster or Holyrood. It should furthermore resurrect the Scottish-UN Committee to promote Scotland’s Constitutional Sovereignty to International Community – UN and Council of Europe. Break the Union by demolishing Westminster’s faux Convention of Parliamentary Sovereignty by Education and International enlightenment.

    3 powerful options, Law, Democracy and Education, any one of the three could deliver Scotland’s Constitutional Independence.

    Hot on the heels of these options, I would endeavour to see Scotland’s Holyrood ‘government’ impeached for unconstitutional abandonment of Scotland’s Constitutional Sovereignty, and the “Get Salmond” Criminal Conspiracy re-examined by a Judge led Inquiry, with immediate suspensions, (including the Lord Advocate), and appropriate criminal prosecutions for Conspiracy, Perverting the Course of Justice, Perjury and Falsifying Evidence.

    This would have the added advantage of nullifying the SNP’s bizarre fixation with Transactivism and misogyny, and the pitiful embarrassment of the “battle for control” of the SNP’s NEC when it’s a battle for control over Scotland we should be addressing. If there is proven evidence of subversive intent, circumventing an impeached Holyrood could also ‘quarantine’ any dubious or ‘rogue’ intentions and distractions which currently ‘preoccupy’ Holyrood and the SNP.

    Scotland, through it’s 100 seat senate should petition the EU for situation analogous to the “Holding Pen” Status first mooted in 2016, quasi-EU Membership, pending the results of the Judicial review of Scotland’s unconstitutional Brexit subjugation, and Brexit being declared unconstitutional, unlawful, and Ultra Vires.

    Scotland could be absolutely ‘buzzing’ by the end of February, with our exports having a stay of execution, and with a “sovereign” Senate free to act independently of Westminster and the Scotland Act strictures, free to legislate for the establishment of an Independent Scottish Broadcast Service, perhaps enabled by Irish / European broadcasters running Scottish stations.

    That’s what I would do…

  24. Lothianlad
    Ignored
    says:

    A massive thank you Stu and the wings team for your amazing work. People want the truth and independence.

    That’s why we stick with you.

    It is highly possible that wings and not the SNP will be the key that unlocks freedoms door!

  25. holymacmoses
    Ignored
    says:

    I suspect your hourly rate is pretty low for all the work (writing and research) you do Mr Wings. However , I do believe (THINK) that you will get the reward of independence sooner rather than later.
    Do Twitter rescind their ‘bans’ and if so, would you want to return now that you’ve built up this amazing readership here? I think your contribution to the cause of Independence is as strong today with this site as it was with the WBB in 2014. And at least you have control over the baloney:-)
    As for money, if Ms Dugdale’s lawyers wait until May when Independence might well be on the cards I suspect that a fundraiser would give you more money than usual to counteract such devious tactics.
    I think if MSM doesn’t drown Nicola Sturgeon then she will do it herself – she is looking absolutely dreadful these days. I do believe that a body can be sodden to saturation with lies and self-deceit and Sturgeon has been bingeing on both for many years now.

  26. Rev. Stuart Campbell
    Ignored
    says:

    “Well surely if she parks independence again even the most deluded cultist will have their eyes well and truly opened and the demands for her to be out on her arse would reach a crescendo?”

    They’ve got that sorted. Between COVID and the legal shenanigans of the “11-point plan”, they could claim to be actively pursuing it for at least the next 2-3 years, with no actual intent and no requirement to show any sort of results, and still have the idiot loyalists lap it up. Fuck that.

  27. Rev. Stuart Campbell
    Ignored
    says:

    “I suspect your hourly rate is pretty low”

    Well, it’s currently zero.

  28. Lorna Campbell
    Ignored
    says:

    Well said, sir. Without you and all the other bloggers, we’d be cutting our throats. You keep us real and grounded. It is always hard to swallow the truth and reality, but it must be done if we are to get anywhere. Thank you, Rev.

  29. Mike
    Ignored
    says:

    Thanks for continuing to hold Scottish politicians to account.

    Sometimes I actually can’t believe what I’m reading here but it’s always backed up with links and factual information.

    In the early days, I remember thinking when will you start scrutinising the SNP and of course here you are and, boy, you’re leaving no stone unturned in your exposure.

    Sadly, I do not see anyone of any value replacing Sturgeon so unfortunately Indy could be shafted for the next couple of decades.

    The blame lies firmly at the door of the SNP – oh the irony!

  30. TNS2019
    Ignored
    says:

    We predicted several months ago that Swinney would go before Sturgeon over this: https://www.tns2019.org/new-blog-1/2021/1/29/the-charges-against-mr-swinney and this: https://www.tns2019.org/new-blog-1/2020/12/1/head-brick-wall-interface

    If one goes, so does the other.
    Swinney has played a dark role in the scheming that has taken place and his clean image has now been shattered.

    The sense is that there is something very rotten at the top.

    My vote will not go to a corrupt administration. I would rather wait.

    Which goes against the majority on this site, but I just cannot do it.

  31. TNS2019
    Ignored
    says:

    In other words, I am not sure that the SNP can run themselves at the moment, let alone an independent nation.

  32. willie
    Ignored
    says:

    Great statistic Rev Stu.

    And you know what it tells us. It tells us that the desire for independence has not died but is alive and well.

    The Sturgeon Nasty Party may have parasitically taken hold of the SNP. They may have sold the jersey, said one thing whilst doing another, but people are now seeing that Sturgeon and her cabal are but agents of the deep British state. That Wings is sustaining traffic at equivalent levels to those in the heady days after the referendum is sure testimony to that.

    So let us all keep up the great work. The covert war waged dirtily over the years in so many countries around the world who sought their independence from the British Empire is now on display for all to see here now.

    The police, the Crown Office Prosecution Service, Senior Civil Servants, the MSM and of course the spooks themselves, they are now all being exposed.

    This is bigger than a rotten and corrupt Sturgeon, her husband and their coterie of scum. And you know what, I suspect the exposure of the deep state and its insidious methods will be its undoing.

    Independence will be our prize – and your stats, plus the stats of other valiant blogs, is playing its part in educating hearts and minds.

  33. Effijy
    Ignored
    says:

    We must recognise that every U.K. person posing as
    as a journalist needs to visit this site several times a day.

    All the U.K. London controlled politicians and their staff will visit.
    as will all SNP officials, the Lord Advocate, COPFS, the Police,
    MI5, MI6, the 77th Brigade and the Terrorist Squad.

    Hate to say this Rev but it might only be you and me fighting for Independence?

    This site has been the rock for the Independence movement.
    I’ve never seen lies, deception, money grabbing or unjust claims being made here against anyone.

    I can’t say that about anything else I see in this stinking corrupt Union.

  34. Captain Yossarian
    Ignored
    says:

    TNS2019 – Agreed and from experience of communicating with him….Swinney is a dog and, like you, I think his time will come soon.

    From my recollection of Craig Murray’s affidavit, he was critical of The Times’ Kieran Andrews, calling him a supporter of Nicola Sturgeon.

    However, this morning he is reporting that Alex Salmond has a witness statement from a SPAD which promises to shed more light on the involvement of Leslie Evans.

    It alludes to the ‘lost the battle but will win the war’ crap. ‘Lost the battle’ meant of course losing £500,000, which was just a side issue to them.

    I assume that Kieran Andrews thought that the Holyrood and Crown Office machine would crush Alex Salmond. That hasn’t happened has it.

    It sounds to me as though he is now talking to Salmond instead of to the machine.

  35. Black Joan
    Ignored
    says:

    Thank you, as ever, Rev.

    You don’t even mention having the tools of your trade summarily impounded — which must have restricted output and distorted the figures a bit too, both practically and as a result of all the stress and disruption it entailed.

  36. Gaelstorm
    Ignored
    says:

    Sorry to say I can’t disagree with any of that.

  37. WhoRattledYourCage
    Ignored
    says:

    The guy on the photo on the left at the start of this post looks like he’s holding a dildo along with his sign. Suppose if everything’s going down the cludgie you might as well just let it all hang oot. 🙂

  38. Dan Watt
    Ignored
    says:

    It would be a tradgedy should Wings cease to be. I also think it would be weaksauce of you to use Sturgeons continuation past May as an excuse to stop.

    Stu, the yes movement owes you an unpayable debt for your exposing of unionist lies, coverups, etc etc. Tripping at the last metaphorical hurdle would be a great loss.

    Of course, you are your most effective for us when there is an actual referendum to campaign for, a blue or black book to circulate etc. But the point is we still need you. We will still need you.

  39. Kenny
    Ignored
    says:

    Breeks makes the point about a ‘100 seat Scottish Senate’; if such a body were to declare themselves Senate, or equivalent, and made plain their intention to challenge the Union and achieve independence, legally and internationally, then my bet is that the People will quickly throw support behind this Senate – including the Pollyannas who’ll quickly recognise the move. More so when the SNP are exposed – as exposed they will be – as the charlatans and malefactors they are.

    My version of Pollyanna is that the erudite and brilliant Joanna Cherry is currently working with other like-minded Scottish MPs and MSPs to this end. I refuse to believe she and the other genuinely pro-independence heavyweights are idly watching the current catastrophe unfold with no plan to act when the ceiling caves-in.

    Thanks for your work, Stuart. You’ve become some sort of Scots living legend at the same time that Nicola S30 Sturgeon is being outed as a very amateur and incapable crook.

  40. Bob Mack
    Ignored
    says:

    @Stu,

    I understand your annoyance. The sad fact is though thst there are many thousands who look to you for the truth so often missed by ourselves.

    I have no other means of keeping track. I cannot rely on the other bloggers who are devotees of Nicola to give honest views because their readership depends on, and needs dception to remain.

    At some point the pressure must crack the false face of those that trumpet indy, but offer only servitude instead.

    You are needed. You may think it’s beyond redemption but that will change for sure.

    You do more good than you will ever know

  41. Jeannie McCrimmon
    Ignored
    says:

    Kenny says:
    30 January, 2021 at 1:18 pm
    Whoever took that first photo is a genius. Just a perfect piece of positioning and timing. Very good.
    ——————

    I loved this clever, and so lucky, photo too Kenny

  42. Graeme Hampton
    Ignored
    says:

    @revstu

    It’s usually elections that do for leaders. If she goes soon after May would you reconsider chucking it?

  43. Sarah
    Ignored
    says:

    @ Derek Rogers: thanks for your sample “letter to MP/MSP”. short and sweet!

    I wrote a longer version to John Swinney and Keith Brown in October. Amazingly it seems to have made no difference. I now plan to write to them all.

  44. TNS2019
    Ignored
    says:

    The current leadership MUST be planning for a Sturgeon resignation. She has become the story within the party if not in the MSM.
    So how will that succession be planned?
    Clearly with a view to keeping Cherry and her followers out.
    Swinney would appear to be a natural choice which is why we are doing our own bit to stop that happening (https://www.tns2019.org/new-blog-1/2020/12/1/head-brick-wall-interface) because the party needs a radical overhaul at the top.The problem is that years of control and suppression in the name of party discipline have robbed the SNP of an emerging cadre of successors.
    Wings is right in stating that stifled debate will become the SNP’s downfall.

  45. Clwyd Griffiths
    Ignored
    says:

    I just wished you’d attack the Tories, slab, slibdems, and yoon media as much as you do Nicola. That’s all I wish.

  46. Astonished
    Ignored
    says:

    Clwyd – I just wish you’d say something relevant.

  47. Clwyd Griffiths
    Ignored
    says:

    @Giesabrek although I disagree with some of the content on here lately, I’d donate, bcos Rev is still a superb journo and we need as many pro-indy sites as possible.

  48. Morag
    Ignored
    says:

    … and the demands for her to be out on her arse would reach a crescendo?

    Point of information. A crescendo is an increase in volume. You don’t reach it. A crescendo is what happens as you reach a climax.

    I think the crescendo started some time ago. How long until the climax remains to be seen.

  49. Captain Yossarian
    Ignored
    says:

    @Clwyd Griffiths – I don’t know where you are from, but this is the land of Robert Burns. Burns would want rid of Sturgeon and her coterie of female crooks……would you not agree?

    The rest of the parties at Holyrood are gash and I would agree with you there. If the SNP are the most credible party there, then what must the rest be like.

    A lot of us are pinning our last hopes on a clear-out of Sturgeon, Swinney and Wolffe. If that leaves us with Keith Brown and Humza Yousaf in charge for a while, then God help us all.

  50. Linda McFarlane
    Ignored
    says:

    Clwyd Griffiths says:
    30 January, 2021 at 3:56 pm
    I just wished you’d attack the Tories, slab, slibdems, and yoon media as much as you do Nicola. That’s all I wish.

    Then you’re not paying attention. Stu’s articles are based on evidence that any deaf dumb and blind monkey on an off day can verify.

  51. Chris Downie
    Ignored
    says:

    TNS, you made some good observations, but what I’ve always wondered, is what Swinney has to gain from knifing Salmond in the back?

  52. Fishy Wullie
    Ignored
    says:

    Clwyd Griffiths says:
    30 January, 2021 at 3:56 pm

    I just wished you’d attack the Tories, slab, slibdems, and yoon media as much as you do Nicola. That’s all I wish.

    —————————————————————

    You are either paid to post that shite or you’re just an ignorant idiot, which one is it please enlighten us

  53. ElGordo
    Ignored
    says:

    @Al-Stuart says: 30 January, 2021 at 2:03 pm

    “Seriously man, can you see yourself with a pipe and slippers just stroking your pussy….in the manner of Pension Pete? ”

    A Cat (or even a Rat) may have saved us this vision.

  54. Captain Yossarian
    Ignored
    says:

    @Chris Downie – I’ll let TNS answer you but I have observed Swinney over the course of this parliament and his behaviour is that of a bully…’we are the Government’ – no discussion, no debate, no alternatives allowed, just ‘we are the Government’.

    He has filled Education Scotland with hand-selected SNP place men and women who see and do nothing. On-line learning in Scotland is almost non-existent, but no-one complains.

    He appears to have some unhealthy hold over the teaching unions.

    He is the Deputy and so he is the fixer. Sturgeon fingers those she wants intimidated and Swinney does the rest. That’s what I have found.

    He is the chief oppressor of our legal profession. Do what he wants and get yourself a well paid placement on one of Holyrood’s spoof inquiries. Don’t do what he wants and you and your family will go hungry.

    He is best cut-out of public life in Scotland.

  55. Rev. Stuart Campbell
    Ignored
    says:

    “I just wished you’d attack the Tories, slab, slibdems, and yoon media as much as you do Nicola.”

    I write what needs to be written. What earthly point would there be in slagging off the Lib Dems right now? How would that help?

  56. twathater
    Ignored
    says:

    I agree with EVERY exhortation from others of your inescapable drive for indy and the truth and I echo their praise towards you

    I will say controversially that Sturgeon and her clique are NOT only to blame , the BIGGEST blame lays on the membership of the SNP who have gone along willingly and subserviently with everything this creature has foisted on US the people of Scotland

    How many times have members ostracised and berated posters for pointing out the lies and reviled policies , yet we have been told to shut up and accusations of yoonionist plants and worse have been levelled at us , and the polls the polls

    Instead of fighting the corruption and false promises the membership keep telling (baiting) us ” who else ye gonnie vote fur” and even when the truth hits them in the face they still say they will vote for them

    I proposed MONTHS ago to send a declaration from individuals to Sturgeon to tell her unless she ditches the GRA and HCB and declares May a plebiscite election we would collectively NOT vote SNP , and what happened tumbleweed

    Even today there is supposed to be proposal put forward for a transphobe declaration which Chris MacEleny says is against the SNP constitution and what are SNP members doing about it , YOU are NOT members of a democratic party, YOU are financiers of a NARCISSISTIC DESPOT ,

    FFS REVOLT and throw this charlatan and her handmaidens out STOP financing this aberration

  57. Rev. Stuart Campbell
    Ignored
    says:

    “It would be a tradgedy should Wings cease to be. I also think it would be weaksauce of you to use Sturgeons continuation past May as an excuse to stop.”

    There would simply be no point. It’d be like trying to build a tower to the moon. You could spend your whole life doing it but you’d never get there. I’ve got my own mental health to think about.

  58. Andy Ellis
    Ignored
    says:

    @Muscleguy 1.58pm

    I wish the party well and hope you do pick up seats. It can’t have been easy in the current Covid-19 environment. I’m pretty sure your chances of a decent amount of seats would improve if some ‘big hitters” from the SNP defected to the ISP.

    As they say, a week’s a long time in politics. If I were in the same position as Joanna Cherry, Kenny MacAskill, Angus McNeil find themselves I’d definitely be tempted to dump the SNP as a tarnished brand.

    If as some of us suspect nothing much changes after #HR2021, the ISP needs to put clear water between itself and the SNP and start selectively targeting the most egregiously offensive MSPs and MPs for challenging at future votes (Alyn Smith, Wishart, Blackman, Black, Bardell, Stewart McDonald, Nicolson, McLaughlin, Crawley just for starters in Westminster).

    We’re going to have 5 years to make an impact: the ISP may be the only plausible route to do that.

  59. Fishy Wullie
    Ignored
    says:

    “There would simply be no point. It’d be like trying to build a tower to the moon. You could spend your whole life doing it but you’d never get there. I’ve got my own mental health to think about.”

    —————————————————————–

    That may well be true and I understand that, but Nicolas mental health must be suffering as well, lying is hard work you have truth on your side she doesn’t, please stick with it

  60. holymacmoses
    Ignored
    says:

    Clwyd Griffiths says:
    30 January, 2021 at 3:56 pm
    I just wished you’d attack the Tories, slab, slibdems, and yoon media as much as you do Nicola. That’s all I wish.

    I’m not sure that many people consider them important enough to attack Mr Griffiths. In life, people tend to address issues which are relevant to them. People read this site to learn and understand what’s happening in the Independence Movement and this includes (in fact is dominated by) Nicola Sturgeon and her cabinet.

    The only relevance the Tories, slab, slibdems, and yoon media have to independence is if they are functioning, active etc.

    It is my belief that The ONLY thing that can prevent Scottish Independence being achieved in the next year or two is the behaviour and inaction of Nicola Sturgeon: that’s why we’re reading about the leader of the SNP

    If Boris or any of the others suddenly come into the frame to prevent our wishes, I’m sure the keyboards will be roasting:-)

  61. katherine hamilton
    Ignored
    says:

    No-one should have zero income. What are you, a noble savage? Help us here. What does an NUJ type journalist, working for the man, slagging us off, lying about us and ignoring the most appalling corruption in Scotland in my lifetime earn for their ignominy? Genuine question. I want to be part of paying you a wage.

  62. holymacmoses
    Ignored
    says:

    Rev. Stuart Campbell says:
    30 January, 2021 at 2:23 pm
    “I suspect your hourly rate is pretty low”

    Well, it’s currently zero.

    It’s statements like that, which make me wish I’d worried more about money and less about scruples in some employment I have undertaken in the past. However I would NEVER let you starve. Some people are worth knowing and saving even if you never get to meet them:-)

  63. Confused
    Ignored
    says:

    “mental health”

    – reading the yoon press daily, seems a peculiarly sadistic form of punishment for a sentient being. As for twitter, it needs an NBC suit at the best of times.

  64. Livionian
    Ignored
    says:

    I’ve strongly been thinking about tuning out of Scottish politics and focussing less about independence and more about everything else in my life, because we have blown our chance this decade and the window is away, so I don’t feel it worth my energy. So I understand that position.

    At the moment it is too delicious watching Sturgeon’s world fall down. So I am going to enjoy the ride with wings for now. And if it all goes tits up for her and a serious figure steps up to fight the cause, great. If not, I’m not going to invest too much into it personally. Life is too short and has so much more to it than to keep whinging at the news. That’s for taxi drivers man

  65. holymacmoses
    Ignored
    says:

    Livionian says:
    30 January, 2021 at 5:03 pm
    I’ve strongly been thinking about tuning out of Scottish politics and focussing less about independence and more about everything else in my life, because we have blown our chance this decade and the window is away, so I don’t feel it worth my energy. So I understand that position.

    I think we’ve got the best to come quite soon.

  66. Les Wilson
    Ignored
    says:

    Here is something that readers may be interested in, I am very interested in it, I think many here will be too.
    There was a couple of lines about it in the ” Scotsman ”
    But there was more to it and the writer is well qualified for what he said.

    This was written by a professor Mark Weller ( you can find him and his qualifications via google( at the moment anyway )

    Here is what he said about a Scottish referendum.
    He is the still active but now retired former advisor to the UN.
    He said that Scotland CAN have a legal referendum under UN law, and that be legal and recognised by International law.
    Boris Johnstone’s once in a generation is nonsense rhetoric
    and of no legal standing.

    So there you go, we can have a legal and recognised referendum without any S30 order, if the people of Scotland was wanting it.

    This kinda blows the the Union wet dream of containing Scotland under an english construct designed to keep us restrained. Eat that one Bozo.

  67. Frank Gillougley
    Ignored
    says:

    Stuart,

    You’ve single-handedly kept me going since you’ve started doing this.

    I remember them all (the contributors). There’s really not that many of them left (with notable exceptions and they all know who they are – I’m Spartacus!).

    A vacuum in lieu of WOS would be a real end to any political scrutiny and analysis in Scotland. Now that’s been one helluva historic achievement in itself.

    Could it very well be, that the night is always darkest before the dawn?

    Who knows by what means, events change history?

  68. Tony O'Neill
    Ignored
    says:

    If it goes tits up for the snp at the election, we all know we all know who the cult will try and blame. There time would be better spent turning their fury on the corrupt snp leadership,sychofants and the cowardly self serving mp’s and msp’s whoes silence was,and is deafening .

  69. velofello
    Ignored
    says:

    I’ve been with Wings from the start, look forward soon to be reading t your Independence achieved article, so no ideas please on quitting due to a setback – such as Sturgeon surviving a 2021 election.

    The tyranny of money – if MP and MSP salaries were just half of the existing rates we would more likely experience a rebellion against Sturgeon – less to lose financially and so freer to act upon the the principles that may have caused them to enter politics. Presently, most MSPs has a very cushy number, daily train or car travel to Holyrood. MPs have the “glamour” of London, and opportunity to develop contacts for business activities.

    I’m not really. convinced that being an MP or MSP is a full-time job.The civil service are the the worker bees “keeping the wheels of society in motion”. As for councillors…

  70. Doug McGregor
    Ignored
    says:

    We will know when things are on an even keel in Indy politics when you , Rev Stu , are welcomed into the kirk for your invaluable contribution over the last 10 years. I hope it is soon.

  71. Elmac
    Ignored
    says:

    Stuart

    Never underestimate what you have achieved nor the need for Wings. Most recently you have opened many eyes to the deceit, corruption and criminality of our Scottish government and institutions. There is a large army of Yessers who no longer believe that Sturgeon walks on water, or that the justice system and police are worthy of respect. We need you more than ever to help raise awareness amongst the blind of what is going on and to help bring this political scum and their little helpers to book. You have to believe that, even if Sturgeon somehow survives her current difficulties and retains her position after May, there will be a day of reckoning and Scotland will achieve independence despite her best efforts. You so deserve to be there to savour it.

    You must be able to make a decent living from what you are doing and in common with most of your supporters I would ask you to start another fund raiser to finance the blog for say the next couple of years with a decent salary built in for yourself. Perhaps a bit of R&R after May would be sensible to recharge the batteries.

    Don’t give in when we are so close. With every day which passes the demographic effect of the predominantly pro indy young joining the electorate and the old Tories and died in the wool labourites departing becomes more pronounced. Our future lies with the young and once Sturgeon has been removed, which is inevitable, the surge towards independence will be unstoppable. Be there to share it with us.

  72. Ottomanboi
    Ignored
    says:

    To be proactive, you must have convictions and loads of courage. The SNP leadership coterie appears deficient in both, with respect to Scottish nationalism.
    However, as a pressure group it fits neatly into the Great Reset mentality, sort of leftist, socially ‘liberal’, eco-conscious and rather indifferent to the concept of nation and culture as essential drivers of human identity. One Worldism (whose world might that be?), the schmaltzy tosh that Biden uttered about peace, healing division and coming together (!!!!) and men in frocks, what’s not to like.

  73. Lollysmum
    Ignored
    says:

    @frank gillougly at 5.05 pm

    Don’t you worry the ones who aren’t on here posting everyday are still active in indy circles. Yessers/Wingers may take different signposts on their path to indy but the general direction is straight on for self-determination. Watch them all come tumbling back onto the scene when a credible campaign appears.

    Watch this space 🙂

  74. John Thomson
    Ignored
    says:

    Rev just like to say thank you for all your hard work and if Sturgeon is still here after May I agree we are done with indy. Everyone’s mental health is their own concern so I agree.

  75. Sue Varley
    Ignored
    says:

    Stuart, I’m hoping against hope that something major changes before May, but if it doesn’t and you can see nothing beyond the current “creeping death” scenario that has been unfolding for a while, then I fully understand your need to break from Wings.

    Like many on here have said, I am grateful for all you have done up to now for independence, I am particularly grateful to you for opening my eyes months ago to what was coming down on us, so that now it has indeed arrived it’s a relief to have it in the open rather than the unbelievable shock it would have otherwise been.

    If you do need to quit I sincerely hope you will feel able to return when things take a turn towards the light once again.

  76. Lollysmum
    Ignored
    says:

    @Elmac at 5.55pm

    Very well said & I would heartily second every word.
    Stu-consider yersel telt!

  77. Effijy
    Ignored
    says:

    Update on Peoples Action on Section 30

    Dear Backers,
    I’ve started by titling this email as “no word as of yet” so as not to give you a false sense of hope while you wait.
    I know that many of you have likely chewed off your nails waiting for the opinion of Lady Carmichael. Unfortunately, the word “days” in court vernacular could mean a couple of weeks on the basis of some opinions usually taking months to give. So at this stage, there’s nothing to panic about.
    I just wanted to reach out and let you know what will happen next.
    About 48-24 hours before the judgement is released publicly by the court (which will happen through their website here: https://scotcourts.gov.uk/search-judgments/court-of-session) we will receive and advanced copy for internal use only. This will be given to us, the Advocate General and the Lord Advocate.
    This will be under embargo which means we won’t be able to release the contents until the court releases the judgement publicly. What we can do, however, is let you know that the judgement is imminent and also initiate the next steps (if required) before the judgement is released.
    It is almost certain that the next step for this case is for it to go to the inner house appeals court before 3 judges. That’s just a pragmatic thing to say because if the UK Gov loses, they will likely appeal, and considering I told you we’re going all the way if the opinion goes against us (which is very common in these sorts of cases because a single bench judge can be a lot less brave than a three bench or full bench court) we will most certainly appeal.
    It’s really important that we begin to push the fundraiser at this point so we’re armed to the teeth for this: http://www.crowdjustice.com/pas30
    As you are all aware, the release of the SNP 11 point plan (which falls apart at point 5) is in direct opposition to what the Lord Advocate argued throughout this case. The announcement of the bill in September combined with the very convenient release of the SNP 11 point plan the day after the those representing the government in the case about how (wrongly) this case is academic, premature etc, and the electorate has no standing because of that, has likely thrown a spanner in the works. It’s certainly going to make an interesting topic of conversation at the appeal stage and I have to admit that it’s more than disrespectful to the court to be playing this type of politics by pulling a stunt like that. But what can you do, the Lord Advocate is, after all, a political appointee and there aren’t enough words in the dictionary for me to express my personal opinion of how much a liability I think he is to the Scottish Government.
    Anyway, the long and the short here is that it’s almost certain we’ll be going to the inner house and that this will have been initiated by the time the judgement is released publicly. However, the minute I know that the judgement is going to be released publicly, I will give you all advanced notice to look out for it. Until then I suggest coating your fingernails in Araldite to stop you chewing them off. For those who have already chewed through the nails and are now chewing the fingertips – you should stop that, you can’t type very well without fingertips and it makes daily tasks very difficult.

    All the best.

    Martin

  78. Lenny Hartley
    Ignored
    says:

    Elmac well said agree with every word, Stu, yes a break of several weeks months after May but your needed and you also deserve a far better salary than you have been paying yourself. Your unstinting efforts towards the cause has not gone unnoticed.

  79. Terry
    Ignored
    says:

    I completely see your point. You do have your own mental health to think about.

    You have given so much to the cause and you deserve a life too. It’s just we need you and you’re so damn good – and honest – sometimes brutally so.

    We also need to thank you for raising awareness of the issue of TRA activism/gender debate. You rang the alarm bell on this before many others. Some told you to wheesht on that. Well how daft are they cos it’s part of the picture of why we are in this mess. But that heads up helped and if indy is off the table then that cluster fuck, gaslighting nonsense of taking away women’s sex based rights, rewriting the dictionary and denying biology with tactics straight out of 1984 is a battle that many of us will very much continue with. You shone a light on that and it doesn’t like the sunlight of truth.

    Something tells me though that Alex Salmond won’t be sitting back and let this almighty car crash unfold. Maybe, just like the Calvary he will be back in the nick of time to snatch victory form the jaws of defeat.

    Let’s face it he’s the master strategist and indpendence is his raisin d’etre. Can’t believe he’d let us down – after all he handed the baton to Nicola and what an utter nightmare she has turned out to be.

    So come on now, Eck. Saddle up and lead the cavalry. It might be the 11th hour but anything is possible. And at least it would put a smile on Stu’s face!

  80. sharon
    Ignored
    says:

    Whatever the future state of Scottish politics or independence, I’ll still want to read about it on this site.

  81. Confused
    Ignored
    says:

    While the most substantive part of WOS is the big issue, full on, rebuttals and takedowns of the big game – the present unfolding events a prime example – I especially enjoy the shining the light on all the little shites, toe-rags, the small fry, the grifters – who would otherwise pass by un-noticed; Michelle Mone for example, and that brainless borders farmers daughter wossername, rhiannon, leeza, jordon, too many to even remember.

    I enjoy the pop-culture references (roughly the same age) – 2000AD and VIZ predicted this world anyway; Judge Dredd, Student Grant etc.

    blogging is a tough gig; it’s seen as 3rd rate anyway, so no glory, and little money. Problems include

    – putting a lot of effort in, then getting no readers
    – getting readers, then finding yourself having to “play to the gallery” and “give the punters what they want”
    – you need to post regular, even if there is not much to talk about, or you are not in the mood

    “tories bad, london bad” is a reliable floor filler in the nationalist disco, but you have to dig deeper.

    If you do it for long enough, with any integrity, you will fall out with everyone at some point – you need the hide of a rhino. It would be perfectly reasonable to say “who needs this shit” and think “the world will burn anyway, save myself”.

    I think Scotland could/should be an advanced modern democracy with Norwegian/Swiss levels of human development, but the pessimist in me sees many hurdles; the empire never gives up anything valuable easily – fair play does not come into it; it’s a real fight; our leaders seem content with their own gains; if you got there, then selling the jerseys in the negotiations is likely, then even if you did get out, you are still in the “global system”, where corporations and oligarchs own us all.

    – when you start thinking like this, it is easy to think “what is the point?” But this is how they win and should be resisted; the world is changing all the time, and no power ever lasts forever and even the bad guys can neither predict, nor fully control the future : everything is up for grabs – GAME ON!

  82. Aquarius
    Ignored
    says:

    Hello Stu

    “If Sturgeon gets to the election intact I think independence, and therefore Wings, is all over.”

    With regard to your post of 1.29, it concerns me that you should even consider closing down Wings. Independence will never be over! As I said in another Thread (but now slightly expanded

    “As long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours, that we are fighting, but for freedom – for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself”.

    A continuing SNP as it it currently run will surely implode in due course. Yes, most of the population of this country are prepared to soldier on under the Government voted into power, but there comes a time for all to stand up, and it will come, so please reconsider.

    As you have pointed out 2020 was a good year for increased interest in WoS.

    I understand about the mental health point you have made. Please know that you are not alone. As a long time reader but only a recent contributor, I for one, would also be happy to contribute financially to see the site continue

  83. David
    Ignored
    says:

    This site is closing in on a notable event – it is about to reach a grand total of one million, yes ONE MILLION, comments.
    The stats ticker is on the top right of the page, below the ‘About’ section. It currently shows there are more than 996,600 below-the-line comments on the articles.
    We’re interested, we’re paying attention, and we’re not going anywhere until we achieve independence. Thanks, Stu. And Chris Cairns, and the guest columnists.

  84. David
    Ignored
    says:

    (Of course, if CameronB hadn’t got himself banned, we’d be well past the million comments by now…and closing in on the second million. 🙂 )

  85. Mia
    Ignored
    says:

    “We’re glad, and grateful, that so many of you are still here reading it”

    For some of us it is the main thing worthwhile reading.

    Please don’t throw the towel yet. Your articles have kept us sane and helped us to release steam. Your articles are not just informative, they are therapeutic.

    Even if the fraud or her British state new puppet remains in power and in control of the SNP after May, not all is lost. Many of us will have taken their measure and many more will see right through them too, particularly regarding the genderwoowoo. The frustration at that point will reach breaking point an the need for another party so they can castigate them by taking their votes elsewhere, will be obvious.

    From May 2021 we will then have 3 full years to create a strong pro indy alternative that has permanently in its manifesto the end of the union if a majority of seats are achieved. Maybe that party is the ISP.

    I know it is not a lot to go by just now, but at least think in the pleasure of helping with your articles to relieve cosy feet pete, Blackman, Blackford, daddy bear and the other undesirables, of the heavy burden that must be taking seats in the HoC and the fat salaries that go with them. That is what keeps me going.

  86. Scot Finlayson
    Ignored
    says:

    Should reach 1,000,000 comments on Thursday 27 May.

  87. Papko
    Ignored
    says:

    “We’ll see what happens. If Sturgeon gets to the election intact I think independence, and therefore Wings, is all over.”

    So the message is clear to all the Unionists, its two votes SNP and KEEP Sturgeon is power to keep the status quo.

  88. Sharny Dubs
    Ignored
    says:

    Every day I wake up and that useless, dangerous, got at, turned, misguided whatever is still the FM.

    gloom!!!

    Then I turn to WoS and there’s always someone battering on about something or other and the day gets bright enough to keep getting up.

    Don’t stop Stu, please!!

  89. Robert Hughes
    Ignored
    says:

    I think most of us would totally understand if that fateful day ever came when you withdrew from the fray . Your contribution has been and continues to be outstanding , a tribute to tenacious , insightful and above all searingly honest journalism : a shining example of what that profession should be , but so rarely is .

    Your exit would be a serious loss however .

    How much more fitting it would be if you were around to see the fulfilment of our destiny as an active participant .

    I have a feeling the movement will emerge stronger from the current disorienting and painful struggle , whether with a cleaned-out reinvigorated SNP or without it ( Breeks’s suggestions offer clarity and directions that may prove more fruitful than ploughing the Holyrood field , it’s looking pretty barren at the moment ).

    It would be great to have you still in the ring , jabbing incisively and looking for that millisecond opening to ” drop the bomb ” .

    Knockout Champ .

  90. Ottomanboi
    Ignored
    says:

    Recently watched a classic film called Lawrence of Arabia. In one scene, a bedouin, whose village had been destroyed by Turks, cries ‘No Prisoners’ when attacking a retreating band of Ottoman soldiers.
    However ‘barbaric’ that might sound to western ears, we could do with some of that raw, visceral passion in Scottish politics.
    At the moment Scottish nationalism is rather ‘flaccid’. Could do with with some viagra.
    Wings=Viagra+

  91. Kenny
    Ignored
    says:

    Couple of talking points to throw out there:

    1. Martin Keating is able to raise £200k – they can’t all be ‘vile’ WoS readers? That says to me that a hefty % of that fund has been raised by non-Wos/anti-Wos indy-supporters. What % of them will be further deflated and moved to a reality if Martin wins this case?

    2. You’re a unionist; what event would concern you most; a) Nicola Sturgeon retains power b) Nicola Sturgeon resigns?
    Zactly – Sturgeon’s their greatest asset.

    3. Andy Ellis ‘put clear water between ISP and SNP and start selectively targeting the most egregiously offensive MSPs and MPs‘.. I’m now of this train of thought. However, if the SNP can be so easily infiltrated (sorry to broach this, btw) then ISP need to be vigilant of the same. I think that is another reason why ISP would do well to consider extending an invite to a known pro-indy name. Chris McEleny, although not currently part of SNP, seems to be trusted by Pollyannas and would have enough savvy to anticipate potential threats, and, Chris sounds like he’s thoroughly disgusted enough to seriously consider this. I reckon his experience, knowledge and passion would make him a very good ISP candidate, and, being chummy with Craig Murray, would be a highly efficient ISP Polis.

  92. Captain Yossarian
    Ignored
    says:

    @Stu – From Brian Wilson (I sat next to him at the football a few years ago and he was OK) – ‘Evidence of a deeply sinister set of events within St Andrews House continues to drift into the public domain. Natural justice demands all is heard and subject to scrutiny by the Holyrood Committee, without limit of time’.

    There you are…Personally speaking I’d be surprised if a chap like Wilson didn’t read this website. We all move in different circles and pick up different information because of that but there is little doubt that this site is the comfortable home for many committed and honest Nationalists.

  93. Del G
    Ignored
    says:

    I’m not surprised to see high viewing figures, Stu. Many people focus on trans matters and your site provides a platform for discussion. Then there are those who oppose your arguments and they too will read this site. More know your enemy.

  94. tricia young
    Ignored
    says:

    Start the fundraiser Stu, have some time off but please oh please don’t go forever. You definitely shine a light on a lot of the toerags and hangers on (big and small) that try to bring down Scotland and mould it into a place I don’t recognise or want to live in. We need you. How much do you need? Purse open.

  95. Kenny
    Ignored
    says:

    Jeez.

    Morag @ 4.01 “Climax
    Ottomanboi @ 7.00pm “Viagra

    Far too torrid for my taste..

  96. Republicofscotland
    Ignored
    says:

    Here’s hoping we get rid of Sturgeon before May’s election, we’ve grown accustom Rev to your invaluable reports.

    Meanwhile.

    Businesses are having to leave the UK and set up shop in the EU due to Brexit.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/brexit/uk-firms-plan-to-shift-across-channel-after-brexit-chaos/ar-BB1deIy0?ocid=msedgntp

  97. laukat
    Ignored
    says:

    I find myself in a quandry and I’m looking for some help

    I really want another pro-indy party to vote for. Greens are worse than the SNP for wokeness and ISP need a couple of big names to head it up otherwise they will not register in May.

    I desperatley want change in the SNP and I have hovered over the button to end my membership so many times over the last few weeks as the treatement of Alex Salmond has become clearer. I suspect if the NEC transphobia defintion is as much a stitch up as I fear I will probably end my membership by Monday.

    I also doubt that Sturgeon will be forced out pre-election as that rests on the comittee declaring a breach and I’m not convinced they will have the material or the will to do that.

    However if we get to May and the parties on offer are still as they currently are then I will have no option but to hold my nose and vote SNP as anything else is effectively a boost to unionism and I can’t wake up on the 7th May with Bojo or Dross declaring they have seen off the Independence movement. It was soul destroying when we lost the referendum and Cameron came out claiiming victory the next day. I just couldn’t face that again.

    If Sturgeon is really being controlled or trying to produce an election result that produces a minority SNP Government to avoid awkward question on Indepedence then perhaps the best thing we can do is ensure she doesn’t get that result? Sounds crazy to say that the worst thing we could do to Sturgeon is vote for her in overwhelming numbers!

    Its not so much “wheesht for Indy” as “what the F is the other option for Indy”

    @Rev Stu – I would be interested to know what your thoughts are and if you would or wouldn’t vote SNP in May if the choice of parties and leaders remain the same?

    I’d also be interested to hear from others on what they will do in May as I’m sure everyone else has the same dilemma?

  98. Grouse Beater
    Ignored
    says:

    My contribution to the cause for this week, and like Stu, I can’t see beyond the fog created by the SNP that’s looks like Jerusalem. Then again, the sloths watched lots of us die while they slap the faces of Westminster politicians with their comfy slippers.

    ‘SNP and Loyalty’ https://wp.me/p4fd9j-prc

  99. Effijy
    Ignored
    says:

    Update on Peoples Action on Section 30

    A few people asking how they can get more involved in the #peoplesas30 and if they themselves can make affidavits as the politicians did. First thing I would say is that affidavits require a notary so there is a cost for that. However, one committed yesser has made the point that an affidavit is not the be-all and end-all if statements were to be submitted en-masse, even a signed statement being submitted en-masse would have some value – and I am not able to fault that logic.
    A single non-affidavit might have no weight by itself but thousands of them would.
    Now! Let me be brutally honest here. The yesser concerned has constructed his own statement of support and intended to submit it directly to the court. I have asked him not to do that, simply on the basis of the fact that hundreds of emails to the court would bog it down and cause mass disruption to their daily activities. He agreed. The last thing we want to do is annoy the court.
    However, I don’t see anything wrong with people making public declarations of support and I have also said that if they are all collected together, I am more than willing to put them into one large file and submit them altogether if we have to go to appeal.
    I think that reasonable. In return, the Yesser concerned has given me a copy of what he has said and I said I would publish it. I have also set up an email address to collect them all together and am willing to spend the time compressing them into a single file.
    So, if you do want to make a statement (and he constructed his ironically using the public affidavits of the MPs and MSP’s), his template can be found here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/my151egv9wycc4veydsfs/support.docx?dl=0&rlkey=v622immla3to27m3vvqo6uvrq
    If you wish to do this, you can submit them to FAOStatement@gmail.com and I will then pick them up and collate them.

    All the best

    Martin

  100. A Person
    Ignored
    says:

    -Rev-

    Just to say thank you for all you do. Worth more than all the other “journalists” in Scotland- avowed unionists and west-as-a-puddle hangers on alike- put together.

    As you say, Sturgeon isn’t doing as well as she claims to be, so it will be interesting to see where that ends up (although a scenario where a unionist grand coalition instals Johann Lamont as first minister would be a pretty diabolical chapter of the rollercoaster political journey we have all been on!)

    Take care of your mental health and I look forward to contributing to any forthcoming fundraiser.

    -Grouse Beater-

    Sorry to hear your bad news.

  101. Derick fae Yell
    Ignored
    says:

    I don’t comment every day. I read most days.

    This place has been vital, absolutely vital, to a lot of our mental health. A wee spark of hope (and righteous anger).

    Understand why you might be tired of it all. Hope very much that you won’t give up. Put up a crowfunder. Even if it’s for you to take a year off.

    Don’t give up. Please

  102. Astonished
    Ignored
    says:

    It comes to this : I don’t trust sturgeon and the woke. They can’t even be honest about the ring-fenced money.
    .
    I don’t trust the newspapers (including the national) or the TV news (especially the BBCollaborators).
    .
    I do trust you to tell the truth however unpalatable. I was a sturgeon loyalist who has been reading this site since its beginning. When you started on your revelations I was appalled – but you were telling the truth. Sturgeon was lying.
    .
    Take a long(ish) break. Double your salary. I’ll double my contribuition.
    .
    The bottom line is that I and Scotland need you as you’re honest and fearless. We will win – think on how good you’ll feel when that happens.

  103. Andy Ellis
    Ignored
    says:

    @laukat 7.19pm

    Many of us share your dilemma. I can’t vote for the current SNP. It doesn’t help that Robertson would be my constituency candidate in Edinburgh. I’ll probably spoil that ballot and vote ISP on the list. Absent some political earthquake in the next few week, I can’t see the SNP not gaining a majority. That almost certainly means 5 more years of stasis.

    Unless the ISP – or another new entrant? – challenges the SNP, the game may be up for the “auld guard”, hard as it is to accept. We may just have to leave it to demographic change to deliver indy when we’re in our dotage. Let’s just hope the woke Wahhabis aren’t ruling the roost. 🙁

    I’ve honestly got to the point that I wished I’d moved to Ireland years ago and taken citizenship.

    At least the Irish had the balls to claim their independence, not wait for someone to give it to them.

  104. AJ
    Ignored
    says:

    Please don’t ever close down .. we need you

  105. Big Jock
    Ignored
    says:

    I fear we are becoming like Palestinians. Stateless! It’s how I felt after 2014. I don’t think it’s changed. I am a Scot ,but I have no citezenship.

  106. Famous15
    Ignored
    says:

    It is almost as if some would welcome a more passionate response. And the type of passion hoped for is indeed seen in Lawrence of Arabia with or without viagra! We see you!

    The SNP was gutted by entryists but I still see hope in AUOB and the YES movement and know there are clean individuals out there able to unite the cause of independence without resort to “stupid” methods.

    Now is the time for a people’s manifesto addressing all that failed in 2014 and offering moderate but not modest solutions.

  107. Alf Baird
    Ignored
    says:

    “We have to actually DO something to achieve independence”

    Thanks for that Rev. I quite agree on the need to do something. That’s why I’m quite excited about any indy party that offers May’s election as a plebiscite on independence.

    So far only Solidarity has I think stated this. I’m not sure about ISP, does anyone know?

    ISP’s website simply states that they will seek another referendum via Holyrood MSP’s – that is not support for a plebiscite election, and seems just like the SNP ‘strategy’.

  108. Beaker
    Ignored
    says:

    BBC has finally made some noise about Alex Salmond’s submission in the past couple of hours. Although they have included a caveat saying it was “first reported in the Times and seen by the BBC”.

  109. Cath
    Ignored
    says:

    Many of us share your dilemma. I can’t vote for the current SNP. It doesn’t help that Robertson would be my constituency candidate in Edinburgh. I’ll probably spoil that ballot and vote ISP on the list.

    Problem with that approach, especially in a marginal constituency, is that if the SNP don’t get in on the constituency list, the ISP has pretty much zero chance of getting a seat on the list, as the SNP will pick those up along with Labour, Tories, Lib Dems etc. And it’s quite possible the SNP top list person will either be the same as the one standing on the constituency list or someone even worse. We need to send as many pro indy MSPs to Holyrood as possible, as that’s the only chance of independence. I’d love to see some really strong ISP or independent candidates on the list who have a real chance of getting in.

  110. Terry
    Ignored
    says:

    BBC reporting this.

    https://archive.vn/aQbXG

    Get the feeling there’s a tsunami coming.

  111. Derick fae Yell
    Ignored
    says:

    ISP are in favour of making May a plebiscite election. And every election.

    Cath is right. We need SNP candidates to win on the constituencies in order for the list strategy to work. Hold your nose and vote SNP1, ISP2

  112. Andy Ellis
    Ignored
    says:

    @Cath

    Fewer SNP MSPs like Robertson is looking a pretty good option right now, so you’re not really selling it to me. The size of the SNP majority is irrelevant unless the current leadership is replaced, since they have no intention of delivering.

    At the risk of going full Cato: “SNP delenda est”.

  113. ScottieDog
    Ignored
    says:

    “ Cath is right. We need SNP candidates to win on the constituencies in order for the list strategy to work. Hold your nose and vote SNP1, ISP2”

    Where I’m at just now, although it will largely depend on what happens in the coming months.
    There are still good people in there who recognise the failings on indy and the ruinous intentions of Charlotte street partners.

    For me, 2021-24/26, the first 18 months will be about seeing if there is any sign of change of direction within the party. The remaining time of that term will be about building up the Indy alternative party for HR and possibly WM. That time will pass very quickly.

    I console myself by thinking back to Oct 2014 when I thought that a decade at least would have to pass before there was any hint of another referendum.

  114. Mc Duff
    Ignored
    says:

    This site has been an inspiration since the depression brought on by the indy defeat in `14 and continues to lift our spirits with its truth and honesty. So a huge debt of gratitude rev and all at wings for the invaluable work you do on our behalf.

  115. Elmac
    Ignored
    says:

    My family had previously decided to vote ISP on the list in May and give our constituency votes to any other pro independence party standing or, failing that, a well meaning independent. However, given recent revelations, if there is no change for the better in the SNP leadership by the date of the election, we will give both votes to the party most likely to defeat Sturgeon as we firmly believe there is no hope of independence until she is ousted. If this were to mean Unionist control of Holyrood then so be it – we would be no worse off.

    In our situation that would mean voting Tory, something we have never gone in our entire lives and is basically abhorrent to us. Yet we will suppress the vomit and we will do so as the lesser of two evils. This is a measure of the anger and disgust we feel as a family for Sturgeon, her “husband” her tame civil servants, the “Lord” Advocate” and the hierarchy at Police Scotland. Our day will come and you will do jail time. You may not rot there but, if there is a God, you will undoubtedly rot in hell.

  116. ALANM
    Ignored
    says:

    @McDuff

    Lead on McDuff; I’d hate to think Stu has just given our enemies an incentive to keep Sturgeon in post but I fear he might’ve.

  117. Captain Yossarian
    Ignored
    says:

    @Elmac – I’m with you all the way there. Don’t forget the black-dog Swinney and all of his paid-up union men and lawyers.

  118. Ebok
    Ignored
    says:

    When the soul searching is over, and if nothing has changed come the May elections, then you must appreciate the simple mathematics of whether to vote positively, or spoil your paper (not voting is the same a spoiling): –
    1. A vote for (say) SNP is obvious: you want that candidate to win.
    2. Declining to vote for anyone, or spoiling, is sitting on the fence and leaving other voters to make the decision for you.
    3. If you wish your (say) SNP candidate to lose, then you must vote for the person most likely to benefit.

    Consider this: – Swinney won his seat in 2016 by a majority of 3336.

    If 2000 voters, who voted for him in 2016, do not wish to see him returned as their MSP, and decide not to vote or spoil their paper, then he still wins with a 1336 majority.

    If those 2000 voters really want to change this MSP, then they must vote Cons and he will lose by 664. The actual number required to change in this case is 1669.

    This is based on all other voters voting as they did in 2016.

  119. Alf Baird
    Ignored
    says:

    Derick fae Yell @ 8:33

    “ISP are in favour of making May a plebiscite election. And every election.”

    If that is the case then it would be better if they actually said that on the ISP website Derick, rather than this: “Once elected, the first action taken by the ISP in the Scottish parliament will be to call a vote on proceeding with an independence referendum.”

    Ditto Solidarity, though John Park did leave a note to that effect on WoS a few days back.

    I’m pretty sure half the Scottish electorate would vote for ANY PARTY which has May’s election as a plebiscite on independence in their manifesto.

    (Have none of our political class ever studied marketing? Like, give the punters what they want to buy?)

  120. John
    Ignored
    says:

    “Alf Baird says:
    30 January, 2021 at 8:02 pm

    ISP’s website simply states that they will seek another referendum via Holyrood MSP’s – that is not support for a plebiscite election, and seems just like the SNP ‘strategy’.”

    REPLY:
    “The ISP are launching a petition to make the May 2021 Holyrood election a plebiscite on independence.

    Czechoslovakia became the Czech Republic and Slovakia after the Slovakians voted in a general election for Vladimir Meciar’s ‘Movement for a Democratic Slovakia.’ Other countries have become independent without the ‘permission’ of the country they were leaving.”
    https://www.isp.scot/plebiscite-petition/

  121. Jonathan Marshall
    Ignored
    says:

    I have to disagree, the current crop of Labour Lib dem and Tory MSP are a plague of leeches on the Scottish people and should have been swept out years ago. We need a Scottish parliament that is pro-indy. SNP 1 and ISP 2… or Green as the other option. We have to stay together a little longer and need to sweep away the last of the opposition dross. If the SNP don’t keep their promise of an Indy Ref then they are unelectable next time round… but that would give the ISP time to become the alternative party.

  122. Andy Ellis
    Ignored
    says:

    Much as I’d like to see them do well, it wouldn’t make any difference how many voted for the ISP if they remain a list only party would it? The only circumstance the ISP could have made an impact would have been if they held the balance of power in #HR2021…but they won’t.

    What we can see now is the product of not having a viable alternative to the SNP in time to make a difference.

  123. Josef Ó Luain
    Ignored
    says:

    You have clearly and rightly been deemed as indispensable to the future of Scotland by many engaged, thoughtful men and women. Few Scotsmen have ever attained such a distinction.You have a long way to go; take every humanly possible precaution on your journey

    Sincere gratitude and respect for your outstanding talent and courage.

  124. Brian Doonthetoon
    Ignored
    says:

    Hi Rev Stu.

    I’ve been reading your output here since around March 2013. Started commenting around April 2014, just before the May ‘Friends of WOS’ get-together in Jolly’s Hotel in Broughty Ferry, organised by Thepnr.

    Yes, your blog is ‘pro-independence’ but, lately, you have been exposing the undercurrent of corruption and sheer badness that is endemic within the Scottish political ‘establishment’.

    Even if the struggle for independence is put on the back burner after the May election, we, the Scots, will need somebody of your journalistic calibre, to continue exposing the ‘ne’er do wells, scowgies*, wangraces* and warrochs* who may rise to the surface of public perception.

    Thanks for all you’ve done so far.

    * https://dsl.ac.uk/

  125. I giveup
    Ignored
    says:

    Lola’s lot are getting their knickers in a twist and the women are just as hysterical because of the Off the charts visitor numbers . Aye we know you keep looking in Dr Jim yah fkn dick along with Perta the petrified and Hamish who hasn’t had one original thought since the day he was hatched
    Oh look he’s bragging but look at the numbers and blondie who was once in The TV Series friends likes Nicola so they are saved nirvana is in sight just round the next bend HA HA fkn mugs .

  126. Bob Mack
    Ignored
    says:

    We’ve all been engaged in this fight for several years. I can accept that politics has a dark side. I can accept that humiliating your opponent or questioning their good character is part of that side of things. I can also accept the harshness of Real Politik.

    What I cannot accept is the attempt to put a man in jail possibly for life, and having failed, come under the
    spotlight yourself, you then try to justify that action.

    When I enter the polling booth and look at that list, I will have to put aside any notion of decency and know I am voting for a party whose hierarchy have deliberately withheld information to save themselves and their leader.

    If you can falsely try to imprison one man ,a nation is no worse. Remember that when you pick up that pencil in that booth. You endorse it. You give them license.

    In addition, look at your wife daughter and grandaughter. The foundations of your life before you vote. Tell them why their freedoms are less than Independence if you can. Explain why they are expendable to make a nation free. For men that is.

    You are not choosing a political party in that booth. You are choosing whether your sense of self and family is flexible or not.

  127. mike cassidy
    Ignored
    says:

    That threat to call it a day

    I bet its a cunning plan to fool unionists into voting SNP

    That way more ISP listers might make it to Holyrood

    You Baldrick you

    And don’t forget

    You were the one who shone the first light on the transactivist problem for a lot of us

    Now that Labour has reached the Judean People’s Front milestone on that one

    https://archive.is/NGVST

    I bet you won’t be able to resist keeping up.

    And for those who are not aware

    All you need to know about A Man Called Heather

    https://archive.is/RcAQL

  128. Elmac
    Ignored
    says:

    Jonathan Marshall @ 9.27pm

    ” .. the current crop of Labour Lib dem and Tory MSP are a plague of leeches on the Scottish people”

    Agreed Jonathon but there is now ample evidence to include the SNP in that statement. If Sturgeon rules the roost after May she will be safe for 5 years. Safe to collect her substantial salary and expenses, safe to keep her “husband in his overpaid sinecure, safe to pursue her ridiculous and offensive woke policies, safe to manoeuvre Kenny Macaskill, Joanna Cherry and other decent pro independence stalwarts out of the party, safe to continue to manipulate the media, and safe in the knowledge that, as long as she delays an independence referendum, she is an asset to Westminster. In 5 years time we would be in a much worse, less uninformed, position than now. On the other hand a unionist Holyrood would be anathema to many and much more likely to keep the independence pot boiling, especially if Sturgeon had been arrested for her misdemeanours or had fallen on her sword after defeat in the election.

    I would much prefer Sturgeon to go now and a decent successor elected who could muck out the stable and bring the Yes movement back together before May. Not much time left for that unfortunately but he/she would have my support and that of most on here. We all want independence, we are just tired of carrots, lies and corruption.

  129. AYRSHIRE ROB
    Ignored
    says:

    Ebok 9.18pm

    Vote Cons. Tory? Not on your nelly puff pal.

  130. Elmac
    Ignored
    says:

    Ayrshire Rob 9.18pm

    If it got rid of Sturgeon I would. And that’s from a fellow Ayrshireman.

  131. Cath
    Ignored
    says:

    We all want independence, we are just tired of carrots, lies and corruption.

    That has a nice book title ring to it “Carrots, lies and corruption: the Scottish independence movement 2016-20??.”

  132. Tinto Chiel
    Ignored
    says:

    @Big Jock 7.58: unfortunately, mon vieux haricot, it gets worse.

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=the+hundred+years+war+on+palestine&i=stripbooks&crid=179R16YJS073M&sprefix=the+hundred+years%27+war%2Caps%2C194&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-a-p_2_21

    A hard fight ahead of us, but easier if we get rid of the deeply compromised and the bench-warmers.

  133. Elmac
    Ignored
    says:

    At my age I should be able to tell the time. Last post was a response to Ayrshire Rob at 9.57, not 9.18!

  134. DaveL
    Ignored
    says:

    Elmac, captain yossarian, Ebok. Aye I see your tories now. Vote Tory for independence? Is that the story? Sounds like a real winner! Let’s all do it eh.

    But seriously, gaun fuck off back into that scum infested turd you crept out of!

  135. Ebok
    Ignored
    says:

    Rob,
    I’m white, male, hetrosexual, working class, indigenous scum, a minority in my own country, so not likely to be advocating what you were intimating, just pointing out the reality of the real dilemna a lot of folks are in.

  136. WhoRattledYourCage
    Ignored
    says:

    “One lesson we should learn from New Labour is that trying to replace the substance of politics with spin no longer washes with a public that sees straight through it. Our values, our principles, our policies and our vision for Scotland ate what matter” – Nicola Sturgeon, 2001. Ironic.

  137. WhoRattledYourCage
    Ignored
    says:

    Erratum: ‘are what matter.’

    Or maybe not.

  138. Elmac
    Ignored
    says:

    DaveL says 10.11

    Nice debating style.

    None of us are Tories , just realistic. Sturgeon is the greater evil at the moment.

    If you would like to debate this would be pleased to hear your views in a less aggressive manner.

  139. DaveL
    Ignored
    says:

    @Elmac. Aye I’m sure you would but I’m not feeding you. Like I said, fuck off.

  140. Elmac
    Ignored
    says:

    DaveL says 10.20

    I think that sums you up.

  141. Wee Crabbit Bas
    Ignored
    says:

    Not so sure you’ll be ready to lay down arms, if the right opportunity presents itself. Never give up, never give in. In my dream that never dies, I see Eck, having watched and observed the spider, returning to the fray like The Bruce. There are plenty that would pick up arms again, metaphorically natch, to join him.

    Footnote: To all the Kool Aiders, and Nicool Aiders (deary me) out there: do some basic fucking research on the Jonestown massacre, and have a word wi yourselves.

  142. Hatuey
    Ignored
    says:

    It’s not often shock and horror makes me laugh so heartily, but when I read comments that suggest people are still intending to vote SNP, after all that we’ve seen, after all the court cases, all the lies, all the barriers they’ve put up to stop us getting at the truth, it feels like I just stepped up onto the gallows and am looking out over the Twilight Zone…

    It’s my expectation that the SNP will be completely and utterly destroyed in the next few weeks, in which case you won’t get the chance to act so stupidly.

    I discount the possibility of the SNP being “repaired”, with a new leadership team in place, etc. Factor in all those that sat and said nothing, and I think you must, and you’d be as well starting from scratch.

    We can only hope that contingency plans are in place that provide other options, assuming the elections go ahead and there’s a parliament left standing. We’ll see.

    But, personally, to tell the truth, I’m pretty sick of politicians dangling carrots in front of me. I’ve got my own carrots. Politics is full of twisted freaks.

  143. holymacmoses
    Ignored
    says:

    If it takes Tories to get rid of Nicola Sturgeon in Scotland – then I’m not interested in staying here.

  144. Elmac
    Ignored
    says:

    DaveL says 10.20

    Look Dave, I am not angling for a fight so can we stop the mudslinging. It is not a good look for any new people coming on here. I want independence at least as much as you but we may have differing views how to get there. If you are a Sturgeon sympathiser then you are on the wrong website. Wee Ginger Dug would suit you better.

    I firmly believe there will be no independence under Sturgeon. She is either too comfy with her lot or has been nobbled by Westminster years ago. Either way she needs to be gone and is currently our No 1 problem. If she survives to May then we will have 5 more years of her lot which will finish us for a generation, as Bojo likes to say, so we need her gone now. If I have to hold my nose and vote Tory in my constituency for the first time in my life then so be it.

  145. AYRSHIRE ROB
    Ignored
    says:

    Ebok @1012pm

    You’re indigenous scum ? Really?

    Anyhow your previous. So what does Cons mean in your world?

  146. Elmac
    Ignored
    says:

    holymacmoses @10.33

    Not sure if you mean staying in Scotland or staying on Wings. Either way please reconsider. I read all your posts and generally agree with what you say. I hate the Tories with a passion. I hate what they stand for and what they have done to my country but at the moment I hate what Sturgeon is doing more. Believe me if the main contender to SNP was Liberal, Labour or Greens I would vote for them. It just so happens the only realistic rival in my constituency is the Tories. I will vote ISP on the list if they field a candidate.

    I want sturgeon out. Ideally before May so I can vote for SNP as I have done for very many years. If she survives to stand in the election then I will vote for whoever has the best chance of giving her a bloody nose.

  147. Colin Alexander
    Ignored
    says:

    Sturgeon will try to stay long enough to ensure pro-UK colonial administrators continue to control the SNP.

    That’s why the SNP went out of their way to get the Edinburgh Central MSP candidacy for Angus Robertson.

    I suspect the plan is Angus Robertson will continue to suppress the independence movement as the next SNP FM.

  148. AYRSHIRE ROB
    Ignored
    says:

    Elmac

    The only tory in Ayrshire is John Scott and he’s been there for around 20 years.

    He’s been close a few times to being ousted but to no avail as yet.So depending in what part of Ayrshire you are not sure who rival on a tory constituency would be ? He’s been an incumbent for years.

  149. holymacmoses
    Ignored
    says:

    Elmac

    I have options to go abroad and that’s what I meant. I can’t stand all these spineless SNPers who know Sturgeon is vile and yet hang on to her and tolerate the neonates because they want independence like a child wants a chocolate bar just out of reach in a shop. Sturgeon takes them into the shop and parks the pram just out of reach. They scream ‘me want’ but haven’t got the guts to try climbing out of the pram and getting the sweet for themselves – they want Nanny Nicky to take it and hand it to them. Sturgeon is NEVER going to park that pram close enough and I fear that the weans (not the neonates) are never going to find the words or the courage to take the confection themselves.
    While I am in this country I shall never stop reading Mr Wings while he has the strength to carry on:-)

  150. Hugh Jarse
    Ignored
    says:

    “The Lord Advocate and Solicitor General for Scotland have not had any decision-making role in the investigation and prosecution of Alex Salmond and any subsequent related matters”

    Aye, and indeed right

  151. Elmac
    Ignored
    says:

    AYRSHIRE ROB @ 11.02

    You are correct John Scott is my MSP. He is the incumbent but SNP ran him close in 2011 and 2016 – only 750 votes behind in the latter, so it is very much a marginal seat and very winnable. I think he would have been under serious threat this time but with recent publicity for the SNP who knows. He seems to have a personal following although I did hear he may have some health issues so not sure if he will stand. Don’t take that as read as I have a notoriously bad memory.

  152. holymacmoses
    Ignored
    says:

    AYRSHIRE ROB says:
    30 January, 2021 at 11:02 pm
    Elmac

    The only tory in Ayrshire is John Scott and he’s been there for around 20 years

    It might be difficult to oust him this time. He is in remission from pancreatic cancer (a disease his wife died of a few years ago) and has shown a deal of mettle in his recovery – which is much to his credit.
    Anyone standing against him will have the sympathy vote to contend with despite the fact that he has been a fairly useless MSP for years, I suspect all will be forgiven by those who could be in his shoes but for the grace of God …

  153. cynicalHighlander
    Ignored
    says:

    @Bob Mack
    30 January, 2021 at 9:43 pm

    Concur

  154. wee monkey
    Ignored
    says:

    All the raging won’t accomplish anything, rant swear at each other but

    Quote:-

    “If you can falsely try to imprison one man ,a nation is no worse. Remember that when you pick up that pencil in that booth.
    You endorse it.
    You give/gave them license.”

    Is the truth. Face up to it. Take it on board, accept it and move forwards.

    Finally, I wonder if your move to Bath was one of those lucky quirks Stu. For sure if you were in Scotland it would be almost impossible for the truth to be told.

  155. AYRSHIRE ROB
    Ignored
    says:

    John Scott should retire really. John isn’t short of a few bob. He’s well in with the farmers in the area and keeps them sweet cos of a few interests here and there.
    His constituency office won’t be cheap either. Houses / offices there are more in line with likes of Bath lol.
    Won’t be much change out of 2k.Quite near Sheriff Court and Low Green.

  156. Alf Baird
    Ignored
    says:

    John @ 9:27

    “The ISP are launching a petition to make the May 2021 Holyrood election a plebiscite on independence.”

    Why do they need a petition and petition to whom? Can’t they do as Solidarity suggests and just add it in their manifesto, like they actually mean to deliver independence if a majority votes for it?

  157. Socrates MacSporran
    Ignored
    says:

    Elmac and AYRSHIRE ROB

    I feel John Scott will be under a lot of pressure from the local Tories to stand again. After all, the most-obvious replacement, should he retire, would seem to be Brian Whittle.

    A good runner 20 years ago, but, one of the thickest and most-useless Tories in Holyrood, and that’s saying something.

    John has a terrific personal vote and, should he go, the seat is definitely winnable, but only if the SNP gets its act together. The woke coven will certainly not win it.

  158. Elmac
    Ignored
    says:

    holymacmoses @ 11.02

    Sounds like we feel the same way. I am too old to have the option of emigrating although I did live abroad for many years and often wonder why I came back. Still hoping to find an Irish/French/German etc ancestor to justify a claim for dual citizenship

    It is what it is and I am resigned to making the best of it. I keep hoping the dam will break soon and the Sturgeon/Murrell/ Wolffe/Police corruption will be revealed for all to see. In a decent society the media would have been on this like ferrets and blown the gaffe some time ago but we live in one of the most corrupt states in the civilised world. The last thing the establishment want is for their valuable colony to break away so why are the unionist controlled media so obviously protecting the Murrells and the status quo in Scotland? it is such an obvious open goal. One point of view is that they are biding their time for maximum impact before the May elections but I firmly believe it is because they want to keep Sturgeon in position. Either because they know she is too personally financially comfortable to push for independence or, more likely, she is in their pocket.

    We need to let Stuart Campbell know how much he is appreciated. To lose him would be a disaster for the yes movement. Imagine having to survive on the tepid comments of WGD.

  159. shug
    Ignored
    says:

    There are strange goings on just now.
    The MSM seem to be following the Brexiteers line that the nasty EU has closed the Irish border breaking the Good Friday Agreement.
    They have not closed the border!! THE BORDER IS OPEN!!
    The EU as stopped Belgian firms which is owned in the US and Germany from exporting outside the EU without specific paperwork.
    I repeat the border is not closed. No vehicles are being stopped and searched.
    With this move the UK is extending what the EU did to refer to the Irish Border and the Good Friday Agreement in order to give them a leaver with President Biden. – look at the nasty Europeans!!
    The usual rent a gobs are now sneering at the EU and remainers.
    Interestingly British soldiers do have to fill out border paperwork to go to N Ireland. I see no body taking issue with the fact British Soldiers can’t move to N Ireland without completing EU export forms.
    You would think someone would want to put this to a Westminster politician. They have taken back control but not to the extent their own army can freely move around this country!

  160. Effijy
    Ignored
    says:

    Update on Peoples Action on Section 30

    With respect to my previous email, the link was wrong. The correct link is:

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/7v07qdxav6zsicx/support.docx?dl=0

    Sincerely,

    Martin

  161. greeneyedcat
    Ignored
    says:

    “We’re glad, and grateful, that so many of you here…..”
    Other way round: grateful to you for adhering to the principle of ‘our right to know’
    Would understand, completely, if you decided that you had had enough and reciprocate your words: ” glad and grateful”
    Have learnt so much.
    Thanks.

  162. James Horace
    Ignored
    says:

    Rhiannon Spear has hairy armpits. True fact.

  163. dakk
    Ignored
    says:

    Place infested with britnat concern trolls.

    Never seen it so bad.

  164. Daisy Walker
    Ignored
    says:

    re ‘We need SNP candidates to win on the constituencies in order for the list strategy to work. Hold your nose and vote SNP1, ISP2”

    I could be wrong here, so forgive me if so, but I’m not sure the above is correct.

    As I understand it, we need to vote SNP 1 and ISP2 to maximise an Indy majority.

    As they are 2 different parties, and ISP is not standing candidtes for Constituencey vote, who you vote number 1, will not influence the number of seats the ISP number 2 vote wins.

    Quick example:
    Consitutency Vote List Vote
    SNP win 9 seats SNP Win 100,000 votes w which is divided by 9+1 b before being counted

    ISP no candidates Wins 100,000 votes /by 1 w wins seat

    Like others I’m in a quandry.

    I want it in black and white from ISP that its plebiscite in May. They don’t need a petition to confirm that. Fool me once, etc.

    And if there has been no sign of a clear out in the SNP before May, I will look to wield the ballot box knife and oust Swinney as best I can.

    Without a proper rout of ‘leaders’ in the SNP it would be better being put out of its misery, rather than lingering on, preaching false hope and selling auld carrots.

    Purely my view, and not yet set in stone.

    I do hope the ISP take on board peoples concerns. The Britnats will most definitely have or be looking to have people within do the same to ISP as they have to labour and the SNP. After all, it works.

    One advantage a new party has over the SNP, they are not desperately trying to find a lost half million quid, or new money to fund ever increasing legal funds. Every cloud.

    Dear Stu,
    Like others here, Wings has kept the dream alive, more than any other thing. Cannot over state how much I appreciate the callibre of your work, integrity and thrawn.

    Completely get where your coming from though when you say you might have to call it a day. Don’t get broken.

    Please let us know when the Kezia fine is over. I want to contribute again, and I want it to go to you, and not her. My own version of ring fenced so to speak.

  165. TruthForDummies
    Ignored
    says:

    Tonight I honestly think the independence dream is over,

    I never thought I’d despise fellow Indy supporters as much as I do.
    The mind numbing stupidity of believing someone as totally compromised to the point of criminality will lead us to Indy, that the Brits don’t have enough dirt on her to scupper a dozen Indy campaigns.
    The immorality: it’s fine let an innocent man be smeared and sent to jail, indy is so close – no it bloody isn’t have any of them read the 11 point plan?
    The latest idea of blocking anyone who doesn’t show blind loyalty to the SNP so they can stay in their wee bubble.

    MPs blocking and telling others to. The plan such as it is seems to be to prevent contagion, they are blocking and telling their followers to block so the faithful won’t hear what we have to say. It is so pathetic
    Then men telling me to shut up. It’s Twitter you are meant to say stuff.

    And tomorrow the NEC are going to force through a definition of transphobia which means SNP politicians cannot speak up for women’s rights. And will try to force Joanna Cherry out of the party.

    The SNP are done.
    I hope they lose badly in May, they deserve to lose and at this point I think I’ll vote Tory as they are the only party that will protect free speech and the rights of women and girls.
    I’ve had enough

  166. holymacmoses
    Ignored
    says:

    Elmac
    The last thing the establishment want is for their valuable colony to break away so why are the unionist controlled media so obviously protecting the Murrells and the status quo in Scotland? it is such an obvious open goal

    It reminds me of
    “we’ll sit on that and hope we never need to deploy it”.
    I think it’s over-manipulation:-)

    They are trying to control when the damn bursts but I’m not sure that any of them know how large the contents of the damn are and it is therefore much easier for Mr Salmond to control the flow of information. I also suspect that MSM don’t know exactly who is concerned and whether they’re big enough to tackle them. They can’t touch Craig’s affidavit until the judgement is published.

    After all MSM are a feckless set of cowards these days which is why we’re so lucky to have Craig and Dangerfield and of course Stuart fighting our corner for us.

    We have family in the antipodes who are desperate for us to move over there , but frankly I like it here and I like most of the people here and I am in awe of the number of scientists and inventors and creators from such a small country and most of all, I LOVE the name of Scotland:-)

    Take heart – I DO think our best chance is yet to come.
    I read Sun Tzu quite a lot and I’m certain I’m not the only one in this battle who does.

  167. Big Jock
    Ignored
    says:

    Look how quickly the MSM picked up on the Trans story.

    Nicola’s pr agent tips off the media. Nicola has a selfie rant. Bingo, the news is all about Trans and Nicola.

    The same day Murray’s statement gives explosive evidence on the Salmond scandal. Not a peep.

    So what is going on. It seems Nicola is controlling the news the MSM publish. Her PR team are in cahoots, it’s the only possible explanation.

    I believe that she has a matter of days before the whole thing falls to pieces.

    These are the last days of a failed leader clinging to power. The smokescreen wi? not protect her.

  168. Saffron Robe
    Ignored
    says:

    As others have mentioned, Alex Salmond is a deep thinker and a master strategist. Maybe, just maybe, he has been quietly studying the end-game like a Grandmaster and will make the move that topples the queen and her consort. Despite outward appearances I think Nicola Sturgeon is hanging by a thread and, like Lady Macbeth, losing the balance of her mind from the knowledge of her deeds. She has Scotland’s blood on her hands and no amount of washing will cleanse her of her guilt.

    David Ben-Gurion said, “A Jew who does not believe in miracles is not a realist”. I think we need to take the same stance. The more miraculous a miracle, the greater the odds against it happening are. And as Scots that is something which is written into our DNA.

  169. Stu Foster
    Ignored
    says:

    Have a think for a second about what Sturgeon had done to the Yes Movement.

    The only thing saving her arse right now is this lockdown shit.

    Can you imagine if mass meetings were allowed and Sturgeon was to attend Indy rallies?

    On one half of the hall you would get the arseholes who want to worship her and fall at her feet as if she was a messiah.

    On the other half of the hall you would have people who want to tear her to shreds for fucking up our best ever shot at us winning our Independence.

    There would be blood and broken bones all over the place.

    As I said, the only thing that is saving her skin is her very own lockdowns.

  170. Daisy Walker
    Ignored
    says:

    If the NEC force JC out… she will be free to stand as an Independent MP, AND MSP Candidate for Holyrood…. in the same area wheren the unctuous Angus Booby Robertson wants to win.

    Now wouldn’t that be Schaudenfrau?

    It might also break the current deadlock.

    With regards the current media 3 wise monkeys behaviour re Craig Murrays Affidavit, partly that is down to waiting for the judgement, and partly it will be down to what Boris and Nicla negotiated the other day. The longer the silence, the more pleasing she was for Boris and co.

    Its in their interests to keep her in place for as long as possible, and so prevent a new leader/new policy taking over for May elections.

    If they can wound her, so that the SNP do not take a majority but keep her in power, she can be rewarded after COP26 with a UN job and a replacement put in to continue to lead us to the sunlit uplands of fields of carrots thereafter.

  171. Dramfineday
    Ignored
    says:

    Like some other Friends of Wings I’ve been following you for a long time and in the journey I’ve met many a grand lad and lass. I’ve also read many a fine article which, in some cases, had me mentaly replaying the line “I’ve got a machine gun, ho,ho,ho”. You actually made me feel it wasn’t just me, and I rejoiced. No-one else in the Scottish MSM comes anywhere near you.

    Over the piece, I’ve chipped in some cash and spread the word through card and (blue and black) books. And what can one say about the blue book that hasn’t been said before?

    Do you mind the time you came to Edinburgh for the Royal Mile March? I thought all I had to do was turn up at the Albanach and say hello and claim my gold Wings badge. Turn up? I could not get near the pub door, such was the press of people wanting to see you and shake your hand (and I never did that day, nor subsequently, despite best efforts).

    Do not under-estimate how much you and this site mean to a lot of people in Scotland. It will be needed in the future and you’ve proven it repeatedly and most recently by your deep dive into SNP world, the Sco govt and the gender woo woo artists.

    So to conclude I’ll paraphrase a young laddie from Edinburgh who said something like, heave awa Stuart, you’re no deid yet.

  172. Alf Baird
    Ignored
    says:

    Holymacmoses

    “I am in awe of the number of scientists….from such a small country”

    Sorry to burst your bubble but as far as I can see only around 10% of academics at some of Scotland’s ancient universities are Scottish, i.e. around 90% come from elsewhere. And there are maybe 2-3 Scottish principals at Scotland’s 19 higher ed institutions.

    You may be ‘in awe’ but a longterm moribund Scottish economy with half the population surviving in or close to poverty does not appear to benefit from self-proclaimed ‘warld cless’ universities that mainly employ folks from outside Scotland.

    I don’t think the likes of Norway would put up with this kind of thing.

  173. holymacmoses
    Ignored
    says:

    Saffron Robe says:
    31 January, 2021 at 12:37 am
    As others have mentioned, Alex Salmond is a deep thinker and a master strategist. Maybe, just maybe, he has been quietly studying the end-game like a Grandmaster and will make the move that topples the queen and her consort.

    Let’s trust in this:-)
    Don’t you agree Elmac

  174. holymacmoses
    Ignored
    says:

    Alf Baird says:
    31 January, 2021 at 12:58 am
    Holymacmoses

    “I am in awe of the number of scientists….from such a small country”

    I was writing about the history of the country:-)

    However, as was always the case, my kids are happily adding scientific endeavour to establishments south of the border because they were too clever to stay in Scotland. We need to be independent and put the plug in to stop the drain of our talented youth.

  175. Daisy Walker
    Ignored
    says:

    PC what is the german for Booby Prize? Asking for a sleekit, corrupt wee shit.

  176. Daisy Walker
    Ignored
    says:

    PC – should have been PS…. doh.

  177. Al-Stuart
    Ignored
    says:

    .
    Hi Stu.

    Serious bit of lateral thinking…

    A). The dead-tree print media is in terminal decline.

    B). Given “A” above, there are a LOT of journalist looking for employment. Not all are Yoon apologists. There is serious Scottish literary talent out there from which to choose.

    C). Wings viewing figures are approaching 1,000,000 per month. Fundraiser time?

    D). How about a fundraiser for WoS to employ a TRUE INDY journalist to reduce the overload on you by 50%?

    E). Telecommuting is becoming a very popular, so the location of paid/feeelancers need not be a problem.

    What’s the harm in considering this? If it doesn’t work, nothing really lost.

    Stuart, if employing someone of a decent calibre to prevent you from suffering burnout, then surely that would be worthwhile?

    Try that for one year. Draw a proper salary yourself. Reduce the stress and hassle on you by 50%. Spend 50% of your time away and do something completely different.

    I have always had two jobs. It works very well.

    Just thinking out loud as every problem has a solution. This one seems to be worth thinking about before taking a precipitous decision? I would be very happy to contribute rather than risk having my country governed by a Banana State Junta with Nicola Idi Amin at the top and the 1984 McStasi polis banning free speech. All the while we have the risk of Leeza De La Sleaza being promoted to Chief Constable.

    Fuck that for the governance of my country.

    Stuart, you created something vitally important to the well being of Scottish democracy here with Wings. It would be a crying shame if you were to leave us to Pension Pete and his Cheesy Feet treating us all like proctologist’s practice meat.

  178. Elmac
    Ignored
    says:

    TruthForDummies @ 12.18

    Don’t give up. There is every chance the dam will break soon and Sturgeon, Murrell, Wolffe, Evans et al may be looking at some jail time. I doubt the SNP will survive this unless there is a complete clearout in the very near future but that does not mean the dream of independence dies with them. There are too many of us now who have had their eyes opened for that to happen.

    Sturgeon has already cost us several years and the demise of the SNP would cost us more but ultimately there will be a new party, perhaps the ISP, which will take us to our goal. This time no messing, no side issues, no cult figures, independence only.

    I understand your feelings about voting in May. I will not vote for this lot either. Just make sure you vote for the party with the best chance of beating them in your constituency and remember to vote ISP on the list.

  179. Beaker
    Ignored
    says:

    @Elmac says:
    31 January, 2021 at 1:27 am
    “Don’t give up. There is every chance the dam will break soon and Sturgeon, Murrell, Wolffe, Evans et al may be looking at some jail time. I doubt the SNP will survive this unless there is a complete clearout in the very near future but that does not mean the dream of independence dies with them. There are too many of us now who have had their eyes opened for that to happen.”

    I wonder if the SNP will split, given the antipathy between some MPs/MSPs which goes beyond mere policy differences – in some cases it is pure hatred.

    So if there is a split, what faction would be strongest?

  180. Saffron Robe
    Ignored
    says:

    Daisy,

    “Booby prize” ist Scherzpreis auf Deutsch.

    “Scherzpreis” means literally joke or jest prize.

    And the word you may be looking for is “Arschloch”!

  181. Elmac
    Ignored
    says:

    holymacmoses @ 1.01am

    I have been wondering whether he will appear again at the enquiry and what he might say. Craig Murray has gone out on a limb and must be hoping for some corroboration but AS has to be very careful. They are still out to get him on any pretext they can. There is an apparent catch 22 in that if he tells the whole truth to the enquiry as per his oath he could be held in contempt in relation to his earlier court case. I am no lawyer but I cannot see that a contempt charge could be upheld in the circumstances despite Wolffe’s best efforts and I am hoping that Alex will use the occasion to do a Craig and give chapter and verse on who did/said what.

    I think this would be the tipping point and would bring down the Murrells and the rest as I cannot see how the MSM would be able to avoid his evidence being made public and Alex would have his own sources to make sure it was. Whether that is his strategy I don’t know but to miss the opportunity to let rip at the enquiry seems unlikely.

    It is a bit like a game of chess as the queen has apparently made sure she will have the last word in terms of appearing before the enquiry. Let’s hope she is toast by the time that happens.

  182. Elmac
    Ignored
    says:

    Beaker @ 1.32am

    You will know a lot more than I do about personal rivalries within the SNP and what groups they might fall into if the party were to split following exposure of what the SG has been up to. I can only guess, but I assume we are talking about those who are supportive of Sturgeon and the rest. The rest would include those who Sturgeon clearly wants to oust such as Joanna Cherry, Phillipa Whitford and Kenny Macaskill.

    Sturgeon herself would be at the very least totally discredited and possibly prosecuted. Many of those associated with her and her government would be tainted as the Scottish public would now be aware of what had been going on, and I cannot see a way back for them. Russell, Robertson, Swinney, Blackford etc would have little public appeal after the event. Those that were perceived to have stood up to Sturgeon will come off best.

    My money would be on a faction headed up by Joanna Cherry or Phillipa Whitford and, who knows, maybe a bit of background guidance from AS unless he has become involved elsewhere. They might simply be better to jump ship to say the ISP as the SNP brand could be toxic

  183. twathater
    Ignored
    says:

    Well said holymacmoses , Elmac , and others Rousing words Bob Mack I endorse and concur with them , but according to other wingers and SNP members we MUST vote for Nicla to take the piss out of the independence movement again lest we will not get independence ,

    STOP PRESS we have been doing that for the last 6 years and surprise , surprise we are nowhere near independence and the carrots are putrid

    What’s the definition of insanity again

    As for the ISP setting up a petition re a plebicite election in their manifesto , MUSCLEGUY or any other officer of ISP can you explain the need for this , as Daisy says there can be NO ambiguity if they expect voters to TRUST them and believe you me I will NOT be fooled again

  184. StuartM
    Ignored
    says:

    That Times article:
    https://archive.is/1rat3

    “Research this week by YouGov for The Times found that she has a net favourability rating of +21 in Scotland, higher than her party at +8.
    Mr Salmond has a -60 rating, worse than Boris Johnson’s -54, and is unpopular even within the SNP, with 63 per cent of nationalist voters taking a dim view of him.”

    Basically the majority of voters still believe the smears against Alex because the MSM have never publicised the evidence that exonerated him. It’s obvious that it will require the exposure of the conspiracy and NS’s central role in it blazoned over the nation’s TV screens to rehabilitate Alex’s political career. When it does, expect Nicola’s public support to crash and Alex’s to soar. Hopefully in time for Alex to stand as an independent against her in May. Revenge is sweet.

    “You can only sacrifice so many pawns before the queen is in danger”

    Exactly. Are these civil service pawns going to sit there and let themselves to be sacrificed to save Nicola’s skin? I fully expect one of them to turn Queen’s Evidence any day now.

  185. WhoRattledYourCage
    Ignored
    says:

    “At the risk of staying the obvious, I am not Alex Salmond. His are big boots to fill, but if given the opportunity to lead, I will wear my own shoes – and they will certainly have higher heels! – Nicola Sturgeon, 2014. She always did want to stand higher than the man she was jealous of, and tried to destroy.

  186. Captain Yossarian
    Ignored
    says:

    It has been covered in the past three days by BBC, Sky News, The Times and The Daily Telegraph.

    Craig Murray’s affidavit has been widely read and understood and is still there. Minor redactions at the behest of the Crown Office, but that’s all.

    We have whistleblowers at the heart of government, presumably in St Andrews House.

    We have increasing questions coming from Andrew Neil and even George Galloway.

    Brian Wilson wrote an article in The Scotsman which I think is the first Scottish paper to run a story.

    No lawyer with a reputation to lose wants anything more to do with Scotgov. The days of John Swinney Lording it over Scottish lawyers is well and truly over.

    So, it’s not going away, is it.

  187. Captain Yossarian
    Ignored
    says:

    I meant to say that at least one of the Duff and Phelps Directors who has stiffed the Scottish Crown Office for £10m has promised to take them to Court.

    He has £10m to spend, why not humiliate the spoofs? Good for him. What would you rather do….spend the rest of your life in the sun or go after the skanky Crown Office in Court?

    This chap obviously wants to prove a point.

    The coverage of this will shock you. If any of you still believe that we are run by honest men then that myth will soon be dispelled.

  188. Colin Alexander
    Ignored
    says:

    Angus Robertson will also be top of the SNP List for the Lothian area, so even in the unlikely event he fails to win the constituency seat, it makes it highly likely he will still win an MSP List seat and be in place to take over as another colonial administrator FM and opponent of Scottish independence.

  189. Stuart MacKay
    Ignored
    says:

    I am going to ruin your Sunday morning with this article on the pandemic, https://archive.is/b26e6 However I think you’ll find it interesting.

    This is only one person’s, somewhat informed opinion so read it with a degree of skepticism BUT the most important thing is not the virus. The most important thing is that this article it lets you see where you are and where you could be. It demonstrates that there is not enough clear thinking and a lot of just stumbling around.

    It’s fits our dilemma with the SNP and the drive to independence perfectly. I don’t think it has any answers except that we’re not thinking hard enough and certainly not critically enough about what we want and how to get there.

  190. Dandee
    Ignored
    says:

    Stu..8-37
    WELL SAID

  191. Sarah
    Ignored
    says:

    @ Rev: you are entitled to take back control of your life, no question. I and others owe you for enlightening us.

    You have shown us that Scotland is held in the hand of Nicola Sturgeon. She alone decides on SNP manifesto. It is she who has “educated” our country to think there are real barriers in the way of independence.

    Those “barriers” are fake – we don’t need a s30, we don’t need to wait to see the outcome of Brexit, we don’t need to wait for the economic recovery from Covid, we don’t need a referendum [and any referendum would be legal], and we don’t need international approval beforehand, and there are no doubts that it would come afterwards.

    All we need is the leader of the SNP to say “the May election manifesto will be a plebiscite”.

    ONE person is stopping us voting on our right to regain our independence. How dare she?

    It is totally undemocratic. And it is insane.

    The answer to the despair felt by many here is so simple. ALLOW US TO VOTE FOR INDEPENDENCE – in May, and in every election thereafter if necessary.

    As for the criminal corruption and the complicity in the SNP – public statements by Craig Murray and Kenny MacAskill haven’t moved the party leadership. No doubt many members and others have written to some MSP/MPs to no visible effect. What will it take to clean up the party?

    “Carrots, Lies and Corruption: the story of the SNP 2014-20…”.

  192. Pixywine
    Ignored
    says:

    In the face of ever more restrictions on our lives and more outlandish disease “variants” any talk of Independence these days seems charmingly Polyannish

  193. Stuart MacKay
    Ignored
    says:

    Pixywine

    We’re doomed to ride the rollercoaster of half-measures and incompetence that is dictated by Westminster. Independence has never been more vital.

  194. ScottieDog
    Ignored
    says:

    “ Mr Salmond has a -60 rating, worse than Boris Johnson’s -54, and is unpopular even within the SNP, with 63 per cent of nationalist voters taking a dim view of him.”

    Yep, MSM did an effective job and AS was tried before he even got to court. Many in his position would sue for millions but he won’t – His MO is independence.

  195. SOG
    Ignored
    says:

    As Al-Stuart suggested above, at 0110, about recruiting a research journo –

    I’ll put in a monthly sub, the sum which I currently pay to The Nat, rounded up.

  196. Stuart MacKay
    Ignored
    says:

    Big Jock

    Trans is a hot-button issue. That means more clicks, improved audience figures and so more revenue from advertisements. A conspiracy, while juicy, takes a lot longer than 15 seconds to explain and you’d need to run the story for a long time to get all the details across.

    Yes, there is collusion to keep Sturgeon in power in the MSM but also journalists are lazy and the bean counters are always pushing for quick, cheap and now. A complicated, nuanced story will always get rejected as too boring for the audience.

  197. Lenny Hartley
    Ignored
    says:

    Barhead boy hits nail on head.
    https://www.barrheadboy.com/time-waits-for-no-man-or-woman-2/

  198. ahundredthidiot
    Ignored
    says:

    Stuart Mackay

    Well, if that’s the Independence you want, fine, but it’s not mine.

    I would want our people to eat. Don’t worry about covid anymore, worry about the economy. When stimulus measures are added to GDP and then that subsequent spending is added to GDP – you know we’re bust.

    The economy is finished. over. done. People would do well to prepare for that and not a virus killing 0.13% of people with an average age over 80.

    What is coming will kill far more people than that. Leo Varadkar said the lockdown measures will be here indefinitely – because they know people will have to be kept under an iron boot.

  199. Ottomanboi
    Ignored
    says:

    Stuart MacKay 09.01
    As the guy says.
    Are you tired of COVID?
    Yeah, tired of it and the people that keep pushing a disaster narrative and scream ‘wolf’.
    Reclaim your life!

    Any famous people, celebs died recently of Covid?
    No….just the usually frail old people with co-morbidity.
    Typical profile for an ageing demographic.

  200. Bob Mack
    Ignored
    says:

    @Pixywine,

    Not really. People have done such things. A poem by Kurihara descibes a shelter in Hiroshima where a young woman was giving birth in the midst of hell at a shelter.

    Stepping forward in that situation,a woman burned and bloodied by blast helped her because she was a midwife.

    Hence the title if the poem Let us be Midwives

    Human spirit is limitless. Life goes on and we adapt to those circumstances.

  201. Wee Chid
    Ignored
    says:

    Just seen a post about Sturgeons submission to the inquiry which appears to exonerate her and put all the blame on Evans. Is this the case? (I mean that she has said that – not that it’s true)

  202. Republicofscotland
    Ignored
    says:

    Labour branch manager hopeful Monica Lennon on the BBC propaganda Politic show, when asked if she favoured an indyref and independence, said, I’m against Scottish independence and a referendum.

    Lennon then added, I got into politics to bring more democracy to the people.

    Obviously Lennon only wants to bring more democracy to those who support the union, and not the majority of Scots who support independence and a referendum, if the polls are anything to go by.

  203. Stuart MacKay
    Ignored
    says:

    Daisy Walker @12:17am

    I want it in black and white from ISP that its plebiscite in May. They don’t need a petition to confirm that.

    Damned right. Clear, unequivocal statements need to be coming out of the ISP. A petition is a major strategic mistake. @Muscleguy if you read this, this issue needs to be fixed, today.

    Sure the ISP is small and getting a party going is a massive amount of work but no matter what you do the SNP will be casting a shadow over you for a while. Anything that hints at even a tiny possibility of a repeat of what we’re going through now will be fatal. I’m not reliving this, ever.

  204. Wee Chid
    Ignored
    says:

    Ottomanboi says:
    31 January, 2021 at 10:21 am

    Tell that to Kate Garraway and Derek Draper. It’s not just the deaths. Have you any idea what effects an induced coma can have on people? Not to mention the long term effects on the lungs. But you’re alright, I suppose.

  205. AYRSHIRE ROB
    Ignored
    says:

    Monica Lennon .I’m the change candidate for change in labour.

    Anas Sarwar. I’m the change candidate for change in labour.

    Diddums. Why didn’t they just say I’m Spartacus!

  206. Mac
    Ignored
    says:

    I was thinking the other day that if I could take a time machine back to 2014 and bring that me to the present day and show what Nicola Sturgeon had done to Alex Salmond and the SNPG over the last six years I would be flabbergasted, absolutely stunned, my jaw would be on the floor, I would not be able to believe it (I still struggle to).

    Who could honestly say differently.

    Even if Sturgeon limps to the election and enough people still vote SNP to get her another term I’d argue this site is even more vital than pre 2014.

    Whether enough people realize it or not yet, Scotland is in real trouble here and this site and a handful of others are the only places you can find out what the fuck is actually going on. (How the hell is that even possible in a whole ‘country’)

    It is pretty shocking to be in this situation. I feel like we are sleep walking into something very sinister here. And this site along with Craig Murray and others are the persistent alarm bell that is slowly getting louder and louder (still imperceptible to many but it is getting there).

    One battle at a time. First we take care of the people who tried to send an innocent man to jail .

  207. kapelmeister
    Ignored
    says:

    Lenny Hartley @10:19

    That, as you say Lenny, hits the nail right on the head. A must read.

  208. Beaker
    Ignored
    says:

    @Ottomanboi says:
    31 January, 2021 at 10:21 am
    “Any famous people, celebs died recently of Covid?
    No….just the usually frail old people with co-morbidity.
    Typical profile for an ageing demographic.”

    Oh yeah? I know someone who died. He was 44. I’m sure his wife and his 4 year old child will apologise for him not fitting your demographic.

  209. James Horace
    Ignored
    says:

    Beaker, I am sorry for your loss.

    How was the overall health of your friend? Did he have any existing medical conditions, high BMI or anything else?

  210. Stuart MacKay
    Ignored
    says:

    ahundredthidiot

    Well, I’m sure the over 80s and the families with grandparents will welcome your conclusions.

    You really don’t get it. To date there have been 100 million cases with 2 million deaths. Assume that the number tested is about 10% of the actual figure so 0.2% mortality but let’s take your figure of 0.13%. Scotland has 6 million so the number of dead is around 7800 with probably a similar number debilitated by it. With the virus sloshing around in the population it’s evolving all the time. Immunity is starting to appear to be short-lived so expect to repeat this little biology experiment every year for a long time to come. It’s flu 2 at best.

    The big mistake you make is that the death rate is appalling but somewhat unimportant, the real number to worry about is the number admitted to hospital and the number of cases that need intensive care. That is ruinously expensive, ties up a lot of resources and will cripple any economy. Factor in the patients who have scans, surgeries and other preventative treatments postponed as a result of dealing with covid and the costs are really starting to mount up.

    However, I’m sure you’d be happier if everybody just took it on the chin.

  211. ahundredthidiot
    Ignored
    says:

    Meanwhile, in the US, Montana trying to pass a Law recognising biology to protect womens sports (and prevent male access to girls changing facilities) has been told it will lose $500 million in Federal Funding, if it does.

    Bidens Day 1 Executive Order (because he knows it would never get past both Houses) allows boys to compete as girls by way of self ID for any establishment in receipt of federal funding.

    The end of womens sports has started.

  212. kapelmeister
    Ignored
    says:

    If the Sturgeon stooges succeed in getting Josh Aaron-Mennie installed as the party’s #1 on the North-East list, will he be advertising his women’s toilets invasion history on his campaign literature?

    I mean, an aspiring politician should have the courage of his convictions at election time, right? And I’m sure the pensioner voters of Aberdeenshire will be most interested to hear about it.

  213. mike cassidy
    Ignored
    says:

    Wee Chid 10.25

    Remember the WOS principle

    Can you link to that post about Sturgeon ‘blaming’ Evans?

  214. Jim F. McIntosh
    Ignored
    says:

    If as someone posted the party splits then can I suggest the new one calls themselves THE REAL SNP.

  215. Captain Yossarian
    Ignored
    says:

    Cost of the UK Gov Iraq Inquiry – £10m
    Cost of the ScotGov Edinburgh Trams Inquiry – £12m (so far)

    Tells you something, doesn’t it.

  216. laukat
    Ignored
    says:

    @Wee child -Just seen a post about Sturgeons submission to the inquiry which appears to exonerate her and put all the blame on Evans. Is this the case? (I mean that she has said that – not that it’s true)

    Can you share the post? I always thought that would be Sturgeon’s defence but not seen anything yet to confirm it

  217. Derick fae Yell
    Ignored
    says:

    The purpose of the plebescite petition was to get the idea out there. To get the concept that it is perfectly legitimate to use an election to get a mandate for more widely known.

    And also to get the ISP name out there. The battle we face is for name recognition, especially as the National in particular is doggedly ignoring us

  218. Samuel
    Ignored
    says:

    Rev

    I see you have deleted a post sent in by a Stu Foster.

    I agreed with his sentiments on Scotland not trying to become a mini England and try to spend money on weapons we can’t afford.

    And that the posters Beaker and robbo were crazy about pushing the idea that Scotland should spend money we can’t afford on these weapons of destruction.

    I thought it was avery relevant and popular post.

    Strange that you have deleted it, especially in these times of freedom of speech that we all want.

    We all have an opinion, and would like it heard, that is why the SNP will not be getting my Vote.

    Please don’t go down the road of Humza Yousef by deleting a Post that a couple of your posters objected to.

    Like you done with the guy Cameron Brodie.

    Don’t let the Lynch mobs win.

  219. Captain Yossarian
    Ignored
    says:

    In a way it doesn’t matter what Sturgeon says and who she blames in her submission to the Inquiry. Evans has already said (a number of times) that she only does what ScotGov Ministers tell her to do.

    That, I think, is what we all expect them to do anyway. When it was said at the Inquiry, no-one doubted that what she was saying was true.

  220. Graf Midgehunter
    Ignored
    says:

    Daisy Walker says: at 1:06 am

    “PC what is the german for Booby Prize? Asking for a sleekit, corrupt wee shit.”
    ———————

    Booby prize is “Trostpreis” in German everyday speech, meaning to console. Used in quiz shows, lotteries, raffles etc.

    To console you for not winning.

    Comes from the word “Vertrösten” – to console someone from a mistake, bereavment, bad luck etc., to put off something to a later time.

  221. Effijy
    Ignored
    says:

    Biden’s self ID in sports is insane.

    There is virtually no point in women’s sports if that is upheld.

    An example would be tennis for example.
    If you are a straight male competitor and ranked 101
    in the world with little hope of improving beyond that,
    You won’t be making much by way of income.

    Buy the lie and report to the Federation as a Trans and most likely win
    Most of the tournaments, the money, sponsorship, the press coverage.

    That happens and everyone in women’s tennis who can make money has a penis.

    When too old, or too rich to play, low and behold, I’ve decided I’m a man?

    Even more insane when you look at the female born South African runner who was
    winning everything. She has a masculine appearance as she has a naturally developed high level
    of male hormones thru no action of her own, but the Federation there wanted to ban her for being
    exactly as God made her?

    What is presume would happen is all competitions are by invitation only.
    If you have a penis, your invite is lost in the post.

    Absolute insanity!

  222. StuartM
    Ignored
    says:

    Stu Foster @ 31 January, 2021 at 8:37 am

    No-one is saying that Scotland needs nukes or aircraft carriers. That’s because it’s not the nukes or the carrier that costs the real money it’s all the rest of the gear you need to go with them: Trident missiles to deliver the nukes and submarines to carry the missiles, aircraft for the carrier and the crews to man both. Did I mention it’s no good to have just one sub or one aircraft carrier, coz what you going to do when that one is in drydock undergoing refit? A country of 5 million can’t afford those fancy toys on top of the things it DOES need: offshore patrol vessels to protect fisheries and stop smuggling, ASW frigates to protect your shipping, patrol aircraft and jet fighters to prevent intrusions into your seas and airspace, a small army to demonstrate a determination to defend your territory.

    Funny you should mention Switzerland and Norway. Switzerland and Sweden stayed neutral in 2 world wars by being armed to the teeth and showing their determination to defend themselves. They still do so. Other countries like Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands found their neutrality didn’t save them from invasion and occupation. That’s why today they are part of NATO.

  223. Hugh Jarse
    Ignored
    says:

    SNP launch “misinformation ” drive.

    That’s your doing Stu!

    With the blame game started, the end can’t be far off.

    COPFS washing hands ala Pilate.

    Evans lined up to take NS bullet, but it’s high velocity, and not stopping.
    ………

    When Polis Scotland formed their Salmond team and sent them fishing, they spoke with a helluva lot of people.
    Maybe some of them have interesting things to say about the timbre & tone of their interviews. Confidence slippage perhaps.
    In ‘jest’ even.
    🙂

    Misinformation! Fake news.

  224. Graf Midgehunter
    Ignored
    says:

    Daisy

    “Asking for a sleekit, corrupt wee shit.”
    ————-

    Arschloch is not bad but much better is “Drecksau”.

    “Schleimiger Drecksau”

    The sense of hate just drips out of every pore.

  225. robbo
    Ignored
    says:

    Samuel says:
    31 January, 2021 at 11:05 am
    Rev

    I see you have deleted a post sent in by a Stu Foster.

    I agreed with his sentiments on Scotland not trying to become a mini England and try to spend money on weapons we can’t afford.

    And that the posters Beaker and robbo were crazy about pushing the idea that Scotland should spend money we can’t afford on these weapons of destruction.

    ——–

    No we didn’t. Not one part of any post i made was about nukes. The posts made we’re about answering the defence question at debates on what we do about defence and currency, which we failed to address properly which cost us in 2014.

    Samuel(stu foster) It’s Sunday. Have you not got some ironing to do or something.

  226. Lothianlad
    Ignored
    says:

    The brit edtablishment media in England seems to be accepting the fact that independence for Scotland is almost inevitable.

    20 opinion poll leads for yes and SNP majority predictions and I now feel independence is as far away as ever.

    We really need to get rid of this horrible toxic leadership. Like so many I dont see them being removed by legal system or morality.

    I really despair that supporters of indy will just give up.

    Sturgeon is banking on this, riding out the storm.

    If any proof were ever needed that that toxic treacherous bitch is in the back pockets of the brit establishment, check out her actions, and omissions!

  227. ahundredthidiot
    Ignored
    says:

    Stuart Mackay

    ‘However, I’m sure you’d be happier if everybody just took it on the chin’

    I would be happier if everyone started taking reality on the chin!, but that’s not going to happen.

    ICU and hospital admissions are tiny and will not destroy any economy – that’s just silly talk.

  228. robbo
    Ignored
    says:

    Active personnel: 23,250 (2019)
    Headquarters: Norwegian Joint Headquarters
    Founded: 1628
    Reserve personnel: 40,000 in the Norwegian Home Guard
    (2019)

    That’ll not be far off the Scottish contingent currently serving in UK armed service. No nukes-see.

  229. Lothianlad
    Ignored
    says:

    And with that Monica Lennon reiterating liebour opposition to independence, a perfect opportunity to drive the stake through their heart.

    Sturgeon however seems intent on giving CPR to the unionists, because their cause, is Her cause!

  230. McDuff
    Ignored
    says:

    Surgeon HAS to go as there is NO way I want this person dealing with the UK should we ever attain independence.
    I believe she is so disturbed and rotton that she would deliberately nogtiate a bad deal for Scotland.

  231. ahundredthidiot
    Ignored
    says:

    The womens 400m record is 49.9 seconds.

    In the US alone, over 300 male college students can beat that.

    I cant wait for this to get out of hand and see big hairy Geoff win the ladies at Wimbledon – probably to an empty stadium filled with fake crowd noise and beamed into our homes free.

    Well, not free…..they’ll get the over 75’s to pay for it.

    Heating or telly licence?? – we know how that will work out, don’t we.

  232. PacMan
    Ignored
    says:

    Lothianlad says: 31 January, 2021 at 11:28 am

    The brit edtablishment media in England seems to be accepting the fact that independence for Scotland is almost inevitable.

    I noticed that the Daily Mail website has an article from Peter Hitchens about Indy with the comments turned off.

    It isn’t negative in any way. Could this be the start of softening up the masses?

    Rather than Scots gaining independence it will be more of a case of Westminster letting Scotland go. With the current Shenanigans that the Rev has been reporting, hopefully it gets sorted out before we are ‘let off the leash’ by Westminster.

  233. PacMan
    Ignored
    says:

    ahundredthidiot says: 31 January, 2021 at 11:28 am

    ICU and hospital admissions are tiny and will not destroy any economy – that’s just silly talk.

    It’s easy to use this use this armchair logic but in the real world, politicians have to take the decisions that affects the lives not only of those who are effected by the virus but also their loved ones.

    If they make the wrong decisions then the buck stops with them, and their future electoral chances. It’s hardly surprising that they are prioritising peoples or at least being pushed to prioritise lives over the economy.

  234. And spouse
    Ignored
    says:

    NEC meeting

    ‘No one can get up much enthusiasm for a Government which puts you in jail if you open your mouth’ George Orwell

  235. ahundredthidiot
    Ignored
    says:

    PacMan

    ‘It’s hardly surprising that they are prioritising peoples or at least being pushed to prioritise lives over the economy.’

    What economy are you talking about?……it is absolutely, catastrophically, fucked.

    If you were around and paying any level of attention to what happened in 2009, you should be ready for what’s coming.

    Toward the end of 2009 I said that BoE base rate would not go back above 1% for at least the next ten years.

    People laughed.

  236. Samuel
    Ignored
    says:

    robbo/AYRSHIRE NOB

    I never mentioned nukes, and I don’t think anybody is saying Scotland shouldn’t have a Defence Force.

    YOU stuck the guy Stu Foster in.

    Are you ex military?

    I said I agreed with him in NOT spending money on weapons that we can’t afford. And that it should be spent on things that will improve the lives of the majority.

    Away and play with your toy soldiers.

    Are you ex english army?

    Are you english?

    Get that complaint email sent into the Rev.

    You come across as a bit of a snow flake Grass!!!

  237. Captain Yossarian
    Ignored
    says:

    Fraser Nelson in The Spectator has access to all of England’s Covid data – critical care occupancy beds occupied versus capacity, age of those in critical care etc……none of that is available here.

    And yet Sturgeon wants to publish our vaccine delivery schedule in order to ‘improve transparency’.

    This is seen by everyone as trouble-making. Making an argument out of nothing. She has lost; we need to get rid of her ASAP.

  238. WhoRattledYourCage
    Ignored
    says:

    A thought. The Biden (a prime corporate hawk) government is doubling down on intersectionalist, white-people-hating madness. It is doing this for precisely two reasons: to troll Trump and his supporters, and to play racial divide-and-conquer, as this is all they have left to stop the millions of people they have thrown overboard from looking up at them and…reacting. The pointless Capitol siege was a small, useless-but-telling precursor to that.

    Mow. Notice how we are being fed race-based dogshit (EVERYTHING is ALWAYS aboot fucking race now! It’s inescapable!) in the media aboot Kamala Harris’s (one twisted, evil bitch, who slept her way to the top) fucking ‘blended’ family and such drivel. This racial agitating is only going to intensify in Joe ‘I Am, Like, Irish, Buddy’ Biden’s cabinet. It’s all going to get very, very bad.

    I am only talking aboot this transparent racial hate-mongering, and biology-science-denying, and whatnot, of the dementia president’s, because the shut-in middle class young of this fucking ruined country, and the nutcases running it, are obsessed with this mind-ruining yank pish. So expect the psychotic drivel pouring freely from these mentally ill cunts in Scotland, right from the top, to intensify.

    These lunatics are on a second-hand holy mission from America, and their preening Twitter god Sturgeon, to topple consensus reality, and it’s all only going to get more shrill and horrible and hateful…and people are already at the end of their fucking tether with it.

    Whatever happens this year…will not be pretty. I am expecting some skulls to get cracked. Covid and science-denying from hateful lunatics have gotten too many people riled up on both sides of the Atlantic. I just thank fuck we don’t have guns like the failed bully state America. Then we’d REALLY be in trouble…

  239. kapelmeister
    Ignored
    says:

    ahundredthidiot @11:38 am

    “I can’t wait for this to get out of hand and see big hairy Geoff win the ladies at Wimbledon.”

    Or the up and coming Slovenian Nika Mabalzic.

  240. WhoRattledYourCage
    Ignored
    says:

    Actually, it’s ironic. Decades ago, the Chimplandian ‘elites’ decided that giving poor white people somebody to be ‘better’ than, i.e. black people, would be a good divide-and-conquer tactic. Now all they have done is inverted that cunty rhetoric so black people are meant to be better than white people. Same shit, different decade, but it still keeps the gullible fools of all races pissing on and fighting each other, and those of all races with far more in common than the scum dividing them from attacking their cynical laughing handlers.

    Fuck it. What a horrible third-rate cesspool the Western world has become. It’s because of the English and American governments, on this island, and our very own minority-worshipping FM halfwit being easily manipulated because of blind loyalty to her eternal-student-politics-addled tunnel vision ‘worldview.’ She’s never fucking grown up, and never will. Tired of it all.

  241. Hatuey
    Ignored
    says:

    The only thing ahundredthidiot ever got right on here was his name.

    And the only way to beat coronavirus is to stamp it out completely. The idea that we could live with it has proved to be a disaster. Listening to idiots who play this down has costs lives.

    Yes, I get it, we are all pretty bored with this. I am too. The virus isn’t bored though, it’s just getting into it. It’s running about 140 million password cracking programs all over the world at the same time, constantly looking for ways to get past our defences. When it succeeds at one door, it optimises and moves to the next.

    The problem with vaccines is that they’re always fighting previous wars. They buy time but there’s a good chance that before we’ve finished vaccinating the virus will crack the password and we’ll need to start all over again. Everything happens too slow.

    With a real lockdown, real track and trace, and real controls on people entering the country, this could be over completely in around 8 weeks. You wouldn’t need vaccines or even masks.

    Coronavirus is a war that mankind can’t win. The best we can do is avoid losing. The only way to do that is to eradicate it and lock it out.

  242. Robert Hughes
    Ignored
    says:

    Unless the owner of this site himself posts something directly on the subject ( Sars CoV 2 ), I personally consider it inappropriate to enlarge on it .

    I just want to acknowledge 100th Idiot’s admirable attempts to bring some rationality to bear on the issue and to counter the attempts to impose a kind of Wheesht For Lockdowns mentality .

    Just one question .

    What price , in terms of physical , emotional , psychological , societal , economic damage are people prepared to pay to deal with a threat with a 98.0 survival rate ?

  243. laukat
    Ignored
    says:

    @Captain Yossarian says:
    31 January, 2021 at 12:00 pm

    “Fraser Nelson in The Spectator has access to all of England’s Covid data – critical care occupancy beds occupied versus capacity, age of those in critical care etc……none of that is available here.

    And yet Sturgeon wants to publish our vaccine delivery schedule in order to ‘improve transparency’.

    This is seen by everyone as trouble-making. Making an argument out of nothing. She has lost; we need to get rid of her ASAP.”

    Sorry but I work in the NHS and I don’t agree with this. Sturgeon has a lot of questions to answer on Salmond but the data you are talking about is availble from ISD here https://beta.isdscotland.org/find-publications-and-data/population-health/covid-19/covid-19-statistical-report/20-january-2021/

    Regarding the vaccine deliveries. This is the key information and essential to vaccine rollout. NHS Scotland has stood up vaccine sites since December but the availability of vaccines to Scotland is the inhibiting factor.

    The Scottish Government and NHS Scotland are correctly prioritising the limited vaccines we have to the groups on the basis of what will prevent the most deaths. I suspect when the figures are released showing vaccines Scotland gets and how many it puts in arms it will show that there is no real delay from delivery to Scotland to injection but instead a problem anticipating what quantities are available when.

    This however goes against Boris’ line that Scotland is saved by the UK Governement gettting vaccines. The reality is that the UK has still got issues in ensuring regular and predictable quantities.

    The UK is also now outside of the EU able to be bullied. The EU’s hamfisted approach over the weekend was largely to tell the vaccine companies that if you prioritise a small customer over a larger one watch out in the future. Wouldn’t suprise me if the decision to reverse the article 16 was because the UK gave up some of its vaccine.

    Sturgeon has other cases to answer but the decision to publish the vaccine quantities is a good one.

  244. ahundredthidiot
    Ignored
    says:

    Hatuey

    Maybe in the Orwellian new world you wish for you can charge me with the murder you accuse me of.

    and which is it? – stamp it out completely strategy or a war mankind cant win in a never-ending war.

    You don’t need an idiot like me to help you defeat your own argument – you seem very capable.

  245. Dandee
    Ignored
    says:

    Samuel.
    1105am..
    Agree with every word you said there…thought I imagined a post from Stu this morning…seems everybody else can say what they want… no names mentioned??

  246. StuartM
    Ignored
    says:

    Regarding transgender males playing women’s Sports, there was a transexual tennis player in the 70s called Renee Richards who retired at 47yo. Doubt she could have played that long as a natal female.

  247. ahundredthidiot
    Ignored
    says:

    Hatuey

    I do try not to indulge on strategy regarding how to eliminate a virus – save this – you get the first 24 hours to do it.

    After that, it’s protect the vulnerable. How societies choose to do that should be weighed against the costs (including human lives, education, fiscal responsibility, human rights, etc etc).

    There has been no impact assessment from the mitigation and measures in place – there is no evidence that lockdowns work, none. While that should be worrying in itself, it’s too late now to care.

    This strategy has already done the damage – we cannot go back in time. 6 weeks into the first lockdown the UK was bankrupt. The delayed stock market crash from November 2019, stumbled past Q4 that year into Q1 of 2020.

    People see what they want to see.

    I see people grabbing for their wallets and their bags to get off an aircraft that is on fire. Others are sitting in their seats waiting for direction.

  248. Boaby
    Ignored
    says:

    The end of historical consciousness.
    These are the new forms of cultural colonization. Let us not forget that people who abandon their traditions either from a craze to mimic others, or for unpardonable negligence or apathy, allow others to rob their very soul, end up losing not only their spiritual identity but also their moral consistency and, in the end, their intellectual economic and political independence.

  249. Liz
    Ignored
    says:

    Sorry Stuart McKay you don’t get it.
    I follow travelling tabby who daily publishes stats, the death rate in Scotland has been hovering around normal since the end of May.

    It’s a sad fact of life people die.
    How many are suffering through treatment of all other illnesses being put on hold?

    Mistakes were made at the beginning, lockdowns will not work.
    We keep hearing about new strains, that’s what viruses do.
    They use the host DNA to replicate, so they constantly mutate.

    As for long Covid, again for anyone affected, it’s a tragedy.
    But some people are affected that way, it used to be called post viral fatigue syndrome and it is debilitating.

    I don’t have the answer but young people’s lives are being destroyed, mental health issues rising, domestic abuse rising, people fearing for their livlihoods.
    Doing more of the same, is not the answer

  250. Hatuey
    Ignored
    says:

    Idiot, I have no idea where you got “24 hours to do it” from. It’s a stupid thing to say.

    The mitigation strategy has been a costly disaster. And it’s doomed to continue failing as long as people think we need to learn to live with the virus. It’s because I want to avoid mitigation and damage to the economy that I support eradication.

    History teaches us lessons with coronaviruses. We don’t need to guess at what’s possible. The first wave of Spanish flu was informally referred to as ‘the three day fever’. It was seemingly harmless to most people. Then it mutated and most people who caught it during the second wave died within 24 hours.

    Think about all those password cracking programs I mentioned. How long before one springs up that kills 10% of those who catch it, 20%, 90%? We don’t know.

    As I said, you can’t win a war like this. All you can hope for is to avoid losing. To do that, you avoid fighting it – don’t take part in it. By eradicating it completely, you can do that, as other countries have done.

  251. Hatuey
    Ignored
    says:

    Liz, you seem to be saying excess deaths have remained stable throughout.

    We can fact check that quite easily.

    “After returning to normal levels over the summer months, excess deaths reached a second peak of 230 (20% above average) in the week ending 22 November… For the most recent week (ending 24 January) deaths are 12% above the normal level.”

    https://data.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/detail.html

    You’re wrong. You should retract and apologise for misinforming the readership. You won’t though, because on the basis of fuck knows what you’ve already formed an opinion…

  252. ahundredthidiot
    Ignored
    says:

    hatuay

    You get 24 hours to contain and eliminate a virus before community spread. community spread goes global.

    SARS2 was removed, back in March, from the UK definition of a High Consequence Infectious Disease and airports remained open.

    Have a wee think about that.

  253. Hatuey
    Ignored
    says:

    Idiot, the idea that “You get 24 hours to contain and eliminate a virus before community spread” has no basis in fact or even fiction, as far as I’m aware.

    Who puts stupid ideas like that in heads like yours?

    Is that the basis upon which all your opinions rest? Seriously? It makes sense. One bad assumption and everything that follows is junk.

    I think we’ve resolved this dispute. Thanks for clarifying.

  254. Hatuey
    Ignored
    says:

    Here’s an example of a country that had very typical infection rates early on in the pandemic and using a tried and tested strategy aimed at elimination rather than mitigation has almost completely eradicated the virus.

    https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-data-and-statistics/covid-19-current-cases

    Note that the virus prevailed for weeks, a lot longer than 24 hours. But after lockdown it was eliminated and instead of inviting it back in, as the U.K. chose to, New Zealand locked it out and has effectively kept it out. The only cost is to travel.

    It works. 25 people have died in total. They have no new cases in the community this year, but 69 detected at the border and safely dealt with through quarantining visitors.

  255. T.C. Nu
    Ignored
    says:

    Beaker@10:45

    ‘Oh yeah? I know someone who died. He was 44…’

    Without wishing to sound insensitive here, but so?

    Decades ago, one of my friends died age 19, no underlying medical conditions, no determined cause of death.

    Decades ago, my mother died age 42, sudden massive heart attack, post mortem showed no sign of any heart disease.

    Decades ago, a co-worker down in London, found dead in her flat age 36, in her case they reckoned she had a seizure.

    All decades pre-Covid, and I could go on, but it’s too bloody depressing thinking about the people I’ve known and lost who died far too young over the past 50 years.

    You might not like the demographic facts, but 90% of Covid-19 deaths have been in the over 65s, with the average age being over 80.
    The other 10% you can put down to factors like inadequate/incompetent medical care, poor immune response to virus, virus fatally exacerbating/triggering existing medical conditions both known and unknowm, and, brutally, shit happens.

    And, bear in mind, the percentages quoted above are only those of the 0.1% of the total population whose deaths have been attributed to Covid-19.

    The problem is that there are a lot of apparently healthy people out there who really aren’t.

    Think about the phrase ‘average human being’, think then about standard distribution curves.

    Most of us live under the middle area of a composite ‘average human being’ curve, our biology is ‘average’, it responds in an ‘average’ way to events, our immune systems are all ‘average’ in the way they respond to infections, our hearts are all ‘average’ in the way they operate, etc. etc.

    Unfortunately, some people live under the edges of the curve, their systems are not average, they do not exhibit average responses to drugs, infections etc. At one end, they’re superior to the average; better heart, better immune system etc. The other end of the curve, unfortunately, also exists.

    Also remember, your position under this curve isn’t static, as you get older, and your systems start failing, no matter where you start, your position moves inexorably towards that ‘other’ end.

    And also remember, even if you’re operating under the ‘superior’ end of the curve, it sometimes doesn’t take much to catastrophically destabilise a system that is too highly tuned. I’ve watched, over the course of the past two years, someone go from being uber healthy to being a virtual cripple dependant on a number of drugs to manage a degenerative condition which came upon them over the course of one weekend; Friday night – healthy, Sunday morning – lying in extreme pain in A&E with the doctors scratching their heads trying to figure out what the hell was going on, the current best guess is that a minor infection triggered some sort of cascade failure of the immune system. Shit happens.

    Again, apologies if this sounds callous, but, from personal experience, when shit wants to happen, shit happens, it doesn’t care about your age, it doesn’t care if you’ve a family, it doesn’t care if you’re a sinner or a saint, it doesn’t care how bloody good your Bupa plan is, it doesn’t require Covid-19 to be it’s sole agent, it just doesn’t care…it’s a cold, impersonal universe.

    This bloody virus is shit happening needlessly to far too many people, and the thing that makes me really angry is that, despite knowning the nature of the other members of it’s happy little family (SARS & MERS) they deliberately allowed this thing to become a pandemic by not shutting down international passenger air travel, closing borders and implementing quarantine when they knew about it.

    For the record, I caught it last March, had a really nasty fortnight of it, and think I’ve still a touch of what they’re calling ‘long Covid’. I caught it from someone who caught it from someone who caught it in one of the Italian hotspots, and who they then let back in to this country, knowing they were coming from a virus hotspot, without any sort of checks, so I’m not being as objective about this as I probably should be.

  256. Liz
    Ignored
    says:

    @hatuey
    https://www.travellingtabby.com/scotland-coronavirus-tracker/deaths

    Unless this guy is telling lies and using the wrong stats, check out the average death rate graph.

    There was a massive increase between March – May 2020, but since then, the death rate has been around normal

    That is above and below

  257. ahundredthidiot
    Ignored
    says:

    Liz

    Yes, and isn’t the death rise in care homes interesting, they do rise in January historically anyway, but this is not a gradual rise…….it could, potentially…..potentially mind, be a spike.

  258. Samuel
    Ignored
    says:

    Dandee 12.31pm

    Yes Dan, Stu Foster definitely posted at 8.37 this morning.

    And Stu deleted it, probably because the guys robbo and Beaker grassed him.

  259. Hatuey
    Ignored
    says:

    Liz, I’m very familiar with the “guy” you refer to, his website, and the sources he uses. It’s likely that you’re not reading the data correctly since I know his sources are the same as the one I just quoted.

    I see where you’re going though. And I didn’t expect you to retract and apologise. Easier to pretend there’s some dispute about sources, when in fact there isn’t. You’re just wrong.

  260. ahundredthidiot
    Ignored
    says:

    Hatuay

    You asked me three questions and then closed the debate.

    I think you should try to figure out where that anger is coming from.

    Deep down – maybe you know something isn’t right. I don’t care if you are ‘aware or unaware’ of how to manage a pan flu outbreak or not, but surely you must be aware of the crushed economy around you – unlike the near on invisible beastie, it is evident to see.

    SME’s are devastated and furlough will come to an end. There will be no money to fund the NHS and it will be sold to the highest bidder. Wages will go down and food prices will sky rocket.

    If you are not ready for it, then I feel for you.

  261. Hatuey
    Ignored
    says:

    Actually, Liz, I took the time to confirm my suspicions. If you look at the page you link to you can scroll to a table entitled “ Excess Deaths by Week” and it confirms everything I said.

    Note that the baseline in that table represent the rolling five year average so that the red bars above all represent excess deaths in a given week.

    Since you took the time to paste the link, why not read it and make sure what you’re saying is right before commenting?

    I can’t believe how cavalier people on here are on this, with hundreds of people dying. You should be totally ashamed of making the sort of comments you’ve made here today.

    Ashamed.

  262. Boaby
    Ignored
    says:

    ELMAC 11.15pm. John scott tory msp for ayr, a town with a declining high st and charity shops, and people there vote for this cnut? Seriously.

  263. Hatuey
    Ignored
    says:

    Idiot, you proved that everything you have said on this is based on a misunderstanding. I didn’t do that, you did it. The 24 hour assumption which everything you say rests on is incorrect. It’s quite devastating for you, I get that.

    So now you have a new argument. Like coronavirus itself, you’re mutating all the time.

    To address your new mutated point, yes I’m aware that the virus and fake lockdowns are making this much more difficult than it could be. Indeed, that’s why I am supporting an alternative strategy, one that actually works and gets us back to something like normal.

    Everything fits comfortably when you do some basic research and tell the truth. A few people on here ought to consider doing that.

  264. Liz
    Ignored
    says:

    @hatuey Of course I’m not going to retract, as I see, neither are you.
    You mentioned the increase in November, above average but failed to mention the weeks below average.

    That’s what average means.

    @ahundrethidiot And yes,the care home deaths were appalling.
    A mistake by NS, despite her trying to deny it.

    Jeanne Freeman told her, people should not be moved until 2 negative tests were noted.
    She said at the time, the tests were unreliable but then later claimed, no one had told her about the double negative.

    She used that report which stated, there was no statistical evidence to show this had caused the increased deaths, as her get out.
    So what did cause them then?

  265. ahundredthidiot
    Ignored
    says:

    Hatuey

    I no longer care about the virus, how it mutates, what the mitigation is, the measures, the PPE, blah blah – I haven’t watched any propaganda for months and months – occasionally I trip over people like you who repeat what they have been told (which is quite funny).

    None of it matters – the result is the economy is crushed – careers, pensions, money in the bank, will all go down the drain. Crime will rise. Likely the end of cash as digital replacements wait to pounce on failing fiat currencies – it will be messy.

    The rich will win and the poor will lose – same as it ever was.
    Those who are ready for this will fair better than those who aren’t.

    Something tells me you are the latter.

  266. Hatuey
    Ignored
    says:

    More lies, Liz.

    The source that you link to shows that there have been 9 weeks since May where the excess death numbers have been lower than the 5 year average. That means there’s about 35 weeks where excess deaths have been higher, in many cases significantly higher.

    Go and read YOUR fucking sources before you paste them.

  267. Hatuey
    Ignored
    says:

    “I no longer care about the virus, how it mutates, what the mitigation is, the measures, the PPE, blah blah”

    If only you’d said so sooner. The crap you typed earlier suggests you do care, though.

    Again, thanks for the clarification. You don’t care about anything… that’s got to be the end of this conversation.

  268. Sarah
    Ignored
    says:

    May we please get back to talking about how to end this dictatorship that refuses to allow us a vote on the status of our country?



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