Almost a year ago we ran a short piece mocking a Scotsman headline which claimed that “THOUSANDS” of people had signed a Tory anti-referendum petition, when the actual number was a strictly-accurate-but-pathetic TWO thousand.
We didn’t think that could ever be beaten for technically-true hyperbolic exaggeration, but we’d reckoned without the bold boundary-pushing ingenuity of the Daily Express.
Hundreds of thousands? How many hundreds, exactly?
Because when you really want people with their finger on the pulse of Scottish politics to analyse the implications of the Supreme Court decision on Brexit, where else would you go but to Channel 5’s The Wright Stuff, to hear from um, former rugby league star and haircut pioneer Martin Offiah?
You very rarely get useful stats about online newspaper readership, so we were quite intrigued by this snippet on tonight’s BBC2 Scotland documentary “Paper Thistle”, about the 200th anniversary of The Scotsman.
We don’t know what the numbers are or how brief the period was, but Wings’ average traffic is higher now than it was in 2014, while we suspect The Scotsman is moving in the opposite direction. For a single-issue website to be anywhere even in the same ballpark as a two-centuries-old broadsheet news brand with scores of full-time writers and production staff and a daily newsstand presence is a remarkable thing indeed.
We might start doing classifieds and sport just to see what happens.
The former Chancellor of the Exchequer in today’s Press & Journal:
55-45 is “far more decisive” than 62-38? We think we’re finally beginning to understand why the last Labour government left the British economy in such a mess.
This is the demented, McCarthyite state of madness the Labour Party has reached:
This is a party now openly rejecting anyone as a member who has ever supported any other party. We’d take a minute to try to explain to them how the arithmetic of that one works out, but they’re a long, long way beyond the grasp of reason now.
One thing you can always guarantee on GERS Day is that the latest set of figures for Scotland’s devolved economy inside the UK will trigger another uncontrolled spurt of “SNP HONEYMOON OVER” articles from the nation’s dogged commentariat.
Today we’ve seen already examples (links below) from two ex-Scotsman editors, Iain Martin and Magnus Linklater, the latter popping up in the Times by way of a rather crass and unpleasant analogy involving Oswald Mosley and the Blackshirts.
And since we’d rather watch “Suicide Squad” again than spend any more time going over the arguments about GERS (and trust us, readers, we don’t say that lightly), we thought it’d be more fun if we finally got round to compiling a semi-definitive list of all the times the collective wisdom of Scotland’s media and opposition has confidently predicted the SNP’s imminent demise.
Angela Eagle isn’t happy in the Labour Party and the Tories need a new leader. STV News Edinburgh may have jumped the gun slightly this evening, but this alternative career path makes a lot of sense.
Northcode on The View From Row Z: “Good God! I don’t believe I’ve ever witnessed a mind so thoroughly outpaced by the speed of its owner’s unthinking…” Jun 1, 10:11
diabloandco on The View From Row Z: “Turabdin, that is another success story for the ‘sweeping under the carpet ‘ brigade. No-one held to account, absolutely shocking.” Jun 1, 10:02
Northcode on The View From Row Z: “What’s your game in this place? What’s your angle? I’m a Scot speaking up for Scotland and my people, the…” Jun 1, 09:49
agentx on The View From Row Z: ““With what certainly sounded like a warning of repercussions, she sternly rebuked those in the NEC in 2021, in a…” Jun 1, 09:48
Northcode on The View From Row Z: ““was it exposure to the English” Indeed, many peoples around the world have expressed how their interactions with England, their…” Jun 1, 09:22
TURABDIN on The View From Row Z: “STILL awaiting the punishment of those responsible for the gross neglect that destroyed the GSA «iconic» Mackintosh building. The perception…” Jun 1, 09:21
Northcode on The View From Row Z: “Good God! I don’t believe I’ve ever witnessed a mind so thoroughly outpaced by the speed of its owner’s unthinking…” Jun 1, 08:36
Frank Gillougley on The View From Row Z: “Clearly, the ability to intelligently lie is inversely proportional for those in authority, hence she couldn’t have seen the motorhome…” Jun 1, 08:06
Hatey McHateface on The View From Row Z: “The Hate Crimes Act remains in force in Scotland. As it happens, no political party seems to see any popular…” Jun 1, 08:05
Rogueslr on The View From Row Z: “Is there any evidence the motorhome ever left the drive? And if so, where was it spotted on the ANPR…” Jun 1, 08:03
Hatey McHateface on The View From Row Z: “A masterclass, Northy, on how it is possible to circle even a single wagon. Here’s what a wondering world wants…” Jun 1, 07:32
Hatey McHateface on The View From Row Z: “An excellent post, Ian. There can now be no doubt that the SNP has foisted two in a row of…” Jun 1, 07:25
Roastin on The View From Row Z: “Point taken about London based journalist not being as clued up as Scottish journalists but the main Scottish papers have…” Jun 1, 07:13
Hatey McHateface on The View From Row Z: “What’s to deal with, YL? There’s not one of us who hasn’t sat up into the wee, small hours, crafting…” Jun 1, 07:09
Hatey McHateface on The View From Row Z: “Big deal, Northy. Now correct the rest of the shite.” Jun 1, 07:02
Aunty Flo on The View From Row Z: “Do you reckon that Nicola’s pathetic behaviour & exposure of many lies told during this whole corrupt pantomime has jeopardised…” Jun 1, 06:10
twathater on The View From Row Z: “The ONLY reason she is NOT on trial is because of the COPFS who are obviously NOT interested in serving…” Jun 1, 03:59
Young Lochinvar on The View From Row Z: “You know, see when you sit and slowly reflect on the human condition as it’s developed.. Well, Building another Ark…” Jun 1, 01:42
Cynicus on The View From Row Z: “Or, to paraphrase Oscar Wilde’s comment on reading of the death of Little Nell: “ it would take her heart…” Jun 1, 01:42
Young Lochinvar on The View From Row Z: “She probably did but any of the alphabetties needing “incentivised” would be one lead that should be followed..” Jun 1, 01:31
Cynicus on The View From Row Z: “Campbell Clansman says: 31 May, 2026 at 5:00 pm “With her lies Sturgeon climbed to the top of the (Holyrood)…” Jun 1, 01:19
Del G on The View From Row Z: “If oor Nicola didn’t see most of these items, my question is: Who were they going to? This sounds like…” May 31, 23:59
Mark Beggan on The View From Row Z: “No Comment. Mind your own business.” May 31, 23:52
Northcode on The View From Row Z: “Correction: Muriel Stark should of course read as Muriel Spark.” May 31, 23:38
Northcode on The View From Row Z: “You lot are too harsh on the lassie. She’s a simple wee soul who only wants to be known and…” May 31, 23:10
prj on The View From Row Z: “I suspect that when the police got involved they found a more serious crime to investigate and that was Murrell.…” May 31, 22:40
robertkknight on The View From Row Z: “Aye… Bring a tear to a glass eye, so it would.” May 31, 22:28
William G Walker on The View From Row Z: “Hello All, Whatever happened to the £667,000 which was “ring-fenced” in the late 2010s for Independence? Never mind the £410,000…” May 31, 22:26
Ex President Xiden on The View From Row Z: “She is currently on TV trying to reinvent herself amongst the wokeraty.” May 31, 22:26
