Last week we warned you to beware of poll questions containing the formulation “Does [X] make you more or less likely to vote in a certain way?”, and this evening Survation have provided us with an example of why.
According to those numbers, the conflict between Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon has caused a staggering 47% of Scots to change their likelihood of voting Yes in an independence referendum. And the bulk of those – 37% – say it’s made them MUCH more or MUCH less likely to vote Yes.
Those numbers break by more than 2 to 1 (23% to 11%) in favour of “much less likely”, which is a margin of change (12 points) bigger than almost any Yes majority that’s ever been recorded in a poll.
In other words, if the poll is to be believed, Nicola Sturgeon’s attempt to neutralise Alex Salmond as a threat to her personal political power has almost definitely turned a Yes vote into a No vote as people have started paying attention to it.
Yesterday’s evidence session at the Fabiani inquiry had several standout moments, but by a narrow margin this was our favourite.
And just in case you were wondering, yes, that IS Scotland’s top prosecutor, the Lord Advocate, chief of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, James Wolffe QC, repeatedly refusing to tell an MSP whether or not it’s a criminal offence in Scotland to refuse to comply with a court-ordered search warrant.
So next time you’ve ramraided a load of iPads and the polis come knocking on your door asking if they can have a nosy around your attic for them, just tell them they can’t come in because it’s a matter of your motivations.
We’d been wondering why our traffic was so crazy high that we’d already smashed last month’s four-year record to bits with a full week of February still to go.
The Scottish political arena is a funny place at the moment. Never before in modern history has there been so much dangerous hypocrisy, particularly on social media.
And what’s equally dangerous is that right now this hypocrisy is being doubled by a notion that independence of thought is a dangerous quality in a political movement that seeks to gain independence for a nation.
We suppose this is a sort of compliment, in at least two senses.
The second of them, of course, being the sheer surprise of some people at discovering that not everyone is as cynical and devious as they evidently are themselves.
It’s safe to say, readers, that our light-hearted new impromptu fundraiser has well and truly unhinged a few members of Scotland’s unhappiest community: the WokeNats.
Tonight somebody’s sent us a copy of the SNP’s official Social Media Policy, which is exactly the sort of awful corporate wonk-drivel you’d probably expect it to be.
Our favourite part was this masterpiece of unrememberable gibberish in the vein of the Scottish Government’s hopeless “FACTS” slogan (honestly, without going and looking can you remember what ANY of the letters represent?) for the coronavirus :
And here’s a tweet from earlier today from a prospective SNP candidate:
We’re not sure which of the letters that conforms to.
Readers, we swear to you we are not making this up. What you’re about to read are genuine extracts from the SNP’s official new (probably illegal) Equalities Mechanism explanatory note, detailing what does and doesn’t count as a disability when it comes to jumping the queue for a regional list nomination.
And straight away it’s a real punch in the gut for firestarters, muggers, rapists, flashers and, in most cases, hay-fever sufferers. THIS BIGOTRY WILL NOT STAND.
Republicofscotland on Bad Santa: “Sean Clerkin set the ball rolling on Operation Branchform in March 2021 – Clerkin has said – and I agree…” Dec 27, 16:52
Republicofscotland on Bad Santa: “I’m pretty sure the AfD’s Alice Weidel is the current front runner for chancellor, mind you the AfD and Die…” Dec 27, 16:27
Republicofscotland on Bad Santa: “World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Ghebreyesus – said he was lucky he wasn’t killed, after the US, UK and…” Dec 27, 16:19
John Kinsella on Bad Santa: “That would leave them with Bündnis Sarah Wagenfeld, die Linke and Alternativ fur Deutschland. Happy days (not).” Dec 27, 16:07
Republicofscotland on Bad Santa: “On the Covid-19 pandemic, this was kept hidden from Biden. “The researchers involved were John Hardham, Robert Cutlip, and Jean-Paul…” Dec 27, 15:58
Republicofscotland on Bad Santa: “A snap general election, will take place in Germany on Feb 23rd – after the coalition government collapsed – a…” Dec 27, 15:29
Republicofscotland on Bad Santa: “If Macron can’t have the country’s wealth – the next best thing is to keep it unstable, and prepped for…” Dec 27, 15:20
Republicofscotland on Bad Santa: “In a terrorist attack, on a r00sshi-an state ran ship – ( not military) which saw the ship sink, the…” Dec 27, 15:10
James on Bad Santa: “Look, everyone, like the buses, nae dunderheids for ages then ye get 4 at once. That’s them back off leave.” Dec 27, 13:25
The Flying Iron of Doom on Bad Santa: “I was hoping that Santa would bring you a new keyboard for Christmas but it appears not. Ach well, there’s…” Dec 27, 13:07
znovak on Bad Santa: “Great, I am looking forward to the exhibit exploring H*mas-led Oct.7 gen***cidal attack on Isr*el. With all the details about…” Dec 27, 12:12
Dan on Bad Santa: “Ach, will ye no be a good cunt and stop being a bawbag prick. (There’s a positive female and a…” Dec 27, 11:43
Mark Beggan on Bad Santa: “Why don’t you throw them all in the sea and be done with it. You obviously don’t like them.” Dec 27, 09:38
Jay on Bad Santa: “what do you reckon most women will think of your disparaging reference to their private parts? My better half would…” Dec 27, 09:25
Hatey McHateface on Bad Santa: “Really, Sven? You see a connection between “deranged and bitter” and yoonery? My goodness. Isn’t the magnificently wide spectrum of…” Dec 27, 09:16
Hatey McHateface on Bad Santa: “So are you saying that we “in the west” are among the 100 million or 300 million starving in your…” Dec 27, 09:04
Hatey McHateface on Bad Santa: “I guess it’s just the time of year when the Wings BTL fantasists attempt to burnish their non-existent credentials by…” Dec 27, 08:51
Hatey McHateface on Bad Santa: “Careful now, twathater, poot has a long reach. Wear gloves, never go higher than the first floor, and be suspicious…” Dec 27, 08:42
Hatey McHateface on Bad Santa: “I guess that’s what The Donald would categorise as “fake history” in that museum. And for once, he’d be right.” Dec 27, 08:36
Dan on Bad Santa: “Nae use to FC as the muckle rodents round here have expensive tastes and tend to shy away from fast…” Dec 26, 19:08
Republicofscotland on Bad Santa: “Yeah – In Trumps Xmas message – he goes after the non-existent Chinese soldier in Panama – he’ll definitely go…” Dec 26, 18:47
Michael Laing on Bad Santa: “I’d rather see Sturgeon in jail. For life.” Dec 26, 16:54
James on Bad Santa: “Pulled the short straw and got the xmas day shift did you?” Dec 26, 12:26
Mark Beggan on Bad Santa: “We don’t care.” Dec 26, 00:05
sarah on Off-topic: “Thank you, Marie – enjoy the Christmas period and may 2025 be peaceful, healthy and happy for you and yours.” Dec 25, 22:47
sarah on Off-topic: “Slainte, TC and all. Have you noticed the absence of the stirrers on MT today. A blessed relief.” Dec 25, 22:39
Tinto Chiel on Off-topic: “Yep, Sarah, Salvo/Liberation is the only bright light on the horizon. The political class is completely corrupt, self-serving and spineless…” Dec 25, 22:10
Mark Beggan on Bad Santa: “She’ll stay in the bunker with Eva till the end.” Dec 25, 22:07
Republicofscotland on Bad Santa: “Way to go the Irish – Ireland just replaced the Izzhelli embassy – with a Ppallistin-iaan museum. Maybe, it will…” Dec 25, 20:35
sarah on Off-topic: “Seasons greetings to you all – may 2025 be better than 2024. Thank you for the link to the choral…” Dec 25, 19:54
